SYRACUSE — A Syracuse man is accused by police of abusing a preschool-aged child who had received a bad school report.

Christian Nathaniel Thompson

Christian Nathaniel Thompson, 27, 109 N. Acorn St., Syracuse, is charged with domestic battery to a person less than 14 years of age by a person at least 18 years of age, a level 6 felony; and domestic battery, a class A misdemeanor.

According to the Syracuse police, officers were contacted on June 11, by an Indiana Department of Child Services case worker who told police that a child had been abused on June 10, by Thompson. The report stated that Thompson had hit the child with an open hand to the face. The incident allegedly occurred after the child received a bad report from preschool.

Police spoke to Thompson, who told the officers that the child was out of control and that he grabbed the child by the face and squeezed in order to try to control the child. He also admitted to losing his temper as a result of the child receiving a bad report from preschool. He said when he grabbed the child’s face, he grabbed harder than he’d planned and that it amounted to a “kind of slap.”

Police also talked to the child, who told police Thompson had hit him in the face. Officers reported observing finger marks on the child’s face.

Thompson was booked in the Kosciusko County Jail on $500 cash bond.