Lawsuit claims Bedford student abused on bus
The Autism News | English
A lawsuit alleges a Bedford County school bus driver and her assistant repeatedly physically abused an 11-year-old autistic student causing him lasting emotional harm and physical injuries.
In graphic videos taken by a surveillance camera on a Bedford County school bus, the driver or her assistant can be seen hitting the student with a fly swatter as well as kicking, choking and beating him with their hands.
The student, whose autism left him barely able to speak, was strapped with double harnesses to his seat. He appears to be crying in anguish and at times flails out with his arms and legs trying to stop his assailants or strike them back.
The video footage was secured by attorneys representing single parent Thomas E. Kilpatrick of Bedford, whose son, Timothy, was the target of the alleged attacks. The incidents occurred in September 2009 and were eventually documented in surveillance videos confiscated by police.
Kilpatrick, though, said he had brought concerns to school officials nearly a year earlier after his son started showing signs of injuries and fears about riding the bus. Tapes of incidents during that time could not be located, according to the suit, which seeks $20 million in damages.
The father said Wednesday in a telephone interview that he was unable to get school personnel to respond to concerns that his son was being harmed when he first reported in November 2008 that Timothy was coming home with bruises and scratch marks on his arms and face.
“He ran inside the house and went to his room and wouldn’t show me what was wrong,” his father said. “He would just stare straight ahead. There was no talking,” said Kilpatrick, a construction worker who now takes his son back and forth to a regional Lynchburg school that specializes in teaching disabled children.
“This case is about the expectations that every parent should have regarding the treatment and safety of their children in our schools,” said Roanoke attorney P. Brent Brown, the Roanoke lawyer representing Kilpatrick and his son. “That expectation is especially critical when it comes to how disabled children are treated outside the protection and care of their parents.”
Kilpatrick, 47, said he was too angered by the video to watch it in its entirety, but even the portion that he watched confirmed his worst fears.
Timothy, who stands under 6 feet tall but weighs 270 pounds, has grown in the three years since the videos when he weighed under 200 pounds. There are few people the father trusts with his son, he said, and over the years he has learned how to calm his son’s behavior by quietly talking with him.
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Comments
M. Scearce says: As a mother of a 15 yr old Aspbergers son I was saddened and sickened at the lack of self control these two monsters had on the bus that day. All school personnel should be required to take a disability class or three, or four, every year so they can be trained to care for our beautiful children as well as we do .
salina gonzalez says: We trust these people thinking that our children will be safe in their care to read this brings fear to my heart on what the future will bring to children with dissability if they are surrounded by monsters.
Bonnie Comstock says: These two women have no business being in the position they are in!! If they can’t control themselves any better than that they should not be working with these young people! They should lose their jobs and face prosecution! Feel so bad for the young boy and his father. Condolences to both of them.
