DALLAS — An employee at the Autism Treatment Center in Dallas faces a charge of injury to a disabled person after a fellow employee said he kicked an individual under his care in the mouth, knocking out several of his teeth.

Dallas police issued a warrant Monday for Troy Odell Freeman, the 49-year-old employee accused in the June 14 incident.

Freeman was suspended until investigators finish the case, executive director Anna Hundley said in a written statement, and other staff members have been instructed to cooperate with the police investigation.

Police said the center’s director, Carolyn Garver, told them the victim had facial injuries and was missing several teeth, according to the affidavit.

Garver told police that Freeman said the victim had run into a door. Investigators said they did not find blood on the doorframe and couldn’t find the victim’s teeth.

The victim has autism and is nonverbal and therefore could not be interviewed, according to the affidavit.

Another employee, however, said she’d heard Freeman say, “Don’t you ever,” and turned around and saw him kick the victim in the face, according to the affidavit.

When investigators interviewed Freeman on June 26, he insisted the victim had run into a doorframe, according to the affidavit.

Freeman and the victim had previously been “involved in an incident in October 2018 which caused an injury to … (Freeman’s) hand,” the affidavit said.

The facility hasn’t received complaints in the last three years, according to state records available online.

© 2019 The Dallas Morning News
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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