Lawsuit: Nesconset family says Smithtown group home neglected and abused their son with autism

A Nesconset family has filed a new lawsuit against a Smithtown group home run by the Developmental Disabilities Institute alleging their son suffered a broken arm, leg and other injuries while at the home.

News 12 Staff

Oct 1, 2021, 7:40 PM

Updated 1,072 days ago

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A Nesconset family has filed a new lawsuit against a Smithtown group home run by the Developmental Disabilities Institute alleging their son suffered a broken arm, leg and other injuries while at the home.
Ralph and Donna Milano's 32-year-old son Cory has autism. They say he is minimally verbal and can get violent.
When he was 17 years old, they decided to put him in an adult group home with DDI.
"It's horrible, it really is. Believe me, we did not want to put our son in a group home, but it was so impossible to keep him home," Donna Milano says.
The parents are now suing DDI, claiming Cory was abused and neglected throughout the years. They say it all started back in 2014 when Cory started behaving differently.
"He would start saying things like, 'No cold shower! You're going to get the belt!' and he would discipline himself while we were visiting. We were like, 'What's going on here?' and then he would flinch when certain people would walk by," Ralph Milano says.
The Milanos say things got worse in 2018 when Cory broke his leg with no explanation from DDI. The justice center investigated after they say Cory hobbled around for nine days before he received the proper treatment.
"And then they found level 4 neglect against the DDI agency for not treating him properly, not getting proper treatment, but still held no abuse," Ralph Milano says.
The Milanos say other injuries throughout the months included black eyes, staples in his head and a broken arm.
"Cory is telling me exactly who did this to him and it's not admissible, like he has no rights whatsoever," Ralph Milano says. "It's up to the administration to weed these people out, to investigate and what they do, they do a better job of just covering it up. They try and intimidate you, that's what they try to, they intimidate you so go away or move your kid."
But putting Cory into a new adult group home is not as easy as it sounds.
"There's no place to put them, there's no safe place," Donna Milano says.
"There are so few homes that these families are threatened by the agency, saying, 'Hey! Take your kid out of here. I don't care, go somewhere else,' because they know full well there's nowhere to go," says the Milano's attorney, Brad Gertsman.
The Milano's lawsuit is now the second filed one filed against DDI in the last couple of months.
A spokesperson for DDI told News 12 Long Island that the young man's family continues to entrust the care of their son to DDI, as they have for the past 26 years. DDI denies the claims being made, and the matter is the subject of civil litigation.