Long Island teacher accused of tying autistic, nonverbal teen to a chair — and school waited to tell parents
A special education teacher on Long Island allegedly tied a nonverbal, autistic teen to a chair with a piece of rope last month — leaving the boy terrified to return to class and his desperate father searching for answers.
The underage victim — identified as “C.D.” in a notice of claim filed with Nassau County’s Sewanhaka Central School District — was bound to his seat in New Hyde Park Memorial High School by a teacher named William Buith around noon on April 4, according to a police report obtained by The Post.
The frightening incident has left the 15-year-old — an Elmont Memorial High School student who goes to neighboring New Hyde on Thursdays for special instruction — scared to go back to class, according to his dad, Carlos Diaz.
“I don’t understand why he tied my son up,” Diaz, a 45-year-old bakery worker from Elmont, New York, told The Post during an interview this week.
“He’s supposed to know my son is autistic,” he continued. “My son doesn’t talk, we can’t get any answers from him. So I don’t know what happened, if this was the first time, the second time. I don’t know. That’s crazy … I need answers. I need answers. I need to know what really happened.”
It’s not clear why Buith — a 40-year-old track coach who graduated from Valley Stream North High School in 2002 — allegedly tied the teen down, or how long he left him before someone found him.
The school reported the incident to the Nassau County Police Department and the boy’s father the next afternoon, according to the police report and the family.
That’s also left Diaz wondering why the school district waited more than 24 hours to tell anyone about the shocking act.
“Why on Friday?” Diaz asked. “I don’t understand why they didn’t call me on Thursday. I think they don’t care about it.”
Now, Diaz intends to sue the high schools in both Elmont and New Hyde Park — as well as the Sewanhaka Central High School District — for $3 million in damages, according to the notice of claim.
“C.D. was assaulted, harassed, abused, and tied to a chair by a special needs student teacher named [William Buith],” the notice said, adding that a teaching assistant and a nurse tipped off the special education department chairperson on April 4 after witnessing Buith’s alleged actions.
“We are deeply troubled by the reprehensible actions and will vigorously pursue this matter to ensure accountability for the negligence leading to this incident,” Diaz’s attorney, Stephanie Ovadia of the Sanders Firm, said in an emailed statement.
School officials “immediately conducted an investigation” after they found out about the incident, according to an emailed statement from Dr. Thomas Dolan, the district’s interim superintendent.
“The teacher was removed from the classroom and the proper authorities were promptly contacted, including the Nassau County Police Department and the New York State Department of Education,” Dolan said.
“As this is pending litigation, the district cannot comment further.”
Diaz, the boy’s dad, said the district told him not to worry because Buith had been suspended.
But he hasn’t heard anything beyond that, he said.
“It’s like, not important,” he said. “They don’t care about it.”
The boy did not appear to suffer physical harm during the incident, according to the police report.
Diaz said his son returned to school after a two-week vacation on May 8.
In his online biography, Buith says his coaching philosophy is to “teach and inspire young adults about commitment and personal responsibility using cross-country and track & field.”
He did not respond to calls, texts and emails requesting comment.
