GREENWOOD, Ind. — The family of a child at a Greenwood therapy center has filed a civil suit against the center after a worker was charged with sexually assaulting children with autism.
Leomeir V. Kennedy, 30, is charged with child molesting and possession of child pornography.
Police said Kennedy worked at Hopebridge Autism Therapy Center, located at 21 South Park Blvd., where the reported incidents happened.
According to an arrest report, the Whiteland Police Department received a report from a couple that someone admitted to molesting their daughter.
The arrest report says Kennedy went to the Greenwood Police Department April 11 and confessed to child molesting.
Kennedy told investigators he was sexually abused as a child, which he said influenced the "shadows" and "dark snakes" inside of him.
Kennedy allegedly said the first incident happened with the 1-year-old daughter of a couple he knew. Kennedy said he babysat for the couple on a regular basis and touched the child's genitals while changing her diaper on one occasion.
According to the arrest report, Kennedy told investigators he worked at the therapy center for eight to nine months, and his duties included being a primary caretaker of young children with autism.
Kennedy allegedly told investigators he was careful not to abuse any of the children assigned to him so he would not get caught.
The arrest report says Kennedy volunteered on multiple occasions to cover a lunch break for other staff members and take care of the children assigned to them.
Kennedy allegedly told investigators one of the victims at the therapy center was non-verbal and the other victim was semi-verbal. Kennedy admitted to investigators that he touched the genitals of both victims.
During the third assault, Kennedy said a staff member walked in on the situation. Kennedy allegedly told the staff member he believed the victim had been sexually assaulted in the past and that the victim continually pulled Kennedy's hand toward her genitals.
Kennedy was instructed to report the behavior from the third victim to a board-certified behavioral analyst, which he did, the court documents show.
According to the arrest report, Kennedy said he met with a spiritual advisor to help rid himself of his "shadows" and "snakes." Kennedy said the advisor convinced Kennedy to admit his assault of his friends' child.
Kennedy then turned his cellphone and laptop over to investigators, which allegedly revealed he spoke with other pedophiles through multiple apps and admitted to receiving two sexually explicit photos of young children.
The arrest report says investigators also found a naked photo of Kennedy's friends' 1-year-old daughter on his cellphone.
The civil suit against the therapy center claims Kennedy admitted to molesting five children at the center. One of those children was the daughter of the family filing the suit. 13News reached out to Kennedy's court appointed attorney, who said they had no comment on the civil or criminal cases at this time.
The civil suit claims the center should have known of Kennedy's "dangerous propensities" before the abuse occurred. The suit also claims negligence by Hopebridge for failing to protect their daughter or properly supervise Kennedy.
The family claims the alleged abuse led to permanent injuries, medical expenses, pain, mental anguish, emotional damage and legal expenses.
13News reached out to Hopebridge for comment and is waiting on a response.
Kennedy's criminal trial is set for July 31.