LAKE CLARKE SHORES, Fla. (CBS12) — **Warning: The following story may be disturbing to some.**
A West Palm Beach mother is demanding accountability and justice after she says a therapy center she trusted with her young son broke that trust in the worst way.
Diana Hernandez says a now-former therapist at Maximum Achievers physically abused her autistic, non-verbal son. The alleged incident was captured on surveillance video.
She is now calling for the center to be shut down and for the former employee to face criminal charges.
Hernandez fought back tears as she described the moment she watched the surveillance footage.
“It’s horrible. I can’t describe it,” she said.
Video shared with CBS12 News shows her young son inside the therapy room with his therapist. At first, the two appear to be tossing a ball back and forth.
Moments later, the employee is seen striking the child on his backside with a sneaker.
In the footage, the therapist also appears to throw a ball at the child and then a shoe at close range.
“That’s my biggest fear,” Hernandez said. “To see my son get hurt and not be there to protect him.”
Hernandez says her son, who is autistic and non-verbal, has been seeing the therapist in the video at Maximum Achievers for several months. He goes to the center with his twin brother, who works with a different therapist.
She says she immediately noticed something was wrong when she picked him up after a Friday evening session.
“The first thing I noticed, I saw he was shaking,” Hernandez said.
After returning home, Hernandez says she saw what appeared to be a bite mark and bruises on her son’s back and took him to the emergency room to get checked.
“The first mark I saw was the one on his ribs, and then I see the bite and then I see the bruise on his lower back,” she said. “I’m like, this is unacceptable. This could not have been done by him.”
Hernandez says she later requested surveillance footage from the center’s owner. She alleges the owner downplayed the incident and told her the therapist would not be reported to police.
“Why are you risking your whole business for this man?” she said. “You’re supposed to be taking care of my kids. I put my kids in your hands.”
Maximum Achievers told CBS12 News the employee has since been fired and that the center is cooperating with law enforcement.
“I need this man in jail,” Hernandez said “He needs to pay for what he did to my son.”
Police have not announced any charges at this time, but an investigation is ongoing.