Disabled teenager given 'electric-shock treatment as school punishment'

Andre McCollins, from New York, was 18 when he was strapped face down to a table at the Judge Rotenberg Center in Caton, Massachusetts, after failing to remove his jacket during a class.

In footage of the incident released this week, Mr McCollins is heard screaming “help me” and writhing in pain as 31 individual jolts of electricity coursed through his body over a seven-hour period.

Staff at the school were heard laughing in the background, according to reports. The boy was admitted to hospital afterwards.

Before being tied down, Mr McCollins is seen sitting at a desk, remaining motionless as staff request he remove his coat. He is then flung to the floor by an initial shock before being dragged to the table and a helmet placed on his head.

He was refused access to water, food or the bathroom, according to reports.

The school, which fought in court to suppress the video – filmed on a classroom camera in 2002, said the shocks were administered as “aversive” therapy, calling Mr McCollins an aggressive student.

Lawyers for the school claimed the shocks were part of routine therapy used to pacify mentally and emotionally troubled students.

“These are dramatic tapes, there’s no question about that,” said Edward Hinchey, a lawyer for two Rotenberg Center clinicians. “But the treatment plan at the Rotenberg Center, the treatment plan that Andre had in place on October 25, was followed.”

The student's mother Cheryl McCollins, who is suing the institution, said she had “no idea that they tortured children in the school”.

Three days after the incident, she visited her son and found him in a “catatonic” state.

“I couldn’t turn Andre’s head to the left or the right. He was just staring straight. I took my hands and went like this,” she told Fox News, waving her hand back and forth as if in front of his eyes. “He didn't blink.”

Doctors later diagnosed Mr McCollins with acute stress response caused by the shocks.

The video was released this week after a high court judge overturned a previous ruling keeping the footage from being broadcast to the public.

The court case continues.

WARNING: GRAPHIC FOOTAGE