MARLBORO, Massachusetts, USA: A former special-needs elementary school teacher has been sentenced to probation for assaulting a five-year-old autistic boy by sitting on him and force-feeding him peaches.

Laurie Brennan, 35, pleaded guilty to assault and battery at Marlboro District Court on May 2, and was sentenced to six months in jail, a term which was suspended. She was instead ordered to serve two years of probation, do 300 hours of community service and write a letter of apology to the boy's parents.

"I knew he would be beaten, teased and bullied, but I didn't know it would be someone in Laurie Brennan's position," said the boy's mother, Debi MacLean.

The charges stem from incident at the Mulready School on March 6, 2002, where other teachers reported seeing the 160-pound Brennan sitting on 40-pound Grey MacLean. According to court records, Brennan also held the boy down and forced peaches down his throat, which made him vomit.

Judge Thomas Sullivan sentenced Brennan to six months in jail, then suspended the sentence in favour of two years' supervised probation. Brennan must serve 300 hours of community service and write a letter of apology to the boy's parents, Debi and Michael MacLean. She was also ordered to not work with special-needs children, or take a job with a school, camp or youth organisation.

Debi MacLean, who read a statement at the hearing, was elated with the sentence. "When I went in there, I was very discouraged. To walk out with a sentence it was elation, it was wonderful," she said. "It's what she deserved."

MacLean described her son, Grey, and how difficult it was for her when she realised he was autistic. Grey is a sweet, loving and compassionate young boy, she said, who is innocent, defenceless and voiceless. In his lifetime, "I knew he would be beaten, teased and bullied, but I didn't know it would be someone in Laurie Brennan's position."

MacLean said the abuse against her son had gone on for six months. She learned of it when the school district reported the alleged incident to the Department of Social Services which investigated. MacLean then filed a police report.

She thought her son dreaded going to school each day because he was not used to the routine.
"I put my terrified son on the bus every morning" where every day his teacher was undoing all of the work and trust his former teachers had fostered, she said. "He has incredible teachers, who go above and beyond. They loved him. His teachers were my heroes," she said. "(Brennan) hated him, this is the only explanation I can find why someone would treat a nonviolent autistic child like him this way."

In the end, Brennan's sub-ordinates were the ones to report the abuse. "They risked their own careers for turning in their boss, they are my heroes."

MacLean said her son was improving rapidly. "He's doing wonderful now. He's just come around, it's almost like he knows."