GREENWOOD, Ind. — New information has emerged following an investigation into a toddler being slapped at a Greenwood daycare on Nov. 4, 2024. Joyce Perkins, 31, was charged with battery on a person less than 14 years old. Officers responded to the 600 block of S. Morgantown Rd. on Nov. 12, 2024, on a report that a child was struck in the head by a teacher at Kiddie Academy of Greenwood. Worker slapped 2-year-old at Greenwood daycare: FSSA According to court documents, the teacher, who police identified as Perkins, slapped the 2-year-old after the child spit in their face. The teacher was immediately fired, an incident report was filed, and the Department of Child Services was notified. The director of the daycare also sent video footage to authorities. Upon reviewing the footage, police reportedly saw that that Perkins hit the victim to the left side of their face with her right open hand. According to officials, the slap was hard enough to spin them around into a cabinet. Perkins allegedly said, "I had to smack him because he spit all in my face." The video then reportedly shows Perkins pulling them by their shirt out of the classroom. The footage also reportedly shows the child spitting in her face. After speaking with Perkins she said the slap was, "a reflection, a reflex I didn't hit him bad, you know I just gave him a little small tap, he didn't cry or nothing." Perkins further stated that the toddler's behavior had changed and that he was using swear words, throwing toys, and "acting up." Perkins claimed to the detective that she wasn't trying to really hit or hurt the boy. She also said that battery was committed against her, but the officer stated that the child was only 2 years old. To which she reportedly said, "It was my mother's instinct to react. He didn't cry or nothing." This is an active investigation. Information will be updated as it becomes available.