A Florida therapist was caught on video beating a young nonverbal boy with autism with a shoe, a tennis racket, and a book.
Reylan Cortes-Garnier, 28, was charge with child abuse without great bodily harm for the incident, which took place on February 20 at a West Palm Beach facility, Law&Crime reports.
The boy’s mother, Diana Hernandez, told the station that she was horrified when she saw the surveillance footage from Maximum Achievers.
The video, shared with WPEC, shows the child in the therapy room with the therapist, first tossing a ball with him. Then, suddenly, Cortes-Garnier hits the boy on teh backside with a sneaker and appears to throw the ball and a shoe at the child from close range.
“That’s my biggest fear,” Hernandez said. “To see my son get hurt and not be there to protect him.”
Hernandez said she picked up her son from his session that day and found him shaking. Once home, she found what appeared to be a bite mark and bruises on his back. She took him to an emergency room.
“The first mark I saw was the one on his ribs, and then I see the bite and then I see the bruise on his lower back,” she said. “I’m like, this is unacceptable. This could not have been done by him.”
Hernandez said she requested the surveillance footage from the center. At first, she said, the owner downplayed the incident.
But the center now says Cortes-Garnier has been fired and they are cooperating with police.
“I need this man in jail,” Hernandez said “He needs to pay for what he did to my son.”
Cortes-Garnier has since posted a $7,500 bond, Law&Crime said. His next court date is set for March 29.
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[Featured image: WPEC screenshot]
