L.I. Assemblyman Filing Lawsuit Charging Abuse Of Disabled, Adult Son
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- New York Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg is filing a lawsuit alleging abuse against a group home where his disabled adult son lives.
Weisenberg said the suit filed in Brooklyn federal court names AHRC Nassau and Dwayne Edwards with abusing his adult son Ricky, who suffers from cerebral palsy, three years ago.
Weisenberg said the staff alerted him to the alleged abuse.
"People on staff saw what happened to Ricky, heard what happened to Ricky," Weisenberg told 1010 WINS. "It's obvious that he was tortured, tormented and he was smacked and he was defamed verbally."
AHRC is a local chapter of the nation's largest provider of service to people with developmental disabilities.
Weisenberg said Edwards was fired but now works as a caregiver at the United Cerebral Palsy Association of Nassau County. The association didn't return calls for comment.
Edwards denied he ever abused Weisenberg's son.
An AHRC Nassau spokeswoman confirmed the firing stemmed from an abuse investigation.
"I can't take this anymore emotionally," Weisenberg said. "I can't tell you the devastation in how you go to sleep crying thinking about who is taking care of your child and who is going to be there."
The suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages.
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