Mistreatment Charges At School Investigated
Allegations Made Earlier This Month
POSTED: 12:57 pm EDT August 30, 2005
LENOX, Mass. -- State officials are investigating claims that students were mistreated at a school for troubled children, leading to the firing of three employees.
Jerry Burke, president and chief executive of the Hillcrest Educational Center in Lenox, said the employees -- residential child care workers who supervised the boarding school's students during nonacademic hours -- were fired after a student made the allegations earlier this month.
Burke told the Berkshire Eagle that the workers are accused of lobbing soft items, such as socks, at the students' genitals. Students who didn't flinch were rewarded with snacks. Burke said the students were fully clothed, and there were no allegations of inappropriate touching or sexual assault.
He said incidents with two students were taped by video surveillance cameras. He would not identify the employees.
Denise Monteiro, a spokeswoman for the Department of Social Services, said the agency is reviewing the case. If DSS officials determine the abuse occurred, it can refer the case to law enforcement officials for a criminal probe.
The Hillcrest campus houses 56 children ranging in age from 6 to 16. Most have suffered physical and sexual abuse and have been in psychiatric hospitals or had difficulty at other facilities.
"The students reported it back to us, and they saw it as horseplay, but we saw it as completely inappropriate," Burke said. "These kids are here for a reason, and treatment is the goal. So horseplay is unacceptable for these kids."
Monteiro said the DSS investigation is focusing on "staff behavior that crossed the line, more like horseplay which we felt was not appropriate."
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