Long Island Group Home Workers Allegedly Forced Developmentally Disabled People to Fight

Four workers at a group home allegedly encouraged a person with developmental disabilities to attack another disabled person on Long Island, prosecutors said.

As CBS 2’s Carolyn Gusoff reported, prosecutors called it a disturbing abuse of their position for group home workers who were supposed to be taking care of disabled residents instead of taking advantage of them.

Erin McHenry of Brookhaven, Justin McDonald of Lindenhurst, Stephen Komara of East Moriches and Rosemary Vanni of Eastport face felony charges of endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person, prosecutors said.

“These defendants encouraged two developmentally disabled adults to participate in, what I said on record, is a developmentally disabled fight club,” said special prosecutor Jacqueline Kagan, of the New York State Justice Center for Protection of People with Special Needs.

Kagan said one group home worker shot cell phone video while three others raucously laughed, as they encouraged two severely disabled men to fight.

“They encouraged them to strike each other – one knocking over the other in the wheelchair – and then rewarding them with praise,” Kagan said.

The disabled men – in their 50s but with the mental capacity of preschoolers – were residents of the Independent Group Home Living program in Hampton Bays.

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Long Island Group Home Workers Allegedly Forced Developmentally Disabled People to Fight