Group home to pay $450K to family of boy who recorded abuse

A group home in upstate New York will pay $450,000 to the family of a developmentally disabled boy who used his PlayStation to record caretakers threatening his life.

The boy, Ralph White, was 12 when he allegedly was physically and psychologically abused at the group home in 2014.

State investigators determined that staff at the Northeast Parent and Child Society home in Schenectady mistreated the boy, but no one was prosecuted.

His mother, America Lebron White, says her son was hit and strangled and left with lasting psychological and physical injuries. She says the settlement will pay for care for the boy, now 15 and living at home.

The group home’s owner, Northern Rivers Family Service, said the employees involved in the incident were fired. Investigators say the 7-year-old also wandered into traffic and tried to stop cars.

Assistant District Attorney Megan Rhoden said the girl had been exhibiting “very erratic behavior,” including trying to get into a laundromat, to break glass to get a fire extinguisher and to eat food off the floor. Rhoden didn’t immediately return a phone call seeking additional comment Tuesday.

Streater told police her children were asleep when she went to a laundromat with her 8-month-old child and that the empty alcohol bottles police found had been filled with water. She admitted leaving her children at home alone was wrong but said she was gone for about 90 minutes, disputing the police report.