A California care home for autistic adults has been hit by a torture scandal after a former employee was allegedly filmed abusing two “vulnerable” residents.
Adekunle Fabunmi, 35, is accused of physically torturing two adults at the Elwyn-Mayall, a four-person home for people with developmental disabilities.
Fabunmi was captured on camera by another caregiver punching one of the residents, Jude Cabanete, 31, in the head at the Northridge facility.
Additional footage, reviewed by the Los Angeles Times, from August 25, showed Fabunmi continuing to hit Jude. That same evening, he punished another resident, Gregorio Topete, 30, an employee told police.
Both of the resident’s mothers, Laura Topete and Mary Cabanete, have sued Fabunmi, Elwyn-Mayall and the North Los Angles County Regional Center.
The lawsuit alleges that their sons were “abused and abused” by the caregiver and that his co-workers failed to intervene to stop the abuse.
Adekunle Fabunmi, 35, is accused of physically torturing two adults at the Elwyn-Mayall (pictured), a four-person home for people with developmental disabilities
“I’m actually very grateful that someone recorded it because both of our sons are not good historians,” Laura Topete said. “They would have gotten away with it.”
In response to the legal filing, Fabunmi declined to discuss the ongoing case and instead referred the Los Angels Times to his attorney Christian Oronsaye of Ivy Crest Attorneys.
In a letter, Oransaye said his firm “requires” that “further communications” with Fabunmi cannot take place without consent.
“We have also interviewed our client and believe that the allegations against our client regarding the incident are false,” the letter said.
On the night of the alleged attack, Fabunmi was assigned to keep an eye on Jude, who had spread feces on his mattress and vomited on the floor, another employee reported.
Caregivers then washed the sheets, but when Jude told Fabunmi he wanted to shower and clean up, another caregiver said Fabunmi said no.
According to an incident report, Jude then ran to the employee bathroom and guzzled water from a container of disinfectant wipes, which he emptied.
As the resident did this, Fabunmi followed him to the toilet and began hitting him on the head while other caregivers recorded the violent interaction.
The 13-second video showed Fabunmi punching Jude four times in the face and punching him in the ear, while the sound of another punch could be heard off-camera.
When he was hit, Jude screamed, “No, no, no, no,” as Fabunmi continued to torture him, additional footage showed.
During another filmed incident, Fabunmi threw Jude off the couch and onto the floor.
Jude, who was naked from the waist down and wearing only a T-shirt, was then instructed by Fabunmi to do 400 jumping jacks.
According to the Los Angles Times, Jude can be heard in the video while Fabunmi’s colleagues did not intervene.
That same evening, Los Angeles Police Department detectives said Fabunmi made Gregorio sit in the living room of the house for three hours while he stood over the autistic man “in an intimidating manner.”
When Gregorio tried to leave the scene, Fabunmi hit him twice in the head and left him on the ground until 2 a.m., police said.
His colleagues have also accused Fabunmi of previously abusing another man, whom he was paid to care for in 2019.
“The allegations … relate to a specific set of circumstances and do not represent Elwyn’s long-standing activities in California,” Elwyn said in a statement.
During that time, Fabunmi worked at Elwyn and another healthcare organization, People Creating Success.
In June of that year, the manager of People Creating Success called the police after another employee reported seeing Fabunmi hit a nonverbal man with cerebral palsy.
His colleague told management that during the incident, Fabunmi became frustrated with the 55-year-old man when he tried to help him get dressed.
According to the report, People Creating Success fired Fabunmi about two weeks after the incident.
He later sued the company, suggesting the incident was “fabricated” in an attempt to get rid of him.
Fabunmi further denied hitting any of Elwyn’s residents, but he was released within a week.
Elwyn, a 170-year-old nonprofit that helps people with developmental disabilities, said the safety and health of its residents is of “utmost importance.”
The nonprofit operates approximately 50 licensed housing units in California for disabled adults who cannot live independently.
“The allegations … relate to a specific set of circumstances and do not represent Elwyn’s long-standing activities in California,” Elwyn said in a statement.
The footage of the incidents was not presented to management until August 27, when an employee told an investigator she “didn’t feel safe” reporting the abuse to her boss.
“All the men in the house, when they got close to the residents, the residents cowered. Jude flinched,” the unnamed employee told the investigator.
On August 30, the videos were sent to the North Los Angeles County Regional Center, a publicly funded nonprofit that provides services to people with developmental disabilities.
Ari Stark, a quality assurance representative for the nonprofit, said the videos were “violent and horrible to watch.”
In an email to a supervisor, Stark said he is “super concerned about Elwyn’s ability to provide a safe and appropriate environment for all of their consumers.”
Laura, Gregorio’s mother, said that when she brought her son to the complex nine years ago, “it sold to them beautifully.”
Jude’s mother, Mary, said her son arrived in Elwyn in April 2022 and she initially thought the house was “family friendly.”
Since their son’s stay, both mothers say they’ve discovered unexplained bruises.
Police were called to the house twice after Gregorio began hurting himself, while Jude escaped the house and encountered a busy intersection, according to an incident report.
“It was torture,” Mary said after reviewing the detailed report.
Laura discovered a large red welt on her son’s head in January and discovered Gregorio hitting himself in the head.
She said that since the traumatic incidents, Gregorio has done more damage to himself and has “fallen apart.”
The concerned mother has made it her mission to ‘get him out of there’.