Lubbock police arrest North TX woman accused of abusing autistic child at ABA Interactive
A 31-year-old woman accused in a lawsuit of abusing a non-verbal autistic child at a North Texas behavioral center was taken into custody by Lubbock authorities, North Richland Hills police said Thursday.
Ashley Moreno was wanted on a charge of second-degree felony injury to a child.
Moreno is named in a lawsuit filed by the child’s parents. The suit says video shows Moreno picking up the 7-year-old boy and throwing him against a wall at the ABA Interactive behavioral therapy center in North Richland Hills.
Kiara Henry, 34, of North Richland Hills, is already in police custody on a charge of failure to report the abuse, a state jail felony under the Texas family code, police said Wednesday. Henry, owner of ABA Interactive, is named in the suit and accused of lying about the abuse and attempting to cover it up.
Investigators were not immediately able to locate Moreno. In the suit, the family alleges Moreno was not fired following the abuse and was instead assigned to home therapy with children.
The North Richland Hills Police Department encouraged anyone with information related to the investigation to call 817-427-7030 or Crime Stoppers at 817-469-8477.
This story was originally published August 7, 2024 at 6:08 PM.