Westport woman heralds law criminalizing autism therapy fraud
The Autism News | English
It can take years for pieces of legislation to become law.
But just 18 months after a New York woman was arrested for scamming Fairfield County schools and parents out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, a group of parents, therapists and legislators — including a Westport mother — gathered Friday at Stepping Stones Museum in Norwalk to draw attention to a new state law making it a crime for someone to wrongly claim to be an autism therapist that took effect Oct. 1.
Anyone violating this provision is guilty of a felony punishable by up to a $500 fine, imprisonment for up to five years, or both. Each illegal contact or consultation constitutes a separate offense.
The new law was prompted by the case of Stacy Lore, who was found guilty in 2010 of forging credentials to treat autistic children throughout Fairfield County. Lore, who was hired by both the Norwalk and Weston public school systems, reportedly charged taxpayers and parents more than $400,000 for what proved to be fraudulent autism spectrum services.
“Our message today is we will protect our children. And the long arm of the law will go after those who do otherwise,” said state Sen. Bob Duff, D-Norwalk. “We will not let the Stacy Lores take advantage of our children. Or our taxpayers. We will come get you if you are going to prey on our children.”
Lore was sentenced to up to three years in prison for larceny, but her lies about her qualifications could not be punished under state law.
Duff explained that the issue with Lore was the fact that local officials knew what she did was wrong, but it was not illegal to say that she was an analyst when she wasn’t.
“There was a hole in the justice system. We brought her to justice thanks to the hard work of the Norwalk Police Department and others,” he said. “We’ve been able to make sure that we close that loophole in the state of Connecticut.”
“Because of all of our collaborative work with the legislature, we have achieved not only the absence of evil, but the presence of justice,” said Maria Domenici of Westport, whose 10-year-old daughter was seen by Lore.
Domenici said at a press conference earlier this year that she believes her daughter missed a critical window of opportunity to improve her health and well-being.
For children on the autism spectrum, early intervention and proper care can be critical.
Joining her at the press conference in February was Margaret Kozlark, also a parent to an autistic child.
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