Local News

Child with autism allegedly locked in school cupboard

He is indicating to us that he was grabbed and hit.

NSW police are currently investigating allegations a child with autism was disciplined by being locked in a dark cupboard at a Newcastle school, ABC reports.

The seven-year-old boy’s father, David Roy, said his son, who attended Kotara South Public School, was traumatised.

“It’s suggested that he was locked in a darkened cupboard with heavy objects around him,” he said.

“He is indicating to us that he was grabbed and hit.”

Mr Roy said his son, who is now home-schooled, shuts down when remembering the alleged abuse.

“He speaks after he’s passed by where the incidents happened, if we have to drive past there, and within an hour he will regress into himself and shut down,” Mr Roy said.

The boy’s case comes a day after the ABC revealed that nearly 40 incidents of New South Wales teachers have been investigated for abusing children with autism.

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