The mom of a 15-year-old boy who died days after sustaining self-inflicted injuries at a youth psychiatric treatment facility in Alabama claims in a wrongful death lawsuit that her teen son was trapped in a living hell, but his cries for help were ignored.
Connor Bennett, who died back in April, was held for about six months at a former Sequel TSI facility in Tuskegee, Alabama, according to NBC News. According to the lawsuit filed in the Circuit Court of Macon County on Wednesday, August 31, the facility where Bennett stayed was scary and dangerous despite being a place for the most vulnerable and troubled children.
The lawsuit alleged that the facility was a living hell for Bennett, adding that violence was rampant at the treatment facility and there was little to no supervision. Bennett, as a result, was horrifically brutalized sexually, physically, and emotionally by other residents on numerous occasions. The teen lived an unimaginable nightmare and always feared for his safety.
Bennett dispatched to the Tuskegee facility in late 2021
According to the complaint, Bennett suffered from behavioral issues, prompting the Alabama Department of Human Resources (DHR) to take custody of the teen back in September 2021. He was then dispatched to the Tuskegee facility a month later.
The facility began operations in 1998 and describes itself as a residential treatment facility that provides challenging, therapeutic, and comprehensive services for adolescent males ages 12 to 18. Alabama Department of Youth Services Boys assigns the boys to the program following a court decision. The facility has since been rebranded under the name Brighter Path.
According to the lawsuit, Bennett repeatedly reported the sexual abuse he was enduring to facility staff and supervisors. Despite his pleas for help, the case claimed staffing ignored his reports and chose to do absolutely nothing to prevent the abuse, resulting in the assaults continuing.
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Bennett commits suicide after losing all hope
He was desperate and felt he had lost all hope. Connor escaped the facility several times during his months-long stay there, and the staff would rarely notice that he was gone.
Bennett decided to end things on April 5, sustaining self-inflicted injuries at the facility. The teen was still alive when he was found, but he succumbed to his injuries six days later at the Children's of Alabama in Birmingham, according to AL.com.
Bennett's mom, Ashley Crittenden, is now seeking unspecified damages from Vivant Behavioral Healthcare, the company that operates the Brighter Path Tuskegee facility where her son stayed, as well as other unnamed individuals who allegedly failed to monitor what was happening to Connor, particularly the physical and sexual abuse done to him by other residents. There was no immediate legal response from Brighter Path regarding the matter.
