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At State-Run Homes, Abuse and Impunity

14 Mar

So reads the title of a very disturbing piece in the New York Times. At State-Run Homes, Abuse and Impunity discusses problems with the group homes in New York.

Nearly 40 years after New York emptied its scandal-ridden warehouses for the developmentally disabled, the far-flung network of small group homes that replaced them operates with scant oversight and few consequences for employees who abuse the vulnerable population.

Not only is there abuse, but perpetrators are often not charged.

A New York Times investigation over the past year has found widespread problems in the more than 2,000 state-run homes. In hundreds of cases reviewed by The Times, employees who sexually abused, beat or taunted residents were rarely fired, even after repeated offenses, and in many cases, were simply transferred to other group homes run by the state.

Sounds like the stories of abuse by Priests in the Catholic Church in a way, doesn’t it? Abuser is uncovered and moved rather than fired or prosecuted.

The Times puts a good share of the blame for protecting the perpretrators on the uniion:

The state initiated termination proceedings in 129 of the cases reviewed but succeeded in just 30 of them, in large part because the workers’ union, the Civil Service Employees Association, aggressively resisted firings in almost every case. A few employees resigned, even though the state sought only suspensions.

The story is fairly long, and very saddening to say the least. While a difficult read, it is an important one.

Bullying Revisited: Retarded?

4 Mar

There’s a good article on the Huffington Post that I want to draw some attention to. Tim Shriver Jr. and Soeren Palumbo wrote a piece, Bullying Revisited: Retarded?. They discuss the
Spread the Word to End the Word campaign by Special Olympics (and supported by about 200 more organizations).

I know it is pretty much preaching to the choir here talking about the harmful message in words like “retarded” as it is commonly used today. But, perhaps the choir could go over there and show some support. I’d like to see the Huffington Post host more pieces like this than, well, some of the material they host.

Should a person who victimizes the disabled be allowed a short sentence?

18 Feb

A recent case in the Los Angeles area involved the sexual assaults of women in group homes. The case came to light when videos of the assaults were provided to the police. At least two of the assailants have been identified.

One of them has pled “no contest” to the charges. In return he is being offered a reduced sentence: 8 years (down from a maximum possible of 27). He would have to serve at least 85% of the time, and would have to register as a sex offender.

The deal is not sitting well with everyone:

The mother of one of the victims, a Rosemead woman, said that the deal came as a surprise and that she hoped the judge would reject it.

“Eight years is nothing for all the damage he has done to all these kids and their families,” the mother said.

A spokesperson for the LA district attorney’s office is quoted as:

“With these kinds of cases we never want to subject the victims to more trauma, and this was a difficult case because of the victims’ disabilities,” she said. “We felt that this [resolution] was appropriate.”

I am left with the question of whether the victims approached on this plea deal. Were the victims willing to testify, it should be their decision. The rationale put forth by the DA’s office that this is to prevent further trauma.

ARCA, the Association of Regional Center Agencies, has come forward calling the plea deal an injustice:

The Association of Regional Center Agencies, an advocacy group representing 21 California regional centers serving children and adults with developmental disabilities, says the plea bargain for Juan Fernando Flores is an injustice.

Jury awards family $1.7M for shooting death of autistic man

27 Jan

Family of victim killed by since-fired LAPD officer awarded $1.7 million is the title of a story by the LA Times.

After deciding this week that a former Los Angeles police officer fired for dishonesty was liable for killing a man, a federal jury Wednesday awarded the victim’s family $1.7 million.

Joseph Cruz killed Mohammad Usman Chaudhry early on a March morning in 2008, when Cruz and his partner encountered the 21-year-old autistic man lying in the bushes alongside a Hollywood apartment building.

The police officer argued that Mr. Chaudhry was using a knife to attack, and the shooting was in self defense. Jurors rejected that claim, in part because DNA on the knife came from only one person–who was not Mr. Chaudhry.

This part really bothers me:

After the verdict, the jury was asked to decide how much money, if any, to award Chaudhry’s parents. Attorneys representing Cruz and the city of Los Angeles had tried to limit the size of the award by arguing that Chaudhry had had a frayed relationship with his parents that lessened their suffering.

Lawyers for the family countered that the parents cared deeply for their son, despite the strain on the relationship caused by his autism.

I wonder how much the attorneys relied upon Mr. Chaudhry’s disability in their attempt to discount his value to his family.

