Principal of Harlem Charter School Arrested For Assaulting 7-year-old Boy With Autism

A principal at Harlem Hebrew Language Academy charter school, located in Manhattan, NY, was arrested on Thursday for assaulting a young student with Autism, according to law enforcement.

The Daily News reported that the principal, 43-year-old Jason Epting, assaulted a 7-year-old boy causing his forehead to gush with blood during an incident that happened in January. Epting allegedly first claimed it was an accident, the boy’s frightened mother told the Daily News.

Officials of the school later discovered a video of the terrifying incident and turned it over to the police who arrested the principal with charges that included, “felony assault and acting in a manner injurious to child.” He was waiting to be arraigned at Manhattan Criminal Court Thursday evening.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

The young boy’s mother, Patricia Laforey, is reported to have not seen the horrific video of the incident.

“I want the truth to be told,” she told the news. “It’s not right what happened. It has to stop happening to kids. These are kids who are taken advantage of.”

Laforey got a terrifying phone call during the morning of Jan. 24 from the school. The call was from a staff member of the school and asked Laforey to video chat. The employee told her she should sit down before the talk began.

When the mother looked at the phone, she was shocked to see her son crying hysterically with his white shirt full of blood from the gash on his forehead.⠀

Epting then got on the video chat and said that her son, who is special needs and is assigned to a full-time paraprofessional, ran into a door. Her son’s cries told the mom a different story.

“Jason did this to me,” Laforey said her son cried.

Laforey brought her son to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, where he received three stitches to close the deep wound. She was told later on that her son suffered a concussion.

During a call later on in the day, Epting told a different story by allegedly stating that he accidentally hit the boy with the door as he opened it. That turned into more red flags for the mother.

“I could tell it wasn’t what they said,” Laforey stated. “Jason kept changing his story. That’s a huge red flag right there.”

The Harlem mother was on a mission to get to the bottom of the incident as she pressed the issue to the Chief Operating Officer of Hebrew Public, a network that oversees a number of NYC’s charter schools, which includes Harlem Hebrew that additionally offers Hebrew Language education.⠀⠀⠀⠀

Werle reportedly told Laforey the following week that a video had surfaced of the incident and was turned over to the NYPD. A police officer contacted the mother later on that day to tell her that the incident was opened up as an active investigation. The police and school officials have yet to tell the mother what happened in the video, Laforey said to the news.

“Every night since he has had nightmares,” she told the Daily News. “He’ll wake up screaming, or wake me up to make sure I have to know I’m close to him.”

Epting was released without bail during his arraignment Thursday night in Manhattan Criminal Court. “It was a sad accident,” his lawyer, Martin Druyan, told The News.

“It’s sad for the child — we’re sorry,” Druyan said. He also said that the incident was sad for Epting “because an accident has turned into a criminal prosecution. It’s an accident … The door may have been defective in some manner.”

Druyan argued in court that an order of protection that would keep Epting away from the hurt child will also stop Epting from being able to return to work. A judge decided to issue the order anyway.

Laforey hired a lawyer and plans to file a civil lawsuit. “The family wants to see that this horrible act be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said Scott Rynecki, the family’s lawyer.

Epting has been on administrative leave since the incident, according to the note that was sent to parents by school officials on Thursday evening and reviewed by the Daily News.

“We have learned from the authorities that charges were filed today against one of our Co-Heads of School, Jason Epting,” said Jon Rosenberg, the head of Hebrew Public. “The Board will take this new development under advisement during closed executive session on Mar. 11, 2020, the date of its next scheduled meeting.”