Father sues state over assault of disabled son

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Father sues state over assault of disabled son

Lawsuit: Adult son was sexaully assaulted at Austin living center

By Corrie MacLaggan AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Published: 8:53 p.m. Wednesday, July 21, 2010

The father of a disabled man is suing the Austin State Supported Living Center

two years after his son was violently sexually assaulted in a community shower

at the institution, according to the lawsuit.

The son, a resident of the facility for people with mental disabilities, has

autism, epilepsy and hearing impairment and is unable to speak, the lawsuit

says. Because of those conditions, he was supposed to have a staff member in his

immediate presence 24 hours a day, the suit says.

But on July 19, 2008 , the then-23-year-old was left unattended, and a fellow

resident of the facility rammed a blunt object, believed to be a toilet plunger,

into his rectum, the court document says.

" He was found by the staff lying on the floor, bleeding heavily, with his

insides (intestines; bowels) hanging below his knees, " says the lawsuit, filed

last week in state District Court in County.

He was rushed to the hospital with internal injuries, the suit says.

The lawsuit alleges that staff members " egregiously breached their duty of

supervision. "

" He was never to be left unattended or alone, let alone in the immediate

presence of a known, mentally ill, and violent assailant, unguarded,

unprotected, and vulnerable, " the lawsuit says.

Lowery , a spokeswoman for the Department of Aging and Disability

Services , declined to comment on the case because it involves pending

litigation.

No one has been charged in the case, which is under investigation, said Austin

police spokeswoman Veneza Aguiñaga .

The accused assailant is named as a defendant in the suit, as are the state

agencies that oversee the living center.

The American-Statesman has a policy against naming victims of sexual assault,

and the newspaper is not naming the suspect because he has mental disabilities

and has not been charged.

Texas' 13 living centers are under scrutiny from the U.S. Department of Justice,

which in 2008 reported that they fail to protect residents from harm.

Independent monitors are surveying the facilities as part of a 2009 settlement

between Texas and the Justice Department.

The victim is still at the living center because his family cannot afford to

move him elsewhere, said Schaefer , a lawyer representing the victim and

his father.

" He is still having a rough time, " Schaefer said. " He has been greatly affected

by this tragedy. "