Staff members charged with assaulting students at special needs school in Berkshires
Five staff members were charged Sunday with assaulting disabled students at a special needs school in the Berkshires after authorities launched an investigation into physical and emotional abuse at the school.
Brian Puntin, Peter Meadow, James Swift, and Juan Pablo Lopez-Lucas, were arrested and charged with assault and battery on a disabled person, according to the Berkshire District Attorney’s Office.
Lopez-Lucas was also charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, officials said. Another staff member, Debra Davis, was accused of intimidation of a witness and obstruction of justice.
All five work at the Eagleton School in Great Barrington, a residential institution that caters to students with cognitive, behavioral, or developmental disabilities, including Autism and Asperger’s syndrome.
Information on their attorneys was not immediately available. They were released on personal recognizance and will be arraigned on Monday.
In a statement on Saturday, the town’s manager and police chief said that an investigation by the Great Barrington Police Department began early this month after there were accusations that staff members were physically and emotionally abusing students.
On Saturday, around 50 authorities from local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies entered the Western Massachusetts school with a search warrant, according to the Berkshire District Attorney’s office. Officials from the state’s Department of Early Education and Care accompanied investigators to ensure the safety of the students and facilitate communication with parents, authorities said.
In a statement, District Attorney David Capeless praised the efforts of investigators in uncovering “this terrible situation,’’ and vowed “to seek justice on behalf of these vulnerable victims.’’
“The investigators who carried out the execution of the search warrant Saturday night at the Eagleton School should be commended for their professionalism and sensitivity to the students’ privacy,’’ Capeless said in a statement. “The operation was conducted with minimum presence, and reports back to me indicated that normal operations at the school were not disrupted and the students were unaware of the law enforcement presence.’’
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