09-22-2007, 11:42 AM
Prosecutors: Teacher hurt autistic kids
Quote:
Prosecutors: Teacher hurt autistic kids
By Mary Ann Fergus Tribune staff reporter
11:08 PM CDT, September 21, 2007
Prosecutors offered a portrait Friday of a special-education teacher who they alleged progressively lost control during the first month of school, slamming one boy with autism into a brick wall and forcing another to jump on a trampoline for more than 30 minutes while wearing a weighted vest.
Patrick E. McCarthy, 30, of Palatine was charged with aggravated battery and unlawful restraint in a case that unfolded this week when McCarthy's assistants reported the alleged assaults to officials at Robert Frost Junior High School in Schaumburg.
"The teacher's assistants . . . saw that he became increasingly agitated and had no patience with the children," said Lynn Palac, an assistant state's attorney.
McCarthy, a teacher at Frost for the last three years, taught six special-education students, officials said. Cook County Circuit Judge Kay Hanlon set bailat $500,000 for McCarthy. Teacher assistants Habib Behrouzi and Kay Greco told school Principal Paul Goldberg on Tuesday that they noticed the disturbing behavior from the start of classes Aug. 22. The district immediately placed McCarthy on paid administrative leave after the allegations.
Palac described four specific assaults involving two 12-year-old boys and one 11-year-old boy, all of whom have autism.
In the first instance, McCarthy allegedly threw a box of cookies across the room and swore at a 12-year-old pupil after he took a cookie without asking.
Another time, McCarthy put a weighted vest, commonly used to help calm special-needs children, on the same boy and forced him to jump on a trampoline in the classroom for 30 to 40 minutes, Palac said. When the boy repeatedly tried to get off the trampoline, McCarthy allegedly forced him back on, causing bruises on his legs. Later that night, the boy suffered a seizure, the prosecutor said.
On another occasion, a 12-year-old boy who does not speak overturned his desk and McCarthy allegedly shoved him into a metal cabinet, Palac said.
McCarthy allegedly tied the 11-year-old boy to a chair with a jump rope until he wriggled free. Another time, he shoved the same child into a brick wall, prosecutors said.
McCarthy stood with his head bowed throughout most of Friday's bond hearing in the Rolling Meadows courthouse. His mother, Kathleen, refused to comment, as did his attorney, Bill Bligh.
McCarthy graduated in 2002 from Northern Illinois University with a bachelor of science degree in education, with an emphasis on special education. He is one semester short of receiving his master's in special education from St. Xavier University.
Officials with Schaumburg-based Community Consolidated School District 54 declined to release McCarthy's prior teaching experience or to discuss the case.
"We're working with the students involved and all the students at Frost to ensure their well-being," said Terri McHugh, district spokeswoman. "We're still conducting our own investigation."
Mary Jo Shepherd, the mother of an 8th grader at Frost and a 21-month-old-daughter with Down syndrome, said news of the allegations is "a nightmare come true."
"This is your biggest worry as a mother of a special-needs child, because they cannot express themselves," said Shepherd, who lives in Schaumburg. "You don't want to jump to conclusions, but this is your worst fear come true."
Last year, her 13-year-old son, Matt, was in an after-school program with McCarthy that blended average students with those with special needs, she said.
"He never swore or yelled," said Matt Shepherd. "The only time I saw him grab someone was when a kid was walking ahead of the group. He just pulled him back. He always had fun with the kids."
Suburban parents of children with autism exchanged a flurry of outraged e-mails and phone calls Friday, said Kym Bills, of the Northwest Suburban Chapter of Autism Society of Illinois and mother of a 7-year-old boy who has autism. Bills said many people flock to Schaumburg because the school district has a strong reputation for teaching children with autism, but she said some are now wondering what the district might have done to prevent the outbursts.
"Yes, people have bad days," Bills said. "But a teacher who had been violent like this with three students, there had to be some warning signs."
Gemma Nissen of Elk Grove Village is founder of Pay It Forward for Autism, a parents' advocacy group in the northwest suburbs. Mistreatment of children with autism is all too common among even special-education teachers, she said.
