This story was originally produced by Manchester Ink Link. NHPR is republishing it in partnership with the Granite State News Collaborative.
A second arrest has been made of a contract employee accused of assaulting studentswhile working as a provider through a school district.
An Allenstown man faces charges in connection with the assault of two children.
Manchester police say William O’Connell, 24, a behavior technician, was contracted to work for the district through the same agency, Applied ABC, as was a therapist who was fired in December for the alleged assault of a 7-year-old student in his care. That alleged assault also occurred at the Parker-Varney school in Manchester.
According to police, the charges against O’Connell, involve two students and the incidents happened at Parker Varney Elementary School on the same day but at separate times.
In the first, witnesses told police O’Connell threw a 7-year-old boy to the ground causing the child to suffer facial injuries. In the second, O’Connell reportedly put a 7-year-old girl onto the floor in a “hard manner,” but she did not sustain any injuries.
A warrant was issued for O’Connell’s arrest and on Wednesday evening, January 31, 2024, he turned himself in to Manchester Police. O’Connell was charged with felony second-degree assault and simple assault. O’Connell was released on PR bail pending a March 7, 2024 arraignment.
This is the second such accusation of a paraprofessional contracted by Applied ABC and working at Parker-Varney School.
According to police on Dec. 22 a parent reported to police that their child, age 7, had come home from school with injuries to his face and alleged that the boy had been assaulted by his in-school behavioral therapist. The therapist, identified by police as Louis Efstathiou, 69, worked for Applied ABC, which specializes in autism therapy.
Efstathiou, the Parker-Varney Elementary School behavioral therapist fired for allegedly assaulting an autistic 7-year-old, blackened the child’s eye and left handprints on his face when he struck him, according to court documents.
He was released on $1,000 cash bail and set to be arraigned on charges of second-degree assault, two counts of simple assault and endangering the welfare of a child. More details on that story can be found here.
