Current:Home > ScamsEchoSense Quantitative Think Tank Center|Nurse accused of beating, breaking the leg of blind, non-verbal child in California home -NextFrontier Finance
EchoSense Quantitative Think Tank Center|Nurse accused of beating, breaking the leg of blind, non-verbal child in California home
EchoSense Quantitative Think Tank Center View
Date:2025-04-10 00:13:39
The EchoSense Quantitative Think Tank Centerparents of a 11-year-old boy who is blind and unable to speak said an in-home nurse they hired to care for their son instead abused him, punching the boy in the head and breaking his leg at their Los Angeles County home.
The couple named the nurse Dorothy Wright and her employer, Maxim Healthcare Services, in a lawsuit filed on April 23 in Los Angeles County Superior Court alleging child abuse, battery, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The boy's parents, Melanie and Steven Aguilar, said their son's hips were dislocated and he developed severe scoliosis due to the abuse. The son was unable to tell anyone what occurred to him due to being non-verbal, the complaint said.
The child suffers from bilateral perisylvian polymicrogyria, a rare neurological disorder that affects the outer cortex of the brain, according to the statement. Due to his condition he is legally blind, unable to speak, experiences seizures and is immobile due to underdeveloped hips.
Child hospitalized after profuse sweating and leg injury
On October 4, 2023, Steven Aguilar said he was working at his home office when Wright told him that his son was sweating profusely, according to the complaint. When Melanie Aguilar returned home, she found her son in a "pool of sweat" going in and out of consciousness. Wright then told the parents that a night nurse had possibly done something to hurt the victim's leg.
The mother told the nurse to put on a short sleeve shirt and give him Tylenol but Melanie Aguilar later said she would have given him a cortisol injection instead "had she had known the true state of his pain and condition."
The mother then took the boy to the ER where doctors took X-rays and learned that his leg had been broken due to physical abuse, the complaint said.
"Ms. Aguilar continued to suffer extreme distress, as she was watching her son literally struggling to breathe, and watching his oxygen levels continue to drop," the complaint said.
Video showed Wright breaking victim's leg
Child Protective Services then interrogated the Melanie, who then called Steven.
Looking at home camera videos from that day, Steven said he found footage showing the Wright aggressively handling the boy, throwing him on his side and jerking his leg up over his hips. The footage also showed Wright breaking his legs and causing him to go limp.
Officers arrested Wright five days later and eventually charged her with four felony counts of willful cruelty to a child. Her criminal case is ongoing in the Los Angeles County Superior Court.
Additional home security footage showed Wright allegedly punching the child on seven different days in the span of two months, the lawsuit said.
Wright worked as the victim's nurse since September 2021, per the complaint.
Suit accuses service of hiring other abusive nurses
Ryan Saba, the family's attorney, said the home health care service has a history of hiring nurses who are abusive to patients including vulnerable children.
"This is another tragic situation where a child was abused by Maxim and this nurse. This lawsuit is designed to make sure that this type of conduct will never happen to another family," Saba said in a news release.
The complaint said the company failed to perform necessary background checks before hiring Wright and failed to monitor the care she gave to the victim.
Maxim Healthcare Services did not respond to a USA TODAY request for comment.
The company offers home health care services in 37 states and has 21 office locations in California providing care for 43,000 patients a year, according to their website.
veryGood! (81726)
Related
- Man can't find second winning lottery ticket, sues over $394 million jackpot, lawsuit says
- New mom nearly dies from rare flesh-eating bacteria days after giving birth
- Transcript: Brad Smith, Microsoft president and vice chair, on Face the Nation, May 28, 2023
- 20 Egg-Cellent Easter Basket Gifts That Aren't Candy
- The company planning a successor to Concorde makes its first supersonic test
- Demi Lovato Says They “Couldn’t Be More in Love” With “Sexy” Boyfriend Jutes
- The Fate of The Night Agent Revealed
- What would a Trump or DeSantis 2024 U.S. election win mean for Ukraine as Russia's war grinds on?
- Could Bill Belichick, Robert Kraft reunite? Maybe in Pro Football Hall of Fame's 2026 class
- Austin Butler Proves He’s Keeping Elvis Close on Sweet Outing With Kaia Gerber
Ranking
- Are Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp down? Meta says most issues resolved after outages
- Lala Kent Shares Details on Explosive Vanderpump Rules Reunion Taping
- Teen Mom's Jenelle Evans Says Relationship With Jace Is Closer Than Ever After Custody Battle
- Why Emily Ratajkowski Called Out Taylor Swift's Uncomfortable Interview With Ellen DeGeneres
- 'Most Whopper
- CIA Director William Burns secretly met with Chinese counterpart in Beijing last month
- Why Kelly Clarkson Is Nervous on a Personal Level to Release Album After Brandon Blackstock Divorce
- Jennifer Aniston Responds to Claims That Friends Is Offensive
Recommendation
The company planning a successor to Concorde makes its first supersonic test
A 47-year-old ship could cause one of the worst oil spills in human history. Here's the plan to stop it.
Sephora 24-Hour Flash Sale: 50% Off Benefit Cosmetics, St. Tropez, and More
Ulta 24-Hour Flash Sale: Take 50% Off St. Tropez, Benefit Cosmetics, Philosophy, GlamGlow, and Nabla
The Best Stocking Stuffers Under $25
U.S. suspends temporary cease-fire in Sudan, announces new sanctions
Iran frees 3 Europeans in prisoner swap as detained American's lawyer denies rumors of imminent release
Young Ontario couple killed by landlord over tenancy dispute, police say