Parent: Caretaker Abuses Autistic Child On Video

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Parent: Caretaker Abuses Autistic Child On Video

Bereket Haile Charged With Criminal Abuse

By Carissa Lawson/WLKY

POSTED: 4:32 pm EDT September 21, 2010

UPDATED: 10:24 am EDT September 22, 2010

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The mother of a 13-year-old autistic child said a hidden

camera in her home caught a caretaker beating her son.

That caretaker is now charged with criminal abuse.

Penny Harbin said she is speaking out because both she and police believe her

son may not be the only mentally challenged person allegedly abused by this

caretaker.

" I can't imagine a day without " said Penny Harbin, but she's been forced

to imagine the possibility of losing her son after what she saw captured by a

camera hidden in a stuffed animal in her home.

She and her husband put up the camera after noticing odd behavior from Bereket

Haile, an in-home sitter provided by a nursing company to take care of her

autistic child, who doesn't speak and suffers with seizures.

" In my eyes, he would be a little more rougher than what he should be with

" she said. " My husband said, 'Something's not right here; we need to put

a camera up and see what actually is going on.' "

She described what the camera caught Haile doing to her son on Sept. 8, as she

was out and her husband was in the garage.

" I saw him take his knuckle and extend it out and continue to hit the top of his

head, " she said. " I also saw him take the TV controller and backhand and hit him

underneath the chin to where his head went back. Then I saw lay down on

the couch and very softly cry. "

Harbin said Haile spat repeatedly on her living room carpet as lay on the

couch crying.

After turning over the videotape to detectives, she said they found more abuse.

" He had received one blow that was very, very severe enough that it could have

done brain damage, " she said. " I feel like there's others out there that he has

abused or taken advantage of. "

WLKY went to Kentuckiana Nursing Service, the company that employed Haile, to

get information on Haile's background.

The CEO said Haile had a clean criminal history and his company believes it's a

good idea for families to install cameras in their homes when hiring anyone to

care for a loved one.

" Maybe this has stopped all of this, " Harbin said. " Maybe he won't be able to

work in this field again. "

The Louisville Metro Police Crimes Against Children Unit arrested Haile, but

he's now out on a $20,000 full cash bond.

Kentuckiana Nursing said once the arrest warrant was issued, Haile was

immediately terminated.

Harbin said she's had good experiences with other in-home caretakers from

Kentuckiana Nursing and she finds no fault with the company.Copyright 2010 by

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