Sexual abuse lawsuit calls attention to the risks faced by autistic special needs students

The law firm of Cerri, Boskovich & Allard has filed a sexual abuse lawsuit (Santa Clara County Superior Court) against Trumpet Behavioral Health, LLC and its parent company, BlueSprig, claiming that the businesses were negligent for failing to supervise one of its employees leading to the sexual abuse of a special needs autistic child.

Trumpet Behavioral Health, LLC provides both home-based and center-based Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy for children, teens, and young adults with autism and intellectual disabilities. They operate multiple centers across various states and locations, including San Jose, California. In late 2023, Trumpet Behavioral Health was acquired by BlueSprig, another provider of ABA therapy.

According to the lawsuit, the San Jose parents of an autistic 11-year-old girl had engaged the services of Trumpet Behavioral Health starting in 2017 to help them with their daughter's intellectual disability. In 2020, the sessions turned home-based due to COVID and continued until the child was allegedly abused in March of 2024 by Trumpet / BlueSprig therapist Alejandro Nunez.

The lawsuit states that Trumpet / BlueSprig failed to properly monitor and supervise Nunez, leaving him alone with the young child.

"Any company that provides in-home counseling services to children has an obligation to monitor that therapist during counseling sessions given that these children have intellectual disabilities that make them vulnerable to sexual abuse," attorney Mark Boskovich said.

In this case, the lawsuit states that a plumber and his assistant happened to walk by Nunez as he was touching the young girl inappropriately. The two immediately told the family. The father then set up his laptop in the corner of the room to record the rest of the therapy session. The video captured Nunez touching the young girl inappropriately three times. San Jose Police were called and after reviewing the video, Nunez was arrested.

Prior to this young girl being assaulted by Nunez, another Trumpet behavioral therapist was arrested in Modesto, California for allegedly sexually assaulting an intellectually disabled minor during a counseling session.

Individuals with autism and other disabilities face a significantly higher risk of physical and sexual abuse compared to the general population. The Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics reported that people with disabilities are at least 2.5 times more likely to be victims of violent crimes. Even more alarming, unpublished Justice Department statistics cited by National Public Radio indicate that those with intellectual disabilities are 7 times more likely to experience sexual assault than their non-disabled peers.

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