Two suspects in custody in LA abuse case

14 Jan

The sexual assault story out of LA continues to evolve. The LA County Sheriff’s department is posting updates on this case. They note that the first victim has been identified. Here is part of that statement:

The first victim in the videotaped sexual assaults of persons with disabilities was located on Monday. She was found by state investigators living at a residential care facility within the County of Los Angeles. Sheriff’s detectives immediately went to the facility to interview her. The 25-year old White female (Victim #1) is currently a resident of a residential care facility in the state of California. Her medical conditions have caused her to be physically defenseless; however, she was able to communicate with detectives. The young woman confirmed to detectives that years ago she had been the victim of sexual assaults at a residential care facility in the City of Los Angeles.

This had already been identified by Sheriff’s Special Victims Bureau detectives, thanks to information provided by detectives with the Los Angeles Police Department. Her interview on Monday with Sheriff’s Special Victims Bureau detectives was very emotional and painful for her. Detectives described her as very traumatized. She is being provided with victim assistance. She said she feels safe at the residential care facility where she is now living. She does not want her identity or current residence known. Sheriff’s detectives will not be releasing any information about the residence where the victim is located and are asking that everyone respect her desire for privacy and to feel safe where she now lives. In the interview, she alleged that a few years ago she was sexually assaulted by Suspect Lloyd (Suspect #1) at the residence where they both previously lived as residents.

The LA Sheriff’s department is also updating the public on the status of finding the alleged perpetrators. Two have been found so far. Suspect #1 was identified and brought in to custody. Suspect #4 is already in prison.

The booking photo of Suspect #1 Ernie Lloyd has also been provided with this update. The investigation involving Suspect Lloyd is continuing, as are many other investigative leads on several cases.

Suspect #4, Bert Hicks, is serving a sentence in state prison and is due to be released in 2012. He has not been arrested by the LASD and therefore there is no booking photo for him. His case is under active investigation by the sheriff’s department and LAPD.

Here are the two in custody:

Two suspects are still outstanding:

As noted above, the booking photo of Ernie Lloyd was made public:

According to the news source which posted the booking photo:

The informant who anonymously provided the 100 hours of videos that launched a massive sexual assault investigation, reached out to Sheriff’s Special Victims Bureau detectives on Sunday, January 9. He identified himself to detectives and agreed to meet face to face and discuss the case. The meeting took place for several hours on Sunday.

The informant explained to sheriff’s detectives that he had been given a desktop computer by a drug addict and asked to clean the hard drive. Without knowing what the videos were, he watched a portion of them. He was deeply disturbed by the videos and said what he saw made him sick. He immediately knew that he needed to report it to law enforcement, but feared for his safety. He decided that he would copy the videos onto eleven disks and send them anonymously to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, along with an anonymous explanation note. The informant still fears for his safety, which is why he does not want his identify to be released.

The Sheriffs are still looking for any information, especially that which could identify other suspects or the victims:

Information can be provided anonymously, by calling Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477), or by texting the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637) or by accessing the Crime Stoppers website at www.lacrimestoppers.org.

L.A. authorities find first victim in videotaped sexual assaults

13 Jan

The LA Times recently had a story about sexual abuse of disabled women. Ken brought the story here to LeftBrainRightBrain in Videos show rape of disabled women, police seek help to ID attackers. CNN is now reporting that one of the victims has been identified and one suspect is in custody: L.A. authorities find first victim in videotaped sexual assaults.

Investigators have found the first victim in the videotaped sexual assaults of severely disabled women, and the woman alleges a suspect already in custody had raped her in a Los Angeles care home, authorities said.

The woman, 25, now resides in another Los Angeles County residential care facility. Her medical condition causes her to be physically defenseless, Los Angeles County sheriff’s investigators said.

Having found one of the victims, they were able to obtain information on an alleged attacker:

The woman, found by state investigators Monday, made the sexual assault allegation against Ernie Lloyd, 27, who had turned himself in Saturday following widespread media coverage of the videotaped sexual assaults and a manhunt for four suspects depicted in police sketches. Lloyd was charged with rape of a person with disabilities Saturday after he “implicated himself,” authorities said.

Once again, here are the sketches of the attackers:

Videos show rape of disabled women, police seek help to ID attackers

7 Jan

The package left at the LA County Sheriff’s Department sickened even the most jaded detectives – 100 hours of video of men who appear to be sexually assaulting severely disabled women.

