Milford School Failed To Tell Police About Abuse, Report Finds

A Milford residential school reportedly failed to notify police officials after it found one of its patients suffering from brutal beatings. The school allegedly cares for children and adolescents with severe developmental disabilities.

According to a 13-page report released on Thursday by the Disability Law Center, an aide at the Evergreen Center hit a 17-year-old teenage boy in the face so hard that it ruptured his eardrum. Doctors found that the victim suffered "a blunt force trauma and had 18 new and older bruises on his face, all four limbs, and his buttocks," the Boston Globe reported.

Staff Aghast At Extent Of Injuries

Robert F. Littleton Jr., the school's chief executive, and Brian Liu-Constant, its chief operating officer, called the abuse "both completely unacceptable and deeply concerning," the news outlet added.

Stanley J. Eichner, litigation director for the law center, said medical staff who treated the teen were horrified of his brutal beatings, adding that the injuries have "lasting physical and emotional harm," the Boston Globe further reported.

Failure To Notify Police

The law center blamed the school for failing to immediately notify authorities of the teen's injuries. Two weeks prior to the incident, which occurred on Halloween, school staff found bruises on the teen, with the worst of them happening at bedtime because the boy refused to put on his pajamas. The morning after, school workers found the teen "with bruises across his face and behind his left ear, which contained blood," the Boston Globe wrote.

After the incident, the aide was quickly put on leave and was fired from the school on November 4. However, it's unknown whether the aide was charged for the assault.

The law center argued that the school violated state law when it didn't call the Department of Children and Families straightaway after the teen's abuse. The school reportedly waited another day until it finished its internal investigation.

The law center also faulted the school for failing to address the boy's bruises they noticed earlier. The Milford school "acknowledges that the bruises should have raised a red flag but says its inaction does not legally constitute neglect," the Boston Globe reported. No other students were found to be physically abused, the law center said.

Resolutions

The Evergreen Center, meanwhile, said it has now added a new staff with training on behavioral problems, more team meetings, and "modified several job descriptions to include a six-month probation with greater supervision." In addition, the school "has clarified its policy on notifying police of abuse and begun requiring demoted staff members to discuss new roles with a supervisor," the Boston Globe wrote.