WATERFORD, WI (WISN/CNN) – A Wisconsin mother says video shows an in-home therapist abusing her 3-year-old autistic son.
The images from the video show that 3-year-old Caeden Lowe is clearly terrified of his in-home therapist, 27-year-old Stephen Jacobs.
The video, recorded from a web camera, shows Jacobs elbowing the boy in the head, hitting him with pillows and head-butting him during a session in December.
Jacobs is now facing felony charges of abusing a child during a therapy session.
Caeden's mother, Stephanie Lowe, is emotional about the situation because she suspected something may have been wrong, but nothing like this.
"If I hadn't put a video camera downstairs, we would've never known," Lowe said.
According to the criminal complaint, Jacobs was one of several therapists from Autism Intervention of Milwaukee providing treatment to Caeden.
Caeden suffers from severe autism and cannot communicate with his parents. Lowe told investigators it appeared her son was not improving from the ongoing sessions, so she and her husband decided to install the web cameras to record her son's in-home visits.
It was on the second day that Lowe recorded Jacobs that she says the physical abuse. She was able to witness everything happening in real time upstairs on her iPad.
Lowe said that she's already received calls from other parents whose autistic children had sessions with Jacobs.
Police say it's an open investigation but have not had any official new cases.
Jacobs told investigators that he doesn't recall assaulting Caeden, and he had been studying for a college exam on his computer.
Autism Intervention of Milwaukee told news affiliate WISN they are discussing the allegations with their other therapists.
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