Father sues after teacher’s aide punches son

A Bronx father says surveillance video shows a teacher's aide punching his 11-year-old son, who has autism, in the face. Anatoly Veltman, accompanied by his lawyer, Sandy Rubenstein, unveiled the video

News 12 Staff

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Apr 5, 2016, 6:21 AM

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Updated 3,228 days ago

A Bronx father says surveillance video shows a teacher's aide punching his 11-year-old son, who has autism, in the face.

Anatoly Veltman, accompanied by his lawyer, Sandy Rubenstein, unveiled the video Monday. It was taken in 2014.

The video shows a man and boy Veltman identified as Milton Parker and Anatoly Veltman Jr., respectively. The boy appears to throw a punch at the man, and the man then punches back.

Parker has already pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in the case. He was suspended without pay and then retired.

Veltman says the man hit his son hard enough to give him a black eye and a concussion.

The father says the incident traumatized his son so badly that he can no longer go to school -- and complicated his challenges with autism.

"It really affected him very profoundly," Veltman says. "He's not even able to verbalize it."

Veltman is suing the city, the Department of Education and Parker for $5.5 million.

"It's very clear that that the paraprofessional went at him...and punched him hard," Rubenstein says. "And the injuries [that] were sustained show it was very hard blow."

The DOE says the civil case is in the hands of the city's lawyers.