Parents heartbroken as school employee repeatedly abused and locked their son with Down syndrome in closet, storage cage

A lawsuit filed in federal court by heartbroken parents accuses an employee of a rural Kansas school district of repeatedly abusing a 15-year-old teenager with Down syndrome.

The suit alleges that the paraprofessional assigned to the teen shoved him into a utility closet multiple times, struck him, and once locked him in a cage used to store athletic equipment.

The paraprofessional allegedly took a photograph of the boy in the cage and shared it with other district staff, comparing the teen to an animal and mocking his condition.

The teen’s parents claim that the paraprofessional did not have a key to the cage and had to seek assistance from other staff members to release their son, identified only by his initials in the complaint. It remains unclear how long the teenager was trapped in the cage.

The lawsuit names the paraprofessional, other special education staff and the Kaw Valley school district, which is based in St. Marys, Kansas, and enrolls about 1,100 students. The district has not yet responded to the lawsuit, and no attorneys are listed for them in online court records.

According to the lawsuit, the mistreatment of the teen, who communicates in short, abbreviated sentences, was unwarranted and based on “no behaviors whatsoever, or for minor behaviors” related to his disability.

The paraprofessional is also accused of verbally abusing the boy, yelling derogatory words inches from his face daily and physically pulling him by the shirt collar around the school on a weekly basis.

Additionally, the lawsuit alleges that the paraprofessional struck the teen in the neck and face and forced him to remain in soiled clothing for extended periods, denying him food during lunchtime.

Some staff members reportedly raised concerns with the special education teacher overseeing the paraprofessional and the district’s special education director, but the lawsuit claims that neither intervened, despite previous complaints about the paraprofessional’s treatment of disabled students.

The defendants described their actions as “tough love” and claimed it was necessary to handle the teen in that manner.

The special education director instructed staff not to report their concerns to the state child welfare agency. However, after the teen’s parents raised concerns, a district employee did report the situation to the agency, citing abuse and neglect.

No criminal charges or disciplinary actions have been filed against the paraprofessional or any other employees named in the suit. The alleged abuse has had a significant impact on the teen, causing his behavior to deteriorate.

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The teen is now afraid to leave his home, has stopped using his words, and increasingly punches himself in the head out of distress, according to the suit.