The truth must be made known about this residential facility for children with autism which Neil Pollack and Patrick Paul have been in leadership.

DELMAR, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES, December 2, 2016 /EINPresswire.com/ -- In January of 2001 Neil Pollack became the CEO & Executive Director of the Anderson School which is now called the Anderson Center for Autism which is located in Staatsburg, New York. According to New York State record, as documented, the next two years were rampant with abuse http://autismschoolabuse.com/Abuse_at_Anderson_School.html . The question is why were the individuals in charge and those directly involved removed and criminally charged, the abuse was rampant? According to New York State penal laws these are crimes against our most vulnerable. Why are those involved in harming our most vulnerable protected and shielded instead of the disabled?

The attached link goes to the New York State document, which was obtained through the Freedom of Information Law. This memorandum from Mark Keegan, the Director of Quality Assurance and Investigations of the CQC (Commission on Quality of Care) to Jan Abelseth of OMRDD (Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities) which is now called OPWDD reveals the “STAGGERING” number of INDICATIONS (Substantiated or Proven) cases of child abuse at the Anderson School, again now called the Anderson Center for Autism. As you can clearly see the rampant abuse was occurring during the tenure of the Director, Neil Pollack, who began his tenure at Anderson in January of 2001. Why was he and others protected and shielded and allowed to remain in charge to date?
The State written document clearly says, “Our indication rate of 23% of all Anderson School cases is nearly four times the overall indication rate for both OMH and OMRDD facilities and Anderson accounts for a staggering 73% of all indications for OMRDD certified facilities.” It is really important to note that during this time period, there were approximately 6,000 OMRDD certified facilities. It is because there is hardly any State oversight and because the State of New York is allowing the Anderson School/Center for Autism in most cases to investigate themselves. Only God and the perpetrators of abuse really know the full scope of what is really going on behind their closed doors.
How does so much abuse and dangers to extremely vulnerable children with autism remain hidden from families of the disabled? It is important to explain some of the extremely disturbing answers. First children with autism and children with disabilities are without question discriminated against and treated as a far lower class of person than anyone without a disability. In the general population the police would be immediately involved, not so for the disabled living in residential care facilities and group homes like Anderson and thousands of others throughout New York State. Since when is it alright for facilities providing services for our disabled children to investigate reported and witnessed crimes against a disabled child? The purposeful bypassing of 911 and local emergency medical and police first responders is all about covering up crimes, injuries and even deaths internally. Bypassing the emergency 911 call systems for the disabled is discrimination, it is extremely dangerous and it is deadly in many cases throughout New York State. In this case regarding the rampant abuse at Anderson, two State agencies protected and shielded this facility from closure and all the individuals involved in either the abuse or the cover-ups from criminal prosecution and the child abuse register. So many people working in this field should never have been allowed to work in this field to begin with because many are in it for the wrong reasons.

Anderson’s Board was asked to remove Mr. Pollack and they would not. Why? Local papers in the area knew full well what was going on at Anderson, they were provided substantial documentation, but they would not write about Anderson and expose the dangers or this facility. Why? Could it be that Anderson was one of the largest providers of jobs in the area? Could it be that Anderson advertised regularly in their papers? Could it be newspapers Executives have relationships with Anderson Board members and influential figures in the community? Or could it be like on college campuses where rapes occur nobody wants these horrors out in the open because it is so ugly and it can taint any facility or areas reputation? Why would the Dutchess County District Attorney look the other way when they became aware? This is how these horrors continue and our society cannot continue to protect and shield child abusers of any child including those that physically or sexually harm children with disabilities and special needs.

It is because of the overwhelming silence and complicity by so many people that I just explained my precious son Jonathan became one of the next victims of child abuse at Anderson. Unbeknownst to us and many other families of the fact that this facility that claims to specialize in autism was extremely dangerous and had a history of abuse that far surpassed all other facilities in New York State. Jonathan was withheld meals/food for behavior modification. What type of people would do such things, such crimes? Jonathan had dozens of bruises on his body. Jonathan’s skin across the top of his toes on both feet was ripped off. Jonathan was secluded in his bedroom against his will for extended periods of time. Jonathan’s caregiver’s and one to one aides blocked Jonathan in his room instead of assisting him and keeping him safe. Jonathan’s window was covered so he could not see outside or anyone could see inside to see what was going on. Jonathan’s family pictures and toys were taken out of his room and removed from Jonathan. Other horrible things happened as well, but you get a general picture of what happened to my 11 years old non-verbal developmentally disabled son with autism. Jonathan suffered greatly at Anderson and Jonathan later was diagnosed with PTSD as a direct result from the child abuse, ultimately resulting in a legal settlement from Anderson.

The good news surrounding the horrors is that there is a New York State law now named in Jonathan’s honor and memory called “Jonathan’s Law” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan's_Law . As a direct result of the horrific abuse and neglect that Jonathan suffered at Anderson and the fact that Anderson and the State attempted to hide and conceal documents and evidence we fought and successfully got this vital new law in place to open access to abuse records and reports after Jonathan was tragically killed by his caregivers in a different New York State run facility called OD Heck located in Schenectady, New York http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/06/nyregion/boys-death-highlights-crisis-in-homes-for-disabled.html . Jonathan is in heaven now, and no sick and twisted person is ever going to abuse or neglect him again, but what about the 1,000,000 other disabled residents throughout New York State? http://www.nytimes.com/video/nyregion/100000000849083/a-failure-to-protect.html I challenge everyone that can to do everything within their power to stand up and speak out against such atrocities, crimes and discriminatory practices. Much can and must be done to end the civil rights violations, finally ensure safe care and services for our disabled, to stop the financial exploitation and profiting off the disabled and to finally treat the disabled equally.

Michael Carey
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The incredible life and horrific death of Jonathan Carey