'I would have beaten the snot out of him': Teacher's aide not sorry he punched autistic boy
A former Brooklyn teacher’s aide has said he is not sorry he punched an 11-year-old autistic boy in the face.
Milton Parker told New York Daily News he struck the boy, who has the mental capacity of a 6-year-old, as a “reflex” reaction to the boy hitting him first.
Anatoly Veltman’s parents are suing Mr Parker, along with the city of New York, over the incident in a school cafeteria in August 2014.
The legal action was mounted after Anatoly Veltman Snr finally obtained a court order for surveillance video of the incident.
The footage shows Mr Parker leaning over the boy, who is sitting at a canteen table, when the boy reaches up and hits him in the face.
Mr Parker quickly follows through with a blow to the boy’s head.
Mr Veltman, who said his son suffered a concussion from the blow and had a large “blue bruise above his eye,” is suing for $5million in damages.
He is also calling for a change in the way ‘paraprofessionals’ who work with special needs children are trained.
But Mr Parker said the surveillance video proved his point that “the kid punched me in the eye first and as a reflex he got hit back”.
“I knew it was on camera,” he said. “If it was intentional, I would have taken him to another room and beaten the snot out of him.”
The 59-year-old was charged with felony assault over the incident but was sentenced to anger management classes when he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault last April.
In 26 years working for the Department of Education, he said it was the first time he was ever struck by a student. He retired soon after and now collects a pension, the Daily News reported.
“My whole life was destroyed because of this one incident,” he told the paper.
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