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Fairview Developmental Center

Brother Seeks Justice for Autistic Man's Death

Submitted by Landon Bryce on Thu, 04/19/2012 - 15:27
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There have been no arrests made following the 2007 death of Larry Ingraham's autistic brother Van at the Fairview Developmental Center in California, despite the suspicions a doctor relayed to Larry:

A neurosurgeon told him that Van had a broken neck and a crushed spinal cord.

"And he told me adamantly that he felt that this was done to Van," he says. "That it was not an accident."

Van died six days later.

Three outside medical experts raised alarm about the way Van died. One said his broken neck was likely a homicide.

But Fairview's staff maintained that Van's injuries were caused by a fall from his bed. A retired police officer, Larry blames himself for missing what he now suspects were earlier signs of abuse: broken bones, abrasions and a black eye.

"I should have known that something was going on. The signs were there," Larry says. "I was a cop, you know? I was his brother, and my job was to make sure that everything's OK."

Larry is still trying to get the Orange County District Attorney to investigate. The fact that no charges have been made in Van's death is not unusual-- out of hundreds of cases of abuse that have taken place at California homes for the the developmentally disabled, there have been only two criminal investigations that resulted in arrests since 2006.

 

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