AGXStarseed
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(Not written by me)
Teri L. Allen listens to court proceedings during her initial appearance on July 17, 2013, in Racine County Circuit Court.
RACINE — A judge called it a “quid pro quo:” Time in the Racine County Jail for a Racine woman who “isolated” her son and locked him “in a dungeon setting.”
Teri L. Allen, 53, kept her adult son, who has Asperger’s syndrome, locked in the basement with a bucket for his toilet in 2013.
During her sentencing on Friday, Racine County Assistant District Attorney Robert Repischak recommended Allen receive a withheld sentence, probation and an unspecified amount of jail time. A withheld sentence means if Allen violates probation, she would have to return to court to be sentenced — possibly to jail or prison time.
Allen’s defense attorney, John Anthony Ward, recommended two years on probation, saying Allen didn’t need jail time — she’s been punished enough.
But while Circuit Court Judge Eugene Gasiorkiewicz agreed to the withheld sentence, he ordered Allen to serve nine months in the Racine County Jail and three years on probation.
“This screams out to me for punishment,” Gasiorkiewicz said.
Allen wept after he handed down the jail term, and sobbed outside the courtroom after the hearing.
She pleaded guilty on March 3 to being a party to the crime of intentionally subjecting an at-risk individual to abuse.
‘How prisoners of war are treated’
Allen was charged after her son’s paternal grandmother called Racine police on June 4, 2013, requesting a welfare check be conducted at the home.
The man has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and Asperger’s, which is an autism-spectrum disorder.
Police found the 21-year-old in the basement after Allen obtained keys and unlocked the door. An officer saw him sleeping on a dirty twin bed without sheets, Allen’s criminal complaint states. And there was no doorknob on the inside of that door.
Allen told investigators her son must knock on the door to be let out when he wants to brush his teeth and wash his face, the complaint states. She said she fed him through “a hole in the wall at times when she was busy and did not feel like walking around the kitchen to get to the basement door,” according to the complaint.
“If we don’t speak up for these people, if we don’t protect them, who will?” Gasiorkiewicz asked during the sentencing. “I need to speak up for people with ADHD, autism and Asperger’s because they should not be treated in this lowly manner. It’s akin to how prisoners of war are treated.”
Allen said she brought her son home from Florida, where he was living in his father’s boss’ garage, because he was “living in really bad conditions.”
“At first it was really good having him there. But after a while, it got to the point he wouldn’t listen to us. He would walk out of the house. He would hit my granddaughters for no reason,” Allen said, explaining that the family called the police multiple times, but they wouldn’t arrest him, and she tried to have him committed to a group home, but that proved unsuccessful.
Repischak and Ward said they didn’t believe Allen acted with malicious intent, but became frustrated and didn’t know what to do with her son.
“I completely regret it,” Allen said during the sentencing.
She must report to the jail on June 13 to begin serving her sentence.
Co-defendant Sarkis “Sam” Asdigian, 45, of Racine, is scheduled to go on trial on Sept. 30. Asdigian, who was dating Allen’s daughter and lived with the family, allegedly installed the deadbolt lock on the basement door.
Insufficient resources
After the sentencing, Ward said Allen hasn’t decided whether she will appeal. He called it a “tragic situation” and “sad” example of what happens when there are insufficient resources for people with developmental disabilities.
He said there used to be homes for those individuals, “but in the current administration, those were disbanded and considered cruel.” Ward said “if we wouldn’t have dismantled Southern Colony, this wouldn’t have happened.”
The Southern Wisconsin Colony and Training School near Union Grove now operates as the Southern Wisconsin Center for the Developmentally Disabled. Director James Henkes said they continue to admit people with developmental disabilities into a short-term program.
“Right now I have no capacity,” but that could change in the future, Henkes said. However, if someone poses a threat to himself or others, “law enforcement have an emergency detention procedure” they can utilize.
Ward said Allen’s son was removed from his grandmother’s care and now lives in a Milwaukee group home, “which is what she (Allen) wanted in the first place.”
