Local News

Mother Claims Autistic Son Beaten In Salem Group Home

July 14, 2014 / 1:26 PM EDT / CBS Boston

SALEM (CBS) - A group home in Salem is accused of abusing one of its residents.

Teresa Carrington of Lynn claims her 37-year-old autistic son was severely beaten back in March by a worker at the home on Green Street, which is run by the May Institute.

Carrington told WBZ NewsRadio 1030 she brought her son Scott Crawford home from the live-in group facility for a weekend and noticed severe bruising all over his stomach.

The bruising was so bad, she claims, there were traces of blood found in her son's urine several days later.

Carrington said the group home told her the bruising came from workers' efforts to restrain her son.

But she told WBZ that's not what her son told her.

"Scott said the guy was boxing his stomach. So that man was hitting my son in the stomach. I really would like to see him fired from there and I would like to press charges against him because he needs to be held accountable for doing this," Carrington said.

The Salem Police Department, the Essex County District Attorney's Office, and the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health are all looking into her claims.

"My son can't help himself. How could anyone do something to someone that can't even help themselves? I can see if he would fight you, if he was trying to hurt you, then you were defending yourself, but these type of bruises, looks like you were just beating him," Carrington said.

The May Institute told WBZ it is cooperating fully with investigators and it follows prescribed procedures in their work with disabled individuals.