Family says special education student needs treatment instead of jail after school assault

BRAZORIA COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- A Clute family feels like they are being kept in the dark on criminal charges filed against their son who has mental disabilities.

Peter is 17 years old but has the mentality of a 12-or 13-year-old, according to his father, Brandon Brown.

Last Thursday, Peter was taken from his special education class at an alternative school by Brazosport ISD police to the Brazoria County Jail. He was charged as an adult with a count of assault of a public servant other than a peace officer or judge. His bond was set at $100,000.

Brown said they have not been able to get information about what he is accused of and authorities say they cannot provide it because he is charged as an adult.

Records from the jail show the incident happened at the end of March. By piecing things together, Peter's parents determined he assaulted a teacher.

"He's 17 with a low IQ, and a disability not knowing what type of trouble he's in, not knowing where he's at, not knowing what the judge was telling him," Brown said.

Brown and Peter's mother do not dispute that he should be punished in some way if he hurt the teacher, but they do not believe charging him as an adult and holding him in jail on a bond they cannot afford is the correct way.

They said Brazosport ISD has a crisis prevention team at Peter's school who are trained to restrain students when necessary.

"I don't know how this came apart," Brown said. "It's scary for all parties involved. It's scary for him and I know it was scary for the teacher."

Family said he is in trouble regularly at school and is inpatient at mental health facilities every few months.

When asked if he believes his son is a criminal, Brown said, "No, not at all. Not at all. He's not a criminal at all. He don't know the first thing about doing anything criminal. You know, he just he just has that mental problem and the doctors always said that he he is going to be, you know, have violent tendencies. We've been working on that with him for all of his life."

The Brazoria County District Attorney's Office said they were familiar with the case but are not able to comment on pending litigation. They listened over the phone to the concerns parents told ABC13.

Brazosport ISD sent a statement to ABC13 saying, "The Brazoria County Grand Jury indicted the student for assault of a staff member and they also set the amount of the bond."

ABC13 followed up by asking for more information on the allegations. They did not respond.

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