How Could You? Hall of Shame-Dawaun King

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From Martinez, California, group home employee Dawaun King, 37, ” was sentenced Thursday to 23 years in state prison after being convicted of abusing four people with mental disabilities under his supervision.

Dawaun King, 37, pleaded guilty to six felony charges, including having sex with an incompetent person, dependent abuse and assault with intent to commit a felony. The 23-year sentence will account for the more than 600 days he has already been incarcerated.

King also was ordered to stay away from the victims and register as a sex offender after he’s released.

The sentencing came after Superior Court Judge Laurel Brady heard emotional testimony from the family members of two victims.

A mother told the court her son, who is autistic and “functions at a 5- or 6-year-old level,” had already been assaulted by another student when King, then an aide tasked with supervising her son, abused him. There were at least five other instances of abuse against her son, she said.

“I was assured he would not be left alone,” she said. “I repeatedly told him he would not be hurt again.”

She added that King was “dangerous,” and, through tears explained how her son now feels “anxious” and “scared,” especially when meeting new people, as a result of the abuse.

“How can I ever make him feel safe?” she said.

His family successfully sued the West Contra Costa Unified School District after it learned he was abused by another student in 2012, receiving a $1.475 million judgment in 2015. They filed another lawsuit in 2016, alleging the boy was abused again by a student in March 2015, long after the district promised to better supervise him. In 2018, King was arrested and confessed on video to sexually abusing the boy in a weightlifting room. The family’s lawsuit against the school district is ongoing.

After working at the school district from 2012 to 2014, King got a job at the California Autism Foundation facility in Pinole from 2014 to 2017. After he left, allegations surfaced that he had abused young men there.

A father of one of the young men who lived in that home called King’s actions a “horrific crime” in his statement to the court, noting his son had been sick most of his life and cannot express himself verbally.

“How could you violate someone like him,” the father said.

He testified about a change the family noticed in their son as the abuse continued without their knowledge. He started to act out in ways he hadn’t before, such as trying to run away as they took him back to the facility, and acting anxious and nervous.

“He couldn’t express what was happening to him,” his father said, noting later that he had initially “admired” King for the care he had seemed to show the men, taking them to his church, for example.

“I now have trouble living with myself,” he said.

His daughter also spoke in court, directing her words at King.

“You’re a predator. You set off a bomb in our family,” she said, noting she showed up in court because “my brother physically cannot speak for himself.”

King’s mother, Brenda James, also spoke in court.

“I came to apologize to the family on behalf of my son,” she told the court. “I believe my son hurt just as much as they are hurting.”

“I accept justice at what has taken place,” she said. “I want everyone to heal.””

Former East Bay school employee sentenced to 23 years for abusing student, group home patients

[Mercury News 01/30/2020 by Annie Sciacca]

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