YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — Sentencing will be Oct. 26 for the second of two men who pleaded guilty Tuesday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court for abusing an autistic teen in his care.
George Gunther, 20, pleaded guilty to a charge of patient abuse, a fourth-degree felony, before Judge Anthony D’Apolito.
Prosecutors are recommending a prison term of nine months, the same sentence the co-defendant in the case, Sultahn Honzu, also 20, received in April after he pleaded guilty in March to the same charge.
The two, along with the company they worked for, Penny’s Behavioral Healthcare of Hubbard, were indicted in November by a grand jury on charges of patient abuse or neglect and assault.
Honzu and Davis both worked for Penny’s, which provides home health care to people with developmental difficulties.
Charges against Penny’s were dismissed on Tuesday.
Honzu and Gunther were allegedly caught on tape abusing a 16-year-old teen with autism. The boy’s father suspected abuse so he set up cameras in the boy’s room, which reportedly caught Honzu and Gunther throwing the boy around and hitting them.
The tapes were then given to Austintown police, who filed charges after an investigation. The two were hired by the company even though they had no experience.
