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First grader arrested for assault
i saw this on the news last night.....glad they are dropping charges. kid's autistic and attacked a couple teachers
A juvenile court magistrate has rejected a bid from Falmouth police to charge a 7-year-old boy for assaulting staffers at his local elementary school, an advocate for the child’s family said.
Police had filed a criminal complaint last month against the first-grader at Teaticket Elementary School, for allegedly pulling his teacher to the ground by her hair on Feb. 3 and punching a teacher’s aide in the nose and grabbing her breast two days later, according to Toni Saunders of Associated Advocacy Center in Sandwich, a group representing the boy in the case.
Saunders said that a magistrate declined to charge the child with assault and battery on a public employee at a hearing today, instead recommending that the school department meet with the boy’s family to devise a behavioral treatment plan.
‘‘[That] should have been done in the first place,’’ said Saunders, adding that school officials have refused to acknowledge the child’s autism, with which he was diagnosed by a neurologist at Boston Medical Center.
The boy, who the Globe is not naming because of his age, was enrolled in a small class for students with behavioral challenges at the time of the assaults, Saunders said, but the treatment was lacking.
The boy’s mother said the school has offered private tutoring and placement at a behavioral facility in Buzzard’s Bay. She said she wants the school district to send her son to a new private school in Dennis designed ‘‘specifically’’ for autistic children, adding that her son must return to a classroom soon.
‘‘The more and more he’s not in school, the more and more he will regress,’’ she said.
The child has been out of school since Feb. 5, Saunders said. He was suspended for three days, but has remained out of school pending negotiations with the school department, Saunders said, adding that Falmouth police have 10 days to appeal the magistrate’s decision.
Falmouth police Chief Anthony J. Riello and Superintendent Marc Dupuis could not be reached for comment today.
A juvenile court magistrate has rejected a bid from Falmouth police to charge a 7-year-old boy for assaulting staffers at his local elementary school, an advocate for the child’s family said.
Police had filed a criminal complaint last month against the first-grader at Teaticket Elementary School, for allegedly pulling his teacher to the ground by her hair on Feb. 3 and punching a teacher’s aide in the nose and grabbing her breast two days later, according to Toni Saunders of Associated Advocacy Center in Sandwich, a group representing the boy in the case.
Saunders said that a magistrate declined to charge the child with assault and battery on a public employee at a hearing today, instead recommending that the school department meet with the boy’s family to devise a behavioral treatment plan.
‘‘[That] should have been done in the first place,’’ said Saunders, adding that school officials have refused to acknowledge the child’s autism, with which he was diagnosed by a neurologist at Boston Medical Center.
The boy, who the Globe is not naming because of his age, was enrolled in a small class for students with behavioral challenges at the time of the assaults, Saunders said, but the treatment was lacking.
The boy’s mother said the school has offered private tutoring and placement at a behavioral facility in Buzzard’s Bay. She said she wants the school district to send her son to a new private school in Dennis designed ‘‘specifically’’ for autistic children, adding that her son must return to a classroom soon.
‘‘The more and more he’s not in school, the more and more he will regress,’’ she said.
The child has been out of school since Feb. 5, Saunders said. He was suspended for three days, but has remained out of school pending negotiations with the school department, Saunders said, adding that Falmouth police have 10 days to appeal the magistrate’s decision.
Falmouth police Chief Anthony J. Riello and Superintendent Marc Dupuis could not be reached for comment today.
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