LAKESIDE, Calif. — Parents are outraged after learning of alleged abuse of their children with special needs at Lemon Crest Elementary School.

Parents say a teacher’s aide abused multiple children with special needs, multiple times. The parents are calling for the teacher’s aide to be fired. 

“I couldn’t believe that somebody would do that to an innocent child,” mother Cynthia Raymond said. “My son is non-verbal, so he couldn’t tell me anything was happening.”

Raymond says a teacher’s aide at Lemon Crest Elementary abused her nine-year-old son with special needs.

“He was being changed by a male staff who was on his knees with his hands over my son’s hands and forcing him to punch himself in the head multiple times,” she said.

Brittany McLaughlin claims her nine-year-old daughter in a wheelchair has needs also suffered abuse by the same teacher’s aide.

“He repeatedly put her hand in her food over and over and he told her ‘how do you like that?’ and after he cleaned her hand, he hit her hand so hard, she thought her hand was broken,” McLaughlin said.

Both parents say they have contacted the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department and child protective services but have yet to hear from the school district.

“They’re sweeping this under the rug. They had weeks to do something about it. They had weeks to get him out of the classroom, but instead of taking him out of the classroom, they move him to a different school,” McLaughlin said.

The Lakeside Unified School District Superintendent released this statement saying:

“This allegation is currently under investigation by the district. We have not concluded the investigation, so we cannot comment at this time. We take our student safety very seriously and are giving the upmost attention to this investigation.”

FOX reached out to the sheriff’s department but has yet to hear back.