When Julie Staadecker sent her three-year-old son to school for the first time, she thought he was in safe hands. Months later, she discovered she was wrong.

“It’s been a really hard experience for our whole family,” Staadecker said.

That experience began in 2022, when she enrolled her son, Cameron, in Early Steps, an integrated preschool within Watertown Public Schools.

Cameron has autism and the integrated classroom allowed him to get multiple services in one spot.

“My son was excited to start school and be a big kid,” she remembered.

But for months, the place meant to support him failed him.

“I’m never letting my child step foot in that building again,” Staadecker said.

What happened inside that building came to light in March 2023, when a teacher’s assistant reported teacher Mau

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