News Update

Grand jury indicts school and staffers in death of boy with autism

A criminal grand jury in El Dorado County indicted a former special-needs school and three of its staffers, in the 2018 death of a 13-year-old boy with autism.

According to the Sacramento Bee, the former site administrator, the principal and a teacher are accused of holding a student, Max Benson, face-down for almost two hours. Max suffered fatal brain damage during the incident.

Each of the three staffers was charged with involuntary manslaughter. They are due back in court for a trial-setting conference in September.

The El Dorado Hills school, Guiding Hands, closed after the incident, and a new special-needs school opened on the site.