The father of an autistic boy allegedly forced to eat twigs and expose himself by a group of teens in Cork has described the incident as “frighteningly sick behaviour.”
Liam Davin said he was stunned when a female caller arrived at his door and told of the alleged treatment of his son.
“At first I just couldn’t believe what I’d been told, I just wanted to think, ‘that didn’t happen to my son’. Nobody wants to think anyone would do that to your son. It’s just so horrific,” he told presenter PJ Coogan on Cork’s 96FM.
He said his teenage son, who falls within a high-functioning bracket of the autism spectrum, had been taunted in the past but has never spoken of bullying.
“He’s been bullied in the past, taunted, stones thrown at him and we’ve only found out through other people telling us. He just doesn’t want to deal with it. Things like this are too complicated. It really stresses him out, he just doesn’t want to talk about it.
“It just makes your heart so heavy, it hurts so much. But this attack is beyond anything that ever happened in the past,” Mr Davin said.
The 14-year-old has enjoyed the freedom of going to the shops or to the village in the past, but his father feels he can no longer allow such freedom due to the alleged attack. The incident was recorded and allegedly posted online.
“I can’t believe that somebody would think this is entertaining. If anybody is listening that took part – I’m telling you this is not entertainment, it’s frighteningly sick behaviour that you would inflict this on another human being. It’s a cowardly act. The whole episode ... words fail me,” he said.
Mr Davin went on to describe his son as friendly by nature, and someone who “wants to be friends with everybody”.
“I think they [the perpetrators] have to be dealt with and dealt with severely. My son, the little bit of freedom he did have, we had to take it away from him. Now he can’t go to the local shop, he can’t go down to the village. We have always been worried about him going out, but it’s heartbreaking to try and stop him. He’s entitled to go out ... And now the worst thing that could have happened has happened,” Mr Davin said.
He also point out that parents should know where their children are and what they are capable of.
“Do you know where your children are? Do you know what they are doing? It brings up a social question – how did we get here, what makes those children act like that?
“What’s wrong that this is something [they] consider entertainment and what brought [them] to this warped vision and idea?” he said.
Gardai are investigating the alleged attack in Carrigaline, Cork, which came to light when a caller contacted 96fm on Monday.