Police have arrested a woman accused of throwing a seven-year-old non-verbal autistic boy against a wall at a behavioral center.
The incident allegedly happened at ABA Interactive in North Richland Hills in June.
Ashley Moreno, 31, was arrested in Lubbock Thursday night on charges of injury to a child, a second-degree felony.
The owner of the center, Kiara Henry, 34, was arrested on the charges of failure to report which is a state-jail felony. She was in custody at the Tarrant County Jail as of Thursday morning.
The arrest happened days after a lawsuit was filed against the center.
KERA News previously reported that the boy's parents noticed their son had a large scratch and several bruises on his face after they picked him up.
The parents were told different versions of the story. Initially they were told the boy scratched himself during a behavioral episode, according to the lawsuit. They were also denied permission to see surveillance video but were later provided a copy by another therapist.
The video shows the boy patting a behavioral therapist’s lap to get her attention, according to court documents. After the therapist walked away to tend to another matter, another employee allegedly lifted him from his collar and slammed him against a wall with her hands around his neck, stepping on another autistic child in the process, according to the suit.
The lawsuit was filed in Tarrant County by attorneys with Firouzbakht Law Firm.
“It’s every parent’s worst nightmare,” trial lawyer Wesley Gould said in a statement. “This child doesn’t have the ability to vocalize what was happening to him at that place. Someone has to speak for him and that’s what we’re determined to do.”
Anyone with tips can contact Crime Stoppers of Tarrant County at 817-469-TIPS.
Got a tip? Email Megan Cardona at mcardona@kera.org.
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