Caretakers Allegedly Caught On Camera Abusing Autistic Man
SAN DIEGO (CBSLA.com) — Two Southland men were behind bars Thursday after a video surfaced of them allegedly abusing a San Diego man with severe autism.
KNX 1070's Tom Reopelle reports the suspects were hired to care for the 23-year-old alleged victim by his family.
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Matthew Alexander McDuffie, 27, of San Diego, and Michael Dale Garritson, 61, of Valley Center, were arrested on Wednesday after having worked for the alleged victim's family for more than two years.
A surveillance video system was set up in the victim's bedroom over a three-week period in August by the victim's mother after she reportedly found bruises on her son.
San Diego County Sheriff's Lt. James Bulwark said the family handed over more than 2,000 video recordings of the alleged abuse.
"Punching, grabbing, shoving, hair-pulling, things of that nature," said Bulwark.
Garritson was tried and acquitted in a 1979 murder case involving the death of a toddler he was babysitting in Anaheim Hills.
McDuffie and Garritson were each booked on suspicion of multiple felony counts of causing harm to a dependent adult. They are both being held on $1 million bail.
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