SOURCE: Jail time a ‘quid pro quo’ for locking son in basement, judge says
Teri L. Allen listens to court proceedings during her initial appearance on July 17, 2013, in Racine County Circuit Court.
RACINE — A judge called it a “quid pro quo:” Time in the Racine County Jail for a Racine woman who “isolated” her son and locked him “in a dungeon setting.”
Teri L. Allen, 53, kept her adult son, who has Asperger’s syndrome, locked in the basement with a bucket for his toilet in 2013.
During her sentencing on Friday, Racine County Assistant District Attorney Robert Repischak recommended Allen receive a withheld sentence, probation and an unspecified amount of jail time. A withheld sentence means if Allen violates probation, she would have to return to court to be sentenced — possibly to jail or prison time.
Allen’s defense attorney, John Anthony Ward, recommended two years on probation, saying Allen didn’t need jail time — she’s been punished enough.
But while Circuit Court Judge Eugene Gasiorkiewicz agreed to the withheld sentence, he ordered Allen to serve nine months in the Racine County Jail and three years on probation.
“This screams out to me for punishment,” Gasiorkiewicz said.
Allen wept after he handed down the jail term, and sobbed outside the courtroom after the hearing.
She pleaded guilty on March 3 to being a party to the crime of intentionally subjecting an at-risk individual to abuse.
‘How prisoners of war are treated’
Allen was charged after her son’s paternal grandmother called Racine police on June 4, 2013, requesting a welfare check be conducted at the home.
The man has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and Asperger’s, which is an autism-spectrum disorder.
Police found the 21-year-old in the basement after Allen obtained keys and unlocked the door. An officer saw him sleeping on a dirty twin bed without sheets, Allen’s criminal complaint states. And there was no doorknob on the inside of that door.
Allen told investigators her son must knock on the door to be let out when he wants to brush his teeth and wash his face, the complaint states. She said she fed him through “a hole in the wall at times when she was busy and did not feel like walking around the kitchen to get to the basement door,” according to the complaint.
“If we don’t speak up for these people, if we don’t protect them, who will?” Gasiorkiewicz asked during the sentencing. “I need to speak up for people with ADHD, autism and Asperger’s because they should not be treated in this lowly manner. It’s akin to how prisoners of war are treated.”
Allen said she brought her son home from Florida, where he was living in his father’s boss’ garage, because he was “living in really bad conditions.”
“At first it was really good having him there. But after a while, it got to the point he wouldn’t listen to us. He would walk out of the house. He would hit my granddaughters for no reason,” Allen said, explaining that the family called the police multiple times, but they wouldn’t arrest him, and she tried to have him committed to a group home, but that proved unsuccessful.
Repischak and Ward said they didn’t believe Allen acted with malicious intent, but became frustrated and didn’t know what to do with her son.
“I completely regret it,” Allen said during the sentencing.
She must report to the jail on June 13 to begin serving her sentence.
Co-defendant Sarkis “Sam” Asdigian, 45, of Racine, is scheduled to go on trial on Sept. 30. Asdigian, who was dating Allen’s daughter and lived with the family, allegedly installed the deadbolt lock on the basement door.
Insufficient resources
After the sentencing, Ward said Allen hasn’t decided whether she will appeal. He called it a “tragic situation” and “sad” example of what happens when there are insufficient resources for people with developmental disabilities.
He said there used to be homes for those individuals, “but in the current administration, those were disbanded and considered cruel.” Ward said “if we wouldn’t have dismantled Southern Colony, this wouldn’t have happened.”
The Southern Wisconsin Colony and Training School near Union Grove now operates as the Southern Wisconsin Center for the Developmentally Disabled. Director James Henkes said they continue to admit people with developmental disabilities into a short-term program.
“Right now I have no capacity,” but that could change in the future, Henkes said. However, if someone poses a threat to himself or others, “law enforcement have an emergency detention procedure” they can utilize.
Ward said Allen’s son was removed from his grandmother’s care and now lives in a Milwaukee group home, “which is what she (Allen) wanted in the first place.”
SOURCE: Jail time a ‘quid pro quo’ for locking son in basement, judge says
