Child with autism abused by therapist at North Texas behavioral center, lawsuit alleges

A behavioral center in North Texas is being sued for more than $1 million after being accused of hiding and falsifying details about the physical attack of a little boy diagnosed with nonverbal autism.

Ramila Chalise and Prabesh Poudel have taken legal action against ABA Interactive, an applied behavioral analysis (ABA) center in North Richland Hills, where they had enrolled their 7-year-old son, known in the lawsuit as "Y.P."

The suit accused ABA Interactive of vicarious liability, negligence, negligent hiring, training, supervision, retention, and gross negligence. The parents are seeking putative damage due to the reported physical pain and suffering and mental anguish suffered by their son.

The alleged assault happened on Thursday, June 20, in the 8200 block of Mid-Cities Boulevard.

In the legal document, Poudel, the child's father, said he arrived at the center after work to pick up his son. Poudel said that as he was walking past the owner and director of ABA Interactive, Kiara Henry, she told him that there was an incident report waiting for him that he needed to sign.

Poudel then received the incident report from another employee, stating that his son had a behavioral episode and "scratched himself."

The form, provided by the parents' attorneys at Firouzbakht Law Firm, said during the event, "Y.P. engaged in maladaptive behavior where he began to have a tantrum and scratched the right side of his face." The report further documented that before the episode happened, "Y.P. was sitting down participating in circle time and listening to a story."

According to the lawsuit, Poudel asked what triggered the episode, but the employee explained they were absent and had no more information than in the report. The father said he signed the report as requested but had serious reservations about what happened because his son never harmed himself before.

The lawsuit stated that both parents echoed concerns about the incident involving their son, as no one from the behavior center informed them about what happened.

The child's mother, Chalise, said that evening she spoke with another therapist at the facility and asked for details about the incident, who was also reportedly absent at the time. The document said the next day, ABA Interactive's director called Chalise and explained she spoke with the employees involved in the incident.

Upon Chalise's request to view video evidence of the incident, Henry declined, citing the presence of other children in the video and another parent's objection. Henry then provided additional details during a subsequent visit to the parents' home.

According to the suit, Henry told the parents that Y.P. had allegedly struck a staff member. When he continued to be agitated, another staff member restrained him by gently lifting him by the collar. During this time, Y.P. reportedly scratched himself while both staff members turned their backs to the camera.

Chalise expressed surprise at the delayed disclosure and questioned why this information was not included in the incident report. Henry then informed them that the staff member involved had been suspended from providing care at the center and now only offered care in an in-home setting, the lawsuit said.

The document stated that the parents were later contacted by another therapist at the center, who claimed Henry was keeping the video hidden and that they believed something wasn't right. Days later, another therapist told them they had gotten a copy of the video and showed it to them. 

The suit described what reportedly happened in the video. It stated that Y.P. was seen patting the employee on the lap with his hands but in an attention-seeking rather than an aggressive way. Another staff member was seen picking Y.P. up by his collar and pushing him into a corner, stepping on another child on the way, and throwing Y.P. against a wall with her hands around his neck.

According to the document, Chalise and Poudel went to the North Richland Hills Police Department and filed a report based on what they saw.

In a news release, North Richland Hills police confirmed they did receive a call on Thursday, June 27, about an alleged assault on a child at ABA Interactive Therapy Center.

The police department stated that, following further investigation, they discovered multiple unreported complaints against an unnamed therapist at the behavior center. As a result, they have issued an arrest warrant for injury to a child, a second-degree felony. As of Tuesday, no arrests have been made.

Authorities said they are still investigating and working with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulations regarding potential violations for failure to report child abuse.

"The North Richland Hills Police Department remains committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of all children in our community," the agency said on Tuesday.

North Richland Hills police also encourage anyone with information about the incident to call them at 817-427-7030.

NBC 5 contacted ABA Interactive for a statement regarding the incident and lawsuit, but as of Tuesday, we have not received a response.