Four workers were arrested in Hampton Bay, NY at a home for the severely mentally disabled. The four were running their version of a fight club with the residents. One of the workers even used her cellphone to record the resident’s abuse. Police stated that four workers, Erin McHenry, Justin McDonald , Stephen Komara and Rosemary Vanni, are facing felony charges including endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person. Special Prosecutor Jacqueline Kagan of the NY Justice Center for Protection of People with Special Needs stated, “These defendants encouraged two developmentally disabled adults to participate in, what I said on record, is a developmentally disabled fight club. They encouraged them to strike each other – one knocking over the other in the wheelchair – and then rewarding them with praise.”
The abuse was inflicted on two men in their 50s who have the mental maturity of pre-school children. The situation came to light when one of the workers emailed footage of the fight to a friend. The person receiving the footage became so disturbed they called a hotline setup to report abuse of the developmentally disabled. In the video, the workers are heard laughing loudly. Now, each worker is in jail on $10,000 bail. The residents of the home are now safe and the laughter from these workers has been silenced.
