The parents of twin autistic boys were given a $45 million judgement after alleging their sons were physically assaulted at their Malibu elementary school.
The complaint filed by Charles and Nadine Wong said that administrators of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District failed to disclose the abuse to authorities when staff reported it.
Outcome will Bring About Change
Charles Wong stated in an interview with East County Gazette, “I believed that we can now verify what they did.” “It is now public knowledge, and the jury saw it.”
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According to the complaint, Christian and Christopher Wong were physically mistreated by personnel at Juan Cabrillo Elementary School in Malibu.
The district was accused of not doing anything. They are now twelve years old. When they were assaulted, they were eight years old.
Attorney Omar Qureshi, who is part of the Wongs’ legal team, said that a school bus driver first told managers about the abuse, and then a school worker did the same.
Qureshi stated, “A teacher at the school reported child abuse.” “As a result, the sheriffs were dispatched to the Wongs’ home to check on the boys, and it was then that the family learned about the mistreatment in the classroom.”
The nonverbal twins were unable to inform their parents what was happening to them. According to Charles and Nadine, though, there were indications that something was amiss.
The Wongs said that their sons were acting very mean toward them, which was something they had never done before.
Nadine Wong stated, “As a mom, you know something is wrong when your child treats everyone differently. You recognise yourself, and when you look at your child, you wonder, ‘What happened to you?’ However, they cannot tell us. “
Dr. Ben Drati Speaks
Dr. Ben Drati, who is in charge of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, said the following:
“Nothing is or could ever be more essential to us than the safety and security of each and every kid.
Our continuous commitment to kids with special needs is crucial to the success of our whole school system, and we are dedicated to ensuring that nothing like what has been alleged here will ever occur in the future.
We must always look back at our mistakes, but we are also determined to keep tens of thousands of future students safe and make sure that a punishment that is too harsh won’t hurt the quality of education for an entire generation.”
The district allegedly told another media site that administrators were working with the district’s legal staff to determine how to react to a verdict that they thought was not warranted by the facts given.
Their parents said that the twin boys are currently going to a private school for kids with autism.
