Post by falah on Apr 13th, 2012 at 3:05pm
US school staff torture teenager with electric shocks
A shocking new video has surfaced showing the staff at a mental institution in the US state of Massachusetts use repeated electrical shocks on a disabled boy while laughing.
The footage shows 18-year-old Andre McCollins tied face down to a table and screaming with pain as staff at the Judge Rotenberg Center in Canton, Mass. applied 31 jolts of electricity over the course of seven hours.
McCollins was admitted to a nearby children's hospital later that day where doctors diagnosed him with acute stress response caused by the shocks. They also said that the shocks could have killed the boy.
The video, filmed in 2002, was played in a court just outside Boston on Tuesday despite the institution's attempts for years to suppress it.
It was released this week after a high court judge overturned a previous ruling keeping the footage from being broadcast to the public.
McCollins' mother, Cheryl McCollins, has sued the institution and three of its employees for the harsh treatment of her son ten years ago.
She told the court that she had “no idea that they tortured children in the school.”
“I couldn't turn Andre's head to the left or to the right. He was just staring straight. I took my hands and went like this (waves hand in front of her face), he didn't blink,” she added.
Lawyers for the school said the shocks were administered as “aversive” therapy, describing McCollins as an aggressive student.
Judge Rosenberg Center -- a school for disabled children -- was established in 1971 to help 'fix' children who are disruptive and intent on self-harm.
The school has been widely criticized for using electro-shock therapy to treat its disabled pupils. Two years ago the UN said the technique used there amounted to 'torture', and urged Obama administration to stop to it.
http://www.presstv.com/detail/235946.html
A shocking new video has surfaced showing the staff at a mental institution in the US state of Massachusetts use repeated electrical shocks on a disabled boy while laughing.
The footage shows 18-year-old Andre McCollins tied face down to a table and screaming with pain as staff at the Judge Rotenberg Center in Canton, Mass. applied 31 jolts of electricity over the course of seven hours.
McCollins was admitted to a nearby children's hospital later that day where doctors diagnosed him with acute stress response caused by the shocks. They also said that the shocks could have killed the boy.
The video, filmed in 2002, was played in a court just outside Boston on Tuesday despite the institution's attempts for years to suppress it.
It was released this week after a high court judge overturned a previous ruling keeping the footage from being broadcast to the public.
McCollins' mother, Cheryl McCollins, has sued the institution and three of its employees for the harsh treatment of her son ten years ago.
She told the court that she had “no idea that they tortured children in the school.”
“I couldn't turn Andre's head to the left or to the right. He was just staring straight. I took my hands and went like this (waves hand in front of her face), he didn't blink,” she added.
Lawyers for the school said the shocks were administered as “aversive” therapy, describing McCollins as an aggressive student.
Judge Rosenberg Center -- a school for disabled children -- was established in 1971 to help 'fix' children who are disruptive and intent on self-harm.
The school has been widely criticized for using electro-shock therapy to treat its disabled pupils. Two years ago the UN said the technique used there amounted to 'torture', and urged Obama administration to stop to it.
http://www.presstv.com/detail/235946.html