Judge Rotenberg Center founder agrees to deal with AG (Shock Treatment of Disabled Kids)

Source: Patriot Ledger

The founder of the Judge Rotenberg Center in Canton was due in Norfolk Superior Court Wednesday to answer to charges stemming from a 2007 incident in which two teenage students were given dozens of electrical shocks over a three-hour period.

Matthew Israel, 77, announced earlier this month that he is retiring as executive director of the school he founded 40 years ago as of June 1 and moving to California to be with his wife.

The Boston Globe reported Wednesday that the state attorney general’s office reached a deal with Israel. In exchange for stepping down from the residential school for disabled children with severe behavior problems, he would be sentenced to five years of probation rather than jail time.

State investigators told officials at the center to preserve video recordings of an Aug. 26, 2007, incident in which two students were given dozens of shocks as the result of a prank telephone call from a former student, a report by the Disabled Persons Protection Commission said. The tapes were destroyed despite the order from state investigators, prompting accusations of a cover-up from lawmakers and critics of the school.

An 18-year-old student from Halifax was given 77 shocks to his skin, while a 16-year-old from Virginia received 29 shocks.

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Read more: http://www.patriotledger.com/news/cops_and_courts/x1990774671/Judge-Rotenberg-Center-founder-agrees-to-deal-with-AG

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Some background on the Judge Rottenberg school here:

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/05/04/rights-group-files-urgent-appeal-alleging-torture-school-disabled/