IL: Special education teacher acquitted of abuse charges

Evidence that instructor at Schaumburg junior high hurt autistic kids was weak, judge says

By Jeff Long | Tribune reporter

December 18, 2008
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-autism-teacher-18dec18,0,5302857.story

A judge found Patrick McCarthy, 32, not guilty of hurting autistic children.

A former special education teacher was acquitted Wednesday of charges that he physically abused autistic students at a Schaumburg junior high.

"It's like a weight removed off me," Patrick McCarthy said after getting a hug from his brother, Mike, 21, who has Down syndrome. "It finally clears my name."

The verdict came at the end of a bench trial before Judge John Scotillo in the Rolling Meadows branch of Cook County Circuit Court. 

McCarthy, 32, of Palatine had been charged with aggravated battery and unlawful restraint. He was accused of using excessive force to control three autistic students at Frost Junior High School during the first month of the 2007-08 school year.

Testifying in his own defense, McCarthy denied that he had used a jump rope to tie a student to a chair and that he had pushed another student into a wall.

He also denied he had forced a student to jump for 30 to 40 minutes on a trampoline while wearing a weighted vest.

He said he used the trampoline, a common practice for calming special-needs children, for shorter periods.

Asked by defense lawyer Thomas Breen whether he ever intentionally harmed students, McCarthy replied, "No way."

In acquitting McCarthy, Scotillo said there was not enough evidence to prove the battery charges and added that nothing showed McCarthy went beyond "accepted practice" in using the trampoline.

McCarthy was arrested in September 2007, after two teacher aides alleged he had abused students, then 11 and 12, in his classroom. 

He had taught for three years in Schaumburg-based Community Consolidated School District 54 before being fired.

McCarthy said after the verdict that he might try to return to teaching—but said his reputation has been tarnished and he is unsure what will happen next.

"To get accused of these things was so hurtful," he said. "I'm just glad it's over."

McCarthy became a special-education teacher after growing up with his brother. During a break in testimony, the two chatted about presents that Mike McCarthy wants for Christmas. And before Scotillo announced his verdict, Mike McCarthy leaned across the courtroom rail to give his brother a hug.

"I wanted to make a difference in these kids' lives," Patrick McCarthy said.

jjlong@tribune.com