A therapist in West Palm Beach, Florida, faces child abuse charges after allegedly striking a nonverbal boy with autism using a shoe, racket, and book during a session. The boy's mother discovered the abuse through facility video footage following her son's unusual behavior upon returning home. The incident has led to the therapist's arrest and firing from the center.
On February 20, Reylan Cortes-Garnier, a 28-year-old registered behavior technician at Maximum Achievers in West Palm Beach, Florida, was working with a nonverbal boy diagnosed with autism, whom he had been treating for about a year. The boy's mother, Diana Hernandez, grew concerned when her son returned home shaking and displaying bruises and marks on his body, including a bite mark on his shoulder, ribcage, and lower back.
Hernandez requested to view video from the session. The footage, as described in the arrest affidavit, showed Cortes-Garnier engaging in multiple acts of abuse: throwing a ball at the boy with high velocity, removing his shoe to strike the child, and hitting him several times with a tennis racket and a book.
"The first thing I noticed, I saw he was shaking," Hernandez told local CBS affiliate WPEC. She took her son to the hospital, where medical evaluation confirmed the injuries were consistent with physical trauma.
When Hernandez approached the facility director about involving police, the director was initially hesitant. "Why are you risking your whole business for this man?" Hernandez recounted saying. "You're supposed to be taking care of my kids. I put my kids in your hands."
The director later reviewed the video with officers, stating that such actions were strictly prohibited and inconsistent with facility policies, training, or the boy's behavior plan. She confronted Cortes-Garnier, who profusely apologized and was subsequently fired.
Hernandez described her son as traumatized but improving. "I just want justice. I just want justice for my son," she said. "I honestly wanted it to be a lie. I wanted it to not be true. I wanted it to be something else."
Cortes-Garnier was arrested on a Friday and released after posting a $7,500 bond. His next court appearance is scheduled for March 29.
