GREENWOOD, Ind. (WISH) — The Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office has filed a felony charge against child care teacher Joyce Nicole Perkins for battery. She’s accused of slapping a 2-year-old in early November at the Kiddie Academy of Greenwood. Police say a video shows a 2-year-old spitting at his teacher, Perkins, and her reacting immediately by slapping the child’s face hard. Johnson County Prosecutor Lance Hamner said in a statement that “according to Probable Cause Affidavit, the childcare provider slapped the small child across the face and was sufficient that it moved and turned the child around.” Police report said the child spun into a cabinet behind him and that Perkins tried to justify her actions saying that spitting was a battery, too. She told police it was “my mothers instinct to react” and the “child didn’t cry.” The child care center initially alerted the child’s parent, and fired the teacher. In a statement, the Kiddie Academy said, “It is important to note that the child involved was unharmed and remained safe. Thanks to the swift and decisive actions of our exceptional director, the situation was promptly and appropriately handled, with local authorities now overseeing the case.” The child care center stressed that this is an isolated incident, and the Johnson County Prosecutor agreed, saying in a statement, “It is fortunately a very rare thing, and I don’t think people need to worry that this goes on all the time.”