Sexual assault lawsuit alleges inadequate supervision of residents


Austin, Texas - An Austin woman who alleges her 42-year-old daughter was sexually assaulted last year by a resident at the Willow River Farms home for adults with intellectual disabilities has sued the facility and its director for failing to properly supervise residents. According to the Statesman (June 19, 2009):

A lawsuit filed in district court in Harris County accuses Willow River Farms and its director of failing to properly supervise residents and seeks unspecified damages. Gloria Culpepper, whose 42-year-old daughter no longer lives at the facility, says her daughter was assaulted by a fellow resident.

According to the report, The Center Serving Persons with Mental Retardation, a Houston nonprofit that runs Willow River Farms, is also a defendant in the suit.

Caretaker charged with sexually abusing an 11-year-old boy

Silver Spring, Maryland - A 61-year-old man hired to care for an 11-year-old boy with autism has been charged with sexually abusing him, the DC Examiner reports. According to the report, Abdul Mohamed Kudsy

was hired by the 11-year-old’s family through Children Achieving Maximum Potential, a Rockville business that provides help to autistic children, police said. Kudsy cared for the boy during various social situations, police said. On Dec. 29, police started investigating allegations that Kudsy had abused the 11-year-old. Detectives learned Kudsy had inappropriate contact with the boy, including one occasion when he took photographs of the 11-year-old while the boy was partially clothed, police said.

Kudsy has been charged with sexual abuse of a minor and third-degree sexual abuse, and is being held in jail on $500,000 bail.

Indecent assault by caregiver in Australia

A 50-year-old Tasmanian man, who pleaded guilty to three charges of indecent assault of a 10-year-old girl with autism while she was in his care, has been sentenced to two year's jail with a one year non-parole period. As reported here, the girl, who was eight years old at the time she was assaulted, was being looked after by the man while her primary care giver was at work. In sentencing the man, the Judge described the assaults as "serious breaches of trust." He said that because the offender had been abused as a child, had pleaded guilty to the charges early in the case, and had been in counselling, he would received the shortest possible sentence.