From the LA Times:

The attacks appeared to have taken place at residential care centers, authorities said, and most of the attackers are believed to be employees. One suspect appears to be a paraplegic patient, hoisting himself off his wheelchair, before removing his diaper and that of his victim’s, and beginning his assault.

The footage, dropped off in March, has left detectives with few leads. Though authorities are confident the scenes were shot in residential care facilities, it’s unclear if they are located in Los Angeles County. Much of the footage is so grainy that only the faces of four of the estimated 10 men could be made out.

Authorities have released still shots to the public, hoping that someone who recognizes an individual or setting in the video will come forward. You can see those images here.

The package containing the video was left with authorities last March, and it has taken months to enhance and analyze the images. Detectives say the victims appear to be between 20 and 40 years old, and that some appear almost “entirely unresponsive.”

The men appear to also be between 20 and 40. The footage, detectives said, appears to be a collection, with some men appearing in more than one scene. Some of the footage was shot with a handheld camera, with the rest appearing to be captured by a security camera, detectives said.

Anyone with information is asked to call Special Victims Bureau detectives at (866) 247-5877. Anonymous tipsters can call (800)222-TIPS.

One of the rooms where attacks took place.




LA Times: Authorities seek identity of men videotaped sexually assaulting disabled women

7 Jan

Ken Reibel has already covered this story here. This is horrific. I am seriously at a loss for words except to say that I want as many of these men prosecuted. To that end, I wanted to put the sketches of the perpetrators on the blog just in case anyone might recognize them.

The LA Times gallery of photos is here. I have copied the sketches below.

Anyone with information is asked to call Special Victims Bureau detectives at (866) 247-5877. Anonymous tipsters can call (800) 222-TIPS.

UN Calls Shock Treatment at Judge Rotenberg Center ‘Torture’

1 Jul

The Judge Rotenberg Center (JRC) is a school for special needs children. The JRC is known for the fact that they use aversives–in the form of electric shocks–as part of their program. Not all students get the shocks, but it is a part of the program there.

The ABC program Nightline will air an episode on JRC tonight. Their website already has a story, UN Calls Shock Treatment at Mass. School ‘Torture’.

Here is a quote from that story:

“To be frank, I was shocked when I was reading the report,” said Manfred Nowak, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Torture. “What I did, on the 11th of May, was to send an urgent appeal to the U.S. government asking them to investigate.”

The United States Department of Justice already opened an investigation on the JRC earlier this year after a consortium of disability organizations sent a complaint letter.

Reading while black and autistic leads to arrest

10 Jun

Reginald Latson, an 18-year-old Virginia man with Asperger’s syndrome, faces one count of malicious wounding of a law enforcement officer, one count of assault and battery of a law enforcement officer, and one count of knowingly disarming a police officer in performance of his official duties, following an incident in a high school parking lot.

Stafford County deputies received a report of an armed person outside of a library, which prompted a lock down of six schools in Stafford County, including a high school.

From WJLA in Washington, DC:

Stafford County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Bill Kennedy says it all began at 8:38 a.m. with the report of an armed person in the parking lot of a library across from Park Ridge Elementary. The threat prompted a lockdown of six schools in Stafford County, including the high school, which is separated from the library and elementary school area by a wooded area.

Kennedy says deputies saturated the area after the call. About 20 minutes later, a Stafford High School resource officer spotted a man matching the description of the lookout. While the man was being questioned, he became irate and attacked the school resource officer, who is also a sheriff’s deputy, investigators said.

The man repeatedly struck the deputy, who pepper-sprayed the man, according to the Sheriff’s office. During the struggle, the assailant was able to wrest the pepper spray for the deputy and sprayed him, investigators said.

The man then fled. The deputy, Thomas Calverley, suffered head laceration, cuts, abrasions and a broken ankle. He was scheduled for surgery on the ankle this afternoon.

Latson was located in the woods about 45 minutes later by a canine officer and his dog, Vader. Investigators never found a gun, and now say the initial caller never actually saw a weapon.

Latson is currently being held at the Rappahannock Regional Jail under no bond.

You can read more about the case at this website started by Neli’s family.

“The actions that were taken by the police that day were excessive in the least and grossly mishandled,” writes Neli’s mother. “Someone says I see a suspicious black male and he “could” have a gun, while all my son was doing was sitting in the grass at the library. And you shut down six schools and go out on a manhunt for this dangerous black man who was sitting in the grass. Anyone reading this story can read between the lines and see that this just doesn’t add up.”

You can read the Stafford County Sheriff Dept. news release here.

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