Convicted of manslaughter in the death of autistic boy

[mrsjerome]

Worker convicted of manslaughter in the death of autistic boy. This occurred last Feb.
At the end of the article are related stories to this tragic death
http://www.capitalnews9.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=227327

[Isabelle]

look at that !!! a front line worker is convicted, what about those who hire/"train" him, aren't they also guilty?
what those workers did is nothing new, the difference, they were caught with a dead autistic....if an autistic expects a trip to the mall but instead the workers do their own fun errands, what is usually the case...and, the autistic feels frustrated in their expectations and if he dares to act out in protest, workers "restrain" him with a pill and/or physically....if the autistic gets hurt it's the autistic fault ...

[mrsjerome]

look at that !!! a front line worker is convicted, what about those who hire/"train" him, aren't they also guilty?
what those workers did is nothing new, the difference, they were caught with a dead autistic....if an autistic expects a trip to the mall but instead the workers do their own fun errands, what is usually the case...and, the autistic feels frustrated in their expectations and if he dares to act out in protest, workers "restrain" him with a pill and/or physically....if the autistic gets hurt it's the autistic fault ...



Both workers were convicted. The driver got a lesser sentence because he testified against the other worker and told what had happened. The boy died as a result of the restraint the worker used on him. Even if would have been done accidentally, these men
Still drove around to finish their errands and drove back to the home without even alerting an emergency dispatch.
This was total disregard for the life of that child.
From your own experiences this is how some of the workers act in caring for these kids. As you can see by this story and related features it is still going on today. This is tragic that this is the only way we sometimes hear of abuse in these homes is when a death occurs.
The owners of this home need to be held accountable too. They are responsible for who they hire and any wrongful acts that are committed while under their employment.
The parents put their trust in this home so their child would be safe and well cared for.
This trip was suppose to be an outing for the boy not an outing for the caregivers to run their own personal errands. This is just outrageous.
Whether it would be a criminal case would be up to the district attorney in that jurisdiction to bring charges against the owners. If not the parents have the right to proceed in civil litigation against this home.

[Kristen (ColeysMom)]

I'm afraid that as long as there are defenseless people in this world and a$$holes, stuff like this is going to happen. It's disgusting, that's for sure! It's the same repulsive attitude that seniors in nursing homes, and sickly in rehab homes endure too...

I don't know what the answer is...course stiff penalties certainly could help, but I'm not convinced that's the answer either. Afterall, capital punishment has done little to deter murders.

It's VERY sad! This poor family! The poor boy!