Children and adults with autism are identified as alleged victims in a number of recent cases of abuse and violence. Sadly, the cases listed here are only a a sample of some of the recent news reports:
19 September 2008 -Tucson, AZ, USA The Tucson Citizen reports that Diane Marsh was sentenced to 10 years in prison after being convicted on August 4th of negligent homicide and 4 counts of child abuse in the killing of her son Brandon Williams in March 2007. Pima County Superior Court Judge Hector Campoy suggested that Marsh had already been treated leniently by the jury, who might have convicted her of first degree murder and indicated that she deserved a substantial sentence for “torture of her vulnerable child,” a 5-year-old boy with autism.
19 September 2008 – Grand Junction, CO, USA KRDO reports yet another murder of a child with autism by his father. Police report charged Allen Lee Grabe, 51, with the first degree murder of his 13-year-old son Jacob Allen Grabe on September 11, 2008. Jacob had Asperger syndrome. His father is reported to have shot him multiple times and quoted as telling his wife, ”I had to kill him because you were ruining him.” According to the Denver Post, the arrest warrant indicates Allen Lee Grabe shot his sleeping son in the face and then put several more bullets in his son’s head as he lay dying. Jacob was an eighth grader who was particpated in track, band, and other school activities.
18 September 2008 – Charleston, SC, USA The Post and Courier reports that a school bus driver has been suspended without pay after a school employee reported that the driver struck a an eleven-year-old boy with autism who was uncooperative while boarding the bus. Police are investigating the incident.
18 September 2008 -Raleigh, NC, USA According to KJCT 8 News, Disability Rights North Carolina is investigating reports that Raleigh Middle School a Raleigh middle schools student with autism was restrained by handcuffs attached to ankles ankles and that students with autism were encouraged to fight each other. According to reports, teachers, teaching assistants were aware and sometimes took part in these activities. [icad thanks Laurie Larson for bringing this to our attention.]
12 September 2008 – Venice, FL, USA ABC 7 reported that Richard Green, a Teacher’s Aide at Venice High School was arrested on charges of aggravated child abuse causing injury to a student with autism, who he worked with, by banging the student’s head against the wall.
29 August 2008 – Conroe, TX, USA Texas Cable News reports Chase Cannon, 27, was arrested and charged with capital murder. He is alleged to have killed his girlfirend’s 3-year-old son, who was autistic. Ethan Kirby was rushed to the hospital with a severe head injury that led to his death. Examination showed signs of chronic abuse, healing burns on the bottom of his feet, multiple bruises, and a broken arm.
29 August 2008 - Sydney, Australia The Sydney Morning Herald reported on the manslaughter conviction of Sydney teenager in the stabbing death of Gerard Fleming, 35, who had Asperger syndrome. The conviction for manslaughter, rather than murder, was based on the defense that the teenager believed that he was defending himself when he fatally stabbed Fleming.
23 August 2008 – Moorpark, CA, USA The Ventura County Star reports that Danny Ivy Floyd, 39, was sentenced to 16 months in prison for committing a lewd act on a child and sending harmful matter to a child. Floyd was a school bus driver but contacted this victim, a 14-year-old boy with autism, through a Big Brothers – Big Sisters mentoring program.
23 August 2008 – Capetown, South Africa The Times reports that an 11-year-old girl, who has Asperger syndrome was sexually assaulted by a 12-year-old “bully” on the school ground who forced a foreign object into her anus while other students looked on.
The Department of Education launched an urgent investigation into the “shocking” case at the Western Cape school, which has apparently not taken action against the 12-year-old boy.
His 11-year-old victim has slipped into depression and is being forced to sit alone outside the principal’s office at break time for her own safety because her attacker is still at school.
The girl, who suffers from Asperger Syndrome, a form of autism, has allegedly been taunted by the boy and his friends.
Tags: Arson, Asperger syndrome, Autism
December 3, 2008 at 6:19 am |
[...] and was allegedly shot to death by his father Allen on September 11, 2008 (see previous icad post Autism: Recent toll of violence from September, 2008).I don’t know if I can post it because it started as reasonable [...]
December 3, 2008 at 7:50 am |
[...] and was allegedly shot to death by his father Allen on September 11, 2008 (see previous icad post Autism: Recent toll of violence from September, 2008). Coincidentally, my story from September both stories use the word toll in [...]