Attack On Autistic Boy, 11, Videotaped
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BOSTON -- An 11-year-old autistic Massachusetts boy was brutally attacked after school last month and police are now planning to charge some of his classmates in the case.
The attack happened Sept. 28 in Templeton, a community about 40 miles northwest of Worcester.
The boy, whose name was not released, was beaten after stepping off the school bus near Baldwin Drive and the entire attack was captured on videotape.
"They do know he tried to fight back, but there were five of them, so there's no way he could have," his aunt said, choking back tears. "They pushed him in a mailbox and he cut his hand and they have a picture of that."
His aunt and legal guardian said the fifth-grader suffers from Asperger's syndrome.
"When I watched the tape I was devastated. I'm absolutely devastated that these kids could do this," she said.
The kids who allegedly attacked the boy had previously teased the victim. One of the children, a girl, allegedly handed a video camera to a boy and asked him to record her as she started pushing and shoving the victim as the group neared some woods.
"They have video them pushing him in the woods and him being in there and them saying, 'Kick him while he's down,' and 'Do it again,'" his aunt said.
She said her nephew returned home 15 minutes late and struggled to tell her what happened. She said bruises appeared on his legs and arms the day after the attack. She filed a police report.
The two girls and three boys who were accused of attacking the boy were suspended from the Narragansett Middle School for the week and the school held an assembly on bullying.
"We were very upset with what we saw," School Superintendent Dr. Stephen Hemman said. "We worked very well with the police and he was right on top of that and the parents of these students were brought in and talked with and appropriate action was taken against those students."
The mother of the boy who videotaped the assault said her child had no idea what was going to happen but also did not try to stop the attack. She said now he is very remorseful and wishes he had helped the victim. She said he has since apologized to the boy.
In the meantime, the victim's aunt said she's worried he will regress.
"This impacted him greatly. He's lost a lot of his independence. The trust that he's had is not there," she said.
Police are filing charges against his classmates in juvenile court.
The attack happened Sept. 28 in Templeton, a community about 40 miles northwest of Worcester.
The boy, whose name was not released, was beaten after stepping off the school bus near Baldwin Drive and the entire attack was captured on videotape.
"They do know he tried to fight back, but there were five of them, so there's no way he could have," his aunt said, choking back tears. "They pushed him in a mailbox and he cut his hand and they have a picture of that."
His aunt and legal guardian said the fifth-grader suffers from Asperger's syndrome.
"When I watched the tape I was devastated. I'm absolutely devastated that these kids could do this," she said.
The kids who allegedly attacked the boy had previously teased the victim. One of the children, a girl, allegedly handed a video camera to a boy and asked him to record her as she started pushing and shoving the victim as the group neared some woods.
"They have video them pushing him in the woods and him being in there and them saying, 'Kick him while he's down,' and 'Do it again,'" his aunt said.
She said her nephew returned home 15 minutes late and struggled to tell her what happened. She said bruises appeared on his legs and arms the day after the attack. She filed a police report.
The two girls and three boys who were accused of attacking the boy were suspended from the Narragansett Middle School for the week and the school held an assembly on bullying.
"We were very upset with what we saw," School Superintendent Dr. Stephen Hemman said. "We worked very well with the police and he was right on top of that and the parents of these students were brought in and talked with and appropriate action was taken against those students."
The mother of the boy who videotaped the assault said her child had no idea what was going to happen but also did not try to stop the attack. She said now he is very remorseful and wishes he had helped the victim. She said he has since apologized to the boy.
In the meantime, the victim's aunt said she's worried he will regress.
"This impacted him greatly. He's lost a lot of his independence. The trust that he's had is not there," she said.
Police are filing charges against his classmates in juvenile court.
I heard about this at the bus stop this morning. Looks like it was hush hush for awhile as it happened amonth ago and word is just getting out. None of the parents in my neighborhood had heard about this until this week. It takes a special kind of mental retardation to think its cool to have 5 kids attack 1 while another video tapes the whole thing.
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