BRADENTON, Fla. — A teacher's aide is facing child abuse charges following an incident that happened on the playground of G.D. Rogers Garden-Bullock Elementary School in Bradenton.

Teacher's aide Quintin Bradley, 40, released on bond

Police say he threw heavy rubber ball at autistic child

Child's teacher may be faced with failure to report

According to a police report, Quintin Bradley, 40, was interacting with a young student with nonverbal autism during recess when the incident happened.

Police say Bradley threw a heavy rubber ball at a 5-year-old student with enough force to knock him backward into a chain-link fence. Bradley then retrieved the ball and threw it at the child a few more times.

A witness reported that Bradley was yelling at the student to stop crying while throwing the ball.

Quintin Bradley, a teacher's aide at Rogers Elementary in Bradenton, has been charged with child abuse. Police say he repeatedly threw a large rubber ball at a nonverbal autistic student, while yelling at the young boy to stop crying @BN9 pic.twitter.com/UcMZdrTBDC — Angie Angers (@angie_angers) February 27, 2019

Parents of other students at Rogers Elementary expressed disbelief at Bradley's actions.

"How did he slip through the cracks? I don't know," parent Michelle Campbell said.

Corey Rackard said the incident made him question his own daughter's safety.

"(I'm) glad they're actually looking into that matter," he said. "I feel comfortable now knowing... My daughter, she just started going to the school yesterday."

The child's teacher, who had been sitting nearby, witnessed the event and did not intervene or report the incident, according to police. That teacher has been removed from the classroom, according to school officials.

Bradley has been released on bond and will face a judge next month.

Detectives have also been working with the State Attorney's Office regarding pending charges on the child's teacher for failure to report.