Two Arrested in Beating of Nonverbal Autistic Teen

TYLER — Two East Texas men have been arrested for reportedly beating a nonverbal autistic teenager in the head as well as choking him, according to an arrest warrant obtained by our news partner KETK. Authorities say Bubacarr Ceesay, 24, was captured on a hidden camera hitting a 19-year-old man, who is nonverbal, with a shoe on his head. The victim has to be helped to the restroom during the night, and Ceesay was reportedly seen hitting him with his shoe to wake him up. The video was taken after the victim’s father set up a hidden camera because he “wanted to see what [he] did every day.”

According to another arrest warrant, Auston Reed, 23, was captured on video grabbing the teen by the neck, and hit him in the side of the head with an open hand, causing the victim’s head to snap to the side. The 19-year-old cannot speak, so he was unable to communicate what was happening to him, according to the warrant. The abuse happened at a group home owned by a company called Community Access in Tyler. Buddy Smith III, the home manager, confirmed to police that Ceesay was the one on video and that timesheet records show that he was the only one working at the time of the assault. According to the warrant, Ceesay and Reed initially denied to police in an interview that they were the ones assaulting the victim. After police showed them the video, both reportedly confessed that they were the assailants.

Tonya Moses, the Vice President of Community Access in Tyler, sent this statement regarding the incident: “We are devastated and horrified that this happened to one of our loved ones. The individuals we serve are our family and we will not tolerate any type of mistreatment. We do our best to hire, train and retain employees and associates that are passionate about providing quality personalized care. Upon learning of this, we immediately reported it to the authorities and removed the employees from our payroll. The employees involved are no longer employed with Community Access and we are currently working with investigators on the matter. Community Access has served individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities for 29 years providing quality care.”