http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/2011/05/052511jrc.htm

JRC Founder Steps Down, Accepts 5 Years Probation To Avoid Jail Time
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
May 25, 2011

CANTON, MASSACHUSETTS-- Faced with the possibility of serving jail time, Dr.
Matthew Israel has agreed to step down as the director of the Judge
Rotenberg Educational Center, and accept five years probation.

 Ironically, the criminal charges against Israel have nothing to do with the
fact that his the program he founded uses pain to control the behavior of
hundreds of young people with disabilities. Instead, he was accused of
destroying some video surveillance tapes that purportedly documented what
happened in one JRC home nearly four years ago.

 At 2 o'clock on the night of August 26, 2007, staff at the home received a
series of phone calls from a person who identified himself as a quality
control monitor from JRC headquarters. On that person's orders, the staff
woke the three residents in the early morning hours of August 26, then
delivered skin shocks 77 times to an 18-year-old resident and 29 times to a
16-year-old resident.

 They were told that the two-second skin shocks, which have been described
as a "hard pinch" or a "bee sting", were to be given because of behaviors
the youngsters made earlier in the evening. The caller did not say what the
alleged behaviors were, and the staff did not further ask why the
punishments were to be given.

 The staff later realized that the calls were part of a hoax. It turned out
that the caller was a former resident who had run away from JRC and knew the
residents and the layout of the building.

 Investigators later learned that one resident was restrained to a 4-point
board during the shocks -- even though this "movement limitation" had not
been approved -- and that staff had failed to seek treatment for one of the
residents for first-degree burns made by the electrodes used to zap him.

 Last week, Israel was indicted on charges of misleading a grand jury and
accessory after the fact to a crime. Prosecutors said he had ordered one of
his employees to erase the tapes of the 2007 incident.

 According to the Patriot-Ledger, state Attorney General Martha Coakley said
the result was what her office wanted.

 "We believe that Dr. Israel created a system and environment that failed to
prevent a lapse of this magnitude," Coakley said in a press statement.

 The Judge Rotenberg Educational Center is the only program in the United
States that is allowed to use such "aversive therapy" to change behavior of
people with disabilities. About one-half of the 225 'students' in the
program are required to wear battery packs connected to the electrodes
attached to their arms, legs, or torso. They are under 24-hour surveillance.
Staff are required to use remote controls to activate the devices, for such
behaviors as self-injury or assault, but also for such things as failing to
complete school work, standing up, or talking out of turn.

 Earlier this month, Israel, 77 had announced he would be retiring and
moving to California. He did not mention the August 2007 incident in his
resignation letter.

Related:
Founder of electric shock autism treatment school forced to quit (Guardian)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/25/electric-shock-autism-treatment-
school
Report: JRC Staff Asked No Questions While Zapping Youths During Prank
Calls -- Dec. 19, 2007 (Inclusion Daily Express Archives)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/archives/07/12/19/121907majrcabuse.htm
Judge Rotenberg Center -- Facility Uses Electric Shock To Change Behavior
(Inclusion Daily Express Archives)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/institutions/ma/jrc.htm

Copyright © 2011 Inonit Publishing
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/2011/05/052511jrc.htm

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