DOUGLAS COUNTY, Ga. — A Douglas County mother is pressing charges against employees at an adult day care facility after one of them was caught on video assaulting her son.
Lisa Johnson says her 34-year-old disabled son was physically assaulted by an employee at “Our Place, We Speak for Ourselves” day center for special needs individuals.
“This can’t be the first time it happened. It’s just the first time they got caught,” Lisa Johnson said.
Johnson told Channel 2’s investigative reporter Ashli Lincoln that her son, who’s unable to speak for himself, lives with Jacob’s syndrome, a chromosome disorder.
“He has the mentality of an 8-year-old,” she said.
Her son Brandon is seen in video attempting to escape every blow from employee Danyell Johnson.
“No, we’re bringing charges,” Lisa Johnson said.
She claims the owner downplayed the incident when getting the phone call about the assault while Johnson was at work.
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Douglassville police were called, but when officers arrived, Lisa Johnson said they told her nobody was at the center to make a report.
“So, I said Douglass County, I want you back out here Friday morning,” Lisa Johnson told Lincoln.
Danyell Johnson was arrested and charged with exploitation and intimidation of disabled adults.
“The only thing that saved my son is that someone from the state was in the building that day when he broke out and ran,” Lisa Johnson said.
After Danyell Johnson was arrested, the Douglass County Sheriff’s Office went back to that facility and arrested four other employees seen in the video who witnessed the assault and didn’t intervene.
Lerick Bowles, Adrian Johnson, Coryetta Lewis, and Marcus Whites were charged with reckless conduct.
“How do you watch someone that’s vulnerable, that’s covering his head and begging for help, and you do nothing,” Lisa Johnson said.
Lincoln spoke with the owner. She apologized for this incident. She said all the employees involved were immediately fired, and the incident has been reported to the state.
She also said that after serving the Douglasville community for nearly 30 years, this incident was a first.
The owner said Danyell Johnson has been an employee with the facility for eight years, and the owner said this is the first report of assault against him.
Lincoln called Danyell Johnson on Tuesday afternoon to get his side of the story, but he hung up on her.
Channel 2 Action News reached out to the state to verify if this incident has been reported, but we’re still waiting to hear back. an
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