"If this man was stressed out, there should have been someone to tell him, you can step out," she said.
mfergus@tribune.com
By Mary Ann Fergus Tribune staff reporter
11:08 PM CDT, September 21, 2007
Prosecutors offered a portrait Friday of a special-education teacher who they alleged progressively lost control during the first month of school, slamming one boy with autism into a brick wall and forcing another to jump on a trampoline for more than 30 minutes while wearing a weighted vest.
Patrick E. McCarthy, 30, of Palatine was charged with aggravated battery and unlawful restraint in a case that unfolded this week when McCarthy's assistants reported the alleged assaults to officials at Robert Frost Junior High School in Schaumburg.
"The teacher's assistants . . . saw that he became increasingly agitated and had no patience with the children," said Lynn Palac, an assistant state's attorney.
McCarthy, a teacher at Frost for the last three years, taught six special-education students, officials said. Cook County Circuit Judge Kay Hanlon set bailat $500,000 for McCarthy. Teacher assistants Habib Behrouzi and Kay Greco told school Principal Paul Goldberg on Tuesday that they noticed the disturbing behavior from the start of classes Aug. 22. The district immediately placed McCarthy on paid administrative leave after the allegations.
Palac described four specific assaults involving two 12-year-old boys and one 11-year-old boy, all of whom have autism.
In the first instance, McCarthy allegedly threw a box of cookies across the room and swore at a 12-year-old pupil after he took a cookie without asking.
Another time, McCarthy put a weighted vest, commonly used to help calm special-needs children, on the same boy and forced him to jump on a trampoline in the classroom for 30 to 40 minutes, Palac said. When the boy repeatedly tried to get off the trampoline, McCarthy allegedly forced him back on, causing bruises on his legs. Later that night, the boy suffered a seizure, the prosecutor said.
On another occasion, a 12-year-old boy who does not speak overturned his desk and McCarthy allegedly shoved him into a metal cabinet, Palac said.
McCarthy allegedly tied the 11-year-old boy to a chair with a jump rope until he wriggled free. Another time, he shoved the same child into a brick wall, prosecutors said.
McCarthy stood with his head bowed throughout most of Friday's bond hearing in the Rolling Meadows courthouse. His mother, Kathleen, refused to comment, as did his attorney, Bill Bligh.
McCarthy graduated in 2002 from Northern Illinois University with a bachelor of science degree in education, with an emphasis on special education. He is one semester short of receiving his master's in special education from St. Xavier University.
Officials with Schaumburg-based Community Consolidated School District 54 declined to release McCarthy's prior teaching experience or to discuss the case.
"We're working with the students involved and all the students at Frost to ensure their well-being," said Terri McHugh, district spokeswoman. "We're still conducting our own investigation."
Mary Jo Shepherd, the mother of an 8th grader at Frost and a 21-month-old-daughter with Down syndrome, said news of the allegations is "a nightmare come true."
"This is your biggest worry as a mother of a special-needs child, because they cannot express themselves," said Shepherd, who lives in Schaumburg. "You don't want to jump to conclusions, but this is your worst fear come true."
Last year, her 13-year-old son, Matt, was in an after-school program with McCarthy that blended average students with those with special needs, she said.
"He never swore or yelled," said Matt Shepherd. "The only time I saw him grab someone was when a kid was walking ahead of the group. He just pulled him back. He always had fun with the kids."
Suburban parents of children with autism exchanged a flurry of outraged e-mails and phone calls Friday, said Kym Bills, of the Northwest Suburban Chapter of Autism Society of Illinois and mother of a 7-year-old boy who has autism. Bills said many people flock to Schaumburg because the school district has a strong reputation for teaching children with autism, but she said some are now wondering what the district might have done to prevent the outbursts.
"Yes, people have bad days," Bills said. "But a teacher who had been violent like this with three students, there had to be some warning signs."
Gemma Nissen of Elk Grove Village is founder of Pay It Forward for Autism, a parents' advocacy group in the northwest suburbs. Mistreatment of children with autism is all too common among even special-education teachers, she said.
"If this man was stressed out, there should have been someone to tell him, you can step out," she said.
mfergus@tribune.com
