Fountain Valley family accuses longtime aide of abusing their teen son

Mom exposes alleged abuse of disabled son

A home health care worker is accused of abusing a disabled teen.

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif. - A Fountain Valley family is speaking out, accusing their son's longtime in-home aide of abusing the 15-year-old boy.

Michelle Simmons' son Luke was born with half a heart. "He's nonverbal. He literally can't speak," she said. "He can't defend himself. He can't stop anything that's going on. He can't tell me what's going on. And that's the unfortunate part."

Unfortunate, she said, because of what the family recently discovered on their home security cameras. Multiple videos appear to show Luke's aide handling him roughly or even swatting at him. One video seems to show the aide slamming Luke down into the seat of his chair, then roughly pushing him back by the head and neck. Another apparently shows the aide chopping Luke on the arm as she pushes him through the door.

Michelle said the family's had the same aide for eight years, hiring her through Maxim Healthcare Services, and that before the discovery of these videos, their trust in her was very high.

"I trusted her in our home, and I trust pretty much everybody who's in our home, you know, and you can't expect it," Michelle said.

The family said that Luke has had all sorts of unexplained bruises, but thought they may have been self-inflicted, because Luke's medication makes him bruise easily. Now they're rethinking that.

"I never would have thought it was her," said Luke's brother Aiden Simmons. "Yeah, it just completely changes like a lot throughout the years. Like a lot of what happened, it makes a lot more sense."

The family quickly fired the aide. In a statement to FOX 11, Maxim Healthcare Services said that the company has "investigated this incident and taken all appropriate actions in response. The safety and well-being of our Caregivers and patients are our top priority, and we take all matters such as this with the utmost seriousness."

Police have also investigated the alleged abuse. They've taken statements and have collected pictures from the family. Officials tell FOX 11 they're waiting to see whether the District Attorney's Office will file charges.