County police arrested three faculty members at a special needs day school on a first-degree felony charge because of abuse towards three children with autism. They are accused of using scare tactics on the children as a form of discipline.
The Silver Sands School is located in Fort Walton Beach, an hour away from Pensacola on the Florida panhandle. Sheriff Larry Ashley identified the teacher as Margaret Wolthers and the aides as Carolyn Madison and Diana LaCroix. Wolthers is the wife of a deputy in the police department.
Wolthers, Madison, and LaCroix punished the students by blowing a whistle in their ears and locking them in a dark bathroom for up to 90 minutes. Two of the children were 8 years old and one child was 10 years old.
A third aide refused to stand by and watch these children get tortured as punishment anymore. The unidentified female reported the incident to a school police officer. An investigation came afterward and school superintendent Marcus Chambers placed the three on administrative leave. The findings of the investigation eventually led to their arrest.
A witness stated that the children would “scream and cry” when placed in the dark bathroom. If the student turned on the bathroom light or tried to leave, the faculty made them stay there even longer. Meanwhile, a male student wore headphones due to noise sensitivity. The three women held his arms down on purpose so he couldn’t cover his ears when they blew the whistle.
The incident occurred between September 1 and November 14 of 2018. However, police believe the incident lasted much longer than the given period. The alleged abusers, if convicted, could face up to 30 years in prison. In the meantime, investigators are actively searching for more victims.
I have a grandson with autism. I know his sensitivity to nioce I pray every day no harm comes to him due to being nonverbal. How can a person hurt innocent children in this way. May these people be punished for this.
Source: https://www.valleycenter.com/articles/why-the-senseless-beatings-of-the-most-vulnerable/
Raped, burned, punched, stomped and slapped. People with special needs are under attack. Not by an unknown enemy or random lunatic, but by trusted teachers, nurses, therapists and caregivers. It’s a rising national epidemic.
This year alone, news reports of abuse include an Arizona nurse who impregnated a disabled woman in a semi-vegetative state; an Ohio caregiver who burned the buttocks and thighs of a man with Down syndrome; a Florida caregiver seen standing on a mentally disabled woman’s neck; a Maryland caregiver caught punching a man with autism; a Utah caregiver admitting he slammed a cerebral palsy man’s head into the ground; two New York school bus aides caught mentally tormenting a student with autism and three special education teachers arrested when a secret recording device revealed they were verbally threatening autistic students with harm. In Washington, hidden cameras caught a nurse aide sexually assaulting a disabled woman, a Texas caregiver beating a non-verbal disabled patient with a broom and a Tennessee home health nurse smacking a bedridden six-year old with traumatic brain injury in the head and face. We also learned a California a man with developmental disabilities, residing in a state licensed care facility, had sustained eye socket fractures from a caregiver. This isn’t the first year of unthinkable abuse.
Back in 2015, home surveillance caught a Wisconsin behavioral therapist shaking, kicking and head-butting a 3-year old with autism. In 2016, hospital surveillance caught a New Jersey nurse stabbing an autistic teen with hypodermic needles. In 2017, video surveillance caught a New Jersey female nurse slapping a paralyzed patient on a ventilator; another male nurse in California kicking a six year old non-verbal boy who required tube feeding, and caregivers in a Connecticut group home beating a 19-year old disabled woman with a mop handle….” Read full article at above source.