NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A man has been charged with assaulting a 4-year-old boy with autism, including pulling three of his teeth out, while baby-sitting him last summer.

Authorities in Montgomery County said 27-year-old Nicholas Kernechel of East Greenville was charged with aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of a child and related offenses.

Authorities said the child’s mother brought him to Upper Perkiomen police in July along with a plastic bag containing the three “bloody but intact” teeth.

They said Kernechel hit the boy, identified only as “JN,” and took the teeth out.

Defense attorney Patrick McMenamin Jr. on Monday called the child’s injuries “an unfortunate accident” that occurred when he slipped as Kernechel was helping him out of bed to use the bathroom.