Image Credit: Sumner County DA & Canva.
Article by Paula Gomes, Tennessee Conservative News –
A former police officer who worked for the Lawrenceburg Police Department (LPD) in Tennessee was convicted last week of assault and attempted official oppression for scaring and pretending to arrest a 3-year-old autistic boy.
The former officer, 23-year-old Kyle Hunter Scott, was found guilty at the close of a two-day jury trial in Sumner County Criminal Court.
Scott was accused of putting handcuffs on the 3-year-old during a “scared straight” intervention that had the approval of the child’s mother.
On May 25th, 2025, Scott showed up at the child’s home in his official LPD-issued vest to conduct the disciplinary intervention.
A recording of the incident, taken by someone present, showed the child crying in his living room as Scott confronted him over allegedly damaging items within the home.
During the incident, the terrified toddler promised to behave but instead of stopping, Scott continued to escalate and slapped handcuffs on the child while he was on his stomach, all while crying and begging to be set loose.
On the recording, Scott was heard repeatedly telling the child the “stop resisting” while he handcuffed him.
The child was then carried outside and made to believe that he was being arrested. Video footage shows him calling for his mother and reaching out to her.
Scott was later arrested by White House Police (WHP) after the video footage was circulated online, coming to the attention of WHP Sgt. Dan Hunter.
Upon investigation of the incident, it was discovered that the “intervention” was planned by Scott, his girlfriend, and the mother of the 3-year-old who was upset by the toddler’s behavior while at home. The boy had recently been diagnosed by autism.
In July 2025, Scott was indicted by a Sumner County grand jury on charges of official oppression and child abuse but was later found guilty on the lesser offenses of attempted official oppression and assault which are misdemeanors.
Scott now faces up to 17 months and 29 days behind bars and is set to be sentenced by Criminal Court Judge Dee David Gay next year.
The mother of the child was charged with failure to report abuse and child neglect and her son was subsequently removed from the home by the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services. Other adults who witnessed the assault on the child were also charged for not reporting the abuse.
In a social media post, Sumner County District Attorney General Thomas Dean commented on the outcome of the case.
“Kyle Hunter Scott’s conduct was not only shocking and outrageous, but a disgraceful abuse of the authority and trust placed in him by the people of Lawrenceburg. This innocent child should have never have been subjected to such cruelty, intimidation, and humiliation, particularly at the hands of someone sworn to protect the public,” stated Dean. “What the victim endured was not discipline, was not public service, and will not be tolerated in Sumner County. This office will continue to stand firmly on the side of our community’s most vulnerable victims and relentlessly pursue justice against those who abuse, exploit, or harm children, regardless of who they are or what position they hold.”
Sources:
WKRN.
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
