STAATSBURG, NY- A 51-year-old New York resident alien who worked as a school aid at a school for autistic children pleaded guilty to felony charges and is facing possible deportation, The New York Post reports.
Garnet Collins was caught on tape grabbing and dragging an autistic Queens student by his testicles at the Anderson Center for Autism located in Staatsburg, located about 10 miles north of Poughkeepsie. New York City and state taxpayers pay for the student’s tuition and room and board. The institution has a history of abuse of students, The Post reported. It is believed this incident marked the worst case of abuse of youth at a New York institution in years. The Anderson Center collects millions from New York taxpayers to educate students with severe autism.
“My son is going to have PTSD for years,” the victim’s father told The Post. “He’s suffering. He remembers. He calls out, ‘Garnet, no, no, no!”
The whistleblower who recorded the abuse, who the institution fired after coming forward, testified that similar assaults occur regularly at Anderson. The victim’s father said the supervisors at the school “turned a blind eye.” He demanded authorities investigate the school for possible criminal negligence and wants state legislators to mandate surveillance cameras in public areas of such schools.
During court testimony last week, Collins told Judge Edward McLoughlin, “I hold him by his waist, your honor.” The judge interrupted him, asking, “My understanding is that in an attempt to control this person with this condition, you grabbed him by his genitals, and you hurt him. Is that fair?”
“Yes, your honor,” Collins answered. He pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of an incompetent person.
In the whistleblower video, Collins is shown grabbing the victim’s crotch and yelling,” Go to your room!” while the youth screams out in pain for his mother.
Collins also admitted to hitting another autistic student in the head with a laptop, causing an injury. As part of his plea deal, that charge was dropped.
The same whistleblower who recorded the first incident also recorded the second.
According to The Post, the video captured only 28 seconds of what the whistleblower called 30 minutes of “torture.” Last August, the parents brought the video to state police, who arrested Collins. The whistleblower told the parents his supervisor told him that “what happens at Chestnut House stays at Chestnut House,” a claim that a spokesperson for the Anderson Center denied.
“We have no reason to believe that was ever said.”
The whistleblower was described as a young man from Malawi who was recruited to live on-site and care for the autistic residents. After his dismissal, he risked losing his J1 visa for a work exchange program.
The spokesperson said the whistleblower was terminated for “violating our drug use policy, inappropriate cell phone use during duties, failure to attend training, and sleeping during his training program.” They said he was offered housing and a living stipend so that he would be available during the investigation.
In 2003, 13-year-old Jonathan Carey, a 13-year-old autistic child, was transferred out of Anderson after his parents learned the institution withheld food from the boy in punishment for him taking off his shirt at the wrong time.
He suffocated to death in another facility in 2007 while being restrained.
Last year, the Anderson Center agreed to pay $440,000 to the family of Johnathan Ballard, 23, who became ill after ingesting late gloves at the facility, according to court records.
“There is plainly a culture of abuse and retaliation at Anderson,” said Ilann Maazel, a civil rights lawyer who won the Carey case and who now represents Collins’ victim.
The Anderson Center denied those claims at the time, with a spokesperson saying:
“Over the last century, we’ve developed a global reputation as a leader in caring for individuals with autism and developmental disabilities. The allegations of reprehensible conduct are entirely contrary to our values, and we are actively cooperating with the state authorities in their thorough investigation, which is still ongoing.”
As Collins sobbed in court, the judge told him, “I can’t imagine how upset and hurt and distraught the families of your victims were when they found out what happened to their loved one. I understand it’s a bad day for you. It might be a lifelong issue for them.”
The judge noted that as a resident alien, Collins could face deportation and be paroled to immigration officials at any time after starting his prison term. Collins currently faces one to three years in prison.
“The sentence is much too lenient,” said Maazel. “It’s part of a pattern of law enforcement not taking seriously the abuse and neglect of disabled people.”