DUNEDIN, Fla. — Deputies say a preschool teacher was caught on camera punching a 4-year-old in the head, and she has been charged.

Ashley Richards, 32, was charged with one count of felony child abuse and taken to the Pinellas County Jail, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.

The incident happened Wednesday at Kindercare Learning Center on Main Street in Dunedin when deputies responded to a report of child abuse.

A witness said Richards was yelling at the child and repeatedly punching the child with "both an open and closed fist to the back and side of the head," the sheriff's office said in a news release.

Richards was also seen pushing the child to the ground, authorities said. The incident was captured on the witness' cell phone.

Richards, according to the sheriff's office, has been employed as a preschool teacher at Kindercare Learning Center since March 2021 and was placed on administrative leave after her arrest.

Ashley Richards (Pinellas County Sheriff's Office)