ADRIAN, MI (WTOL) - Megan VanEtten and her husband Brandon received a text message August 10 from a staff member at the Autism Center at ProMedica's Bixby Hospital.
It said they had "popped" their non-verbal, autistic son in the mouth.
The VanEttens immediately contacted police, saying the video they saw of the incident is much worse.
"What the text message said was that it was a pop in the mouth from an initial reaction. We saw several smacks. And the initial part was my son cowering in a chair to just her hand being raised. There's no way that was the first time," said Megan VanEtten.
Since then, an Adrian Police investigation has revealed at least three child victims and three alleged abusers.
Police identified another video on August 14 of a different ProMedica behavioral technician allegedly abusing a child.
On August 17, they found another.
Two other families have since been shown two more videos of ProMedica employees allegedly abusing their children.
ProMedica released a video statement apologizing, vowing to take steps to ensure it never happens again.
"We feel it is important for us to acknowledge that we failed these children and their families who trusted us with their autism care, and for that we are sincerely sorry," said Dr. Kent Bishop, ProMedica's chief experience officer.
ProMedica said they want to be transparent, but the VanEttens said that ProMedica has yet to contact them directly with an apology or answers.
They said that the video statement was the first time they had heard from the corporation.
"Insulted, honestly. We had not received it. That was the most communication we had received thus far," said Megan VanEtten.
Ultimately, the VanEttens feel betrayed and frustrated, as they're trying to figure out what's next for their son. He now lacks crucial routine and services for his development.
"We have no way of knowing how this not only is affecting him immediately and the regression of skills that he's having now, but what this will mean moving forward. That's hard," said Megan VanEtten.
Earlier this week, ProMedica decided to close the Autism Center until further notice.
The Adrian Police detective on this case said that ProMedica has been cooperative, complying with search warrants in their investigation.
He expects to have answers for these families when he closes the case in a couple of weeks.
