Bullying of a Developmentally Disabled Teen by Younger Children

My question involves criminal law for the state of: New York

Hello,

My son is 17, autistic and needs constant care. His cousin is 11 and is aware of his condition. One weekend, me and my husband left him at his cousins and when he returned his behavior had regressed; he now sleeps with the lights on and wears a diaper.

A video was posted on his cousin's YouTube channel (since deleted) called "bullying a retard". My son was pinned and sat on the neck, his cousin said he wouldn't let go until he repeated a vulgar statement about me and my husband; when refused he was spat on in the face. My son has regular panic attacks met with screaming and when this happened, his cousin muffled the screaming by wrapping his legs around my son's throat. My son passed out from the pressure and urinated himself. The video was seen by most of his school which has caused great embarrassment.

The video lasted for an unnecessary 8 minutes and me and my husband are seriously considering suing (we have a copy of the video). Before spending money on lawyers though, we want to know what kind of case we have here and what chance we would have in court.

Best wishes.

First you need to call the cops.

They were called but all they did was speak to him.

Part of the problem could be the age of the suspect. I am not wholly familiar with NY law on the subject, but prosecuting an 11 year old for assault may not be practical or realistic under the laws of your state. Though, it might be possible to pursue charges against older children or adults that encouraged or may have permitted the attack.

You can - and probably should - prevent any further contact between the cousins that allowed or encouraged this act.

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Quoting anonymoused

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They were called but all they did was speak to him.

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You do realize that if you sue anyone it would have to be your sister? Are you really sure that you want to cause that much family damage?

Surely I can go to the family court of juvenile delinquency though? My son is frail, he weighs only 110 pounds and is a sensitive boy. His cousin, while not big for his age has experience in wrestling and knows when he's supposed to let go. I think if the courts just saw the video that they would prosecute, it could have killed him and he was squeezing for about 30 seconds after unconsciousness. I will find it hard to prevent contact of my other son with his cousin as they go to the same classes, I've told a teacher to watch them but there's only so much they can do.

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Quoting anonymoused

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Surely I can go to the family court of juvenile delinquency though? My son is frail, he weighs only 110 pounds and is a sensitive boy. His cousin, while not big for his age has experience in wrestling and knows when he's supposed to let go. I think if the courts just saw the video that they would prosecute, it could have killed him and he was squeezing for about 30 seconds after unconsciousness. I will find it hard to prevent contact of my other son with his cousin as they go to the same classes, I've told a teacher to watch them but there's only so much they can do.

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No, you cannot go to the family court of juvenile delinquency. The child was not arrested. You can approach the prosecutor to see if they will try the child even though the police did not arrest him, but since he is only 11, I do not know if you will get anywhere with that.

Did you actually save the video so that it could be seen by the prosecutor?

Also, please realize that any legal action that you take will cause extreme discord in your family. Make sure that you are willing to accept and deal with that.

If the prosecutor chooses to try the boy, your sister by law will have to be notified. Not only that, by law she will have to be involved with her son's case + accompany him to court. There's no getting around involving your sister.

Okay, I will approach the prosecutor. We do have a copy and I'm sure he'll consider when seeing the violence. Percentage wise, can you estimate our odds of being successful?

I am aware of the potential fall out, but I would argue that the boy's actions have already created an extreme discord among my family.

Thank you for helping, it's been informative.

No one here can estimate the chances of your success with pursuing prosecution.

I noticed you didn't respond the rather direct questions as to whether you're willing to cause what is politely called discord, Why is that? Are you prepared for setting off a nuclear bomb in your family? Have you even discussed this with your sister? this will cause a rift in your family for years. I know that this is a legal issue but it is one that you'll have to face whether or not the prosecutor chooses to proceed. I would guess that the rift is already there and it's only going to get worse.

You never addressed whether or not you have the video. Do you? Is it archived on a storage device you own? If not how is it, exactly, that you intend to show it to the prosecutor?