Man sentenced to prison for 2021 school bus attack on student at Camelot Center for Autism in Genoa – Shaw Local

SYCOMORE — A North Aurora man was sentenced to 6 years in prison this week after pleading guilty to a 2021 attack on an autistic boy during a school bus ride, according to court records.

Matthew R. Enck, 34, was sentenced Tuesday by Circuit Court Judge Marcy Buick to six years in prison in the Illinois Department of Corrections after pleading guilty to attacking a 14-year-old on April 29 June 2021, rendering the student unconscious on a bus. return home from the Camelot Northwest Center for Autism in Genoa, according to court records. He pleaded guilty March 4, according to DeKalb County court records.

At the time of the attack, Enck was working as a school bus aide. He was initially charged with four counts of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm by strangulation, strangulation, causing great bodily harm to a profoundly intellectually disabled child, and causing bodily harm of public manner.

“I could not imagine the agony that the parents of this child felt while their child was completely unresponsive because he was being completely smothered by the accused. We trust everyone who works within the school system every day to protect our children and help them grow. The defendant’s conduct in this case goes beyond failing to come close to that standard,” DeKalb County State’s Attorney Rick Amato said in a statement to Shaw Local News Network on Friday .

Enck was charged on August 21, 2021 and has been out of custody since that day, having posted $2,500 of a $25,000 bond. He will have to serve at least 50 percent of his sentence and one year of probation once released, according to the DeKalb County State's Attorney's Office.

Enck was represented by Yorkville-based defense attorney Kristopher Piereth, according to court records.

He faced up to 15 years in prison.

Around 3 p.m. that day, the 14-year-old boy was in the back seat of the six-passenger school bus, according to court records. The boy was sitting in the seat with a five-point chest harness and wearing a seat belt.

According to interior video of the bus obtained by police and prosecutors, around 3:03 p.m., the boy took off his left shoe and threw it at the bus driver, hitting him in the right shoulder and seat, the court wrote. police in court records. The man identified as Enck in the video immediately got up from his seat in response and walked toward the boy, crushing him with his body, according to a description of the video detailed in DeKalb County court records .

Enck pushed his own back and leaned against the boy, then placed his feet against the seat in front of the teen for what appeared to be extra leverage to brace himself, according to court records.

At this point, the boy can be heard saying “I'm sorry” twice, with Enck being pushed against him. Enck responded, “We’re done with you, boy,” according to a summary of the video footage in court records.

Enck remained pressed against the boy for about eight minutes, according to court records, and when he got up, the boy was unconscious. Enck placed his finger under the boy's nose, allegedly to check his breathing, then returned to his seat. At 3:14 p.m., the boy collapsed toward the center aisle and was held in place by his seat belt and harness. Enck returned to where the boy was sitting and tried to push him “unsuccessfully,” according to court records, and the boy remained slumped like that for about 33 minutes.

Enck was unable to wake the boy, and when they arrived at the boy's home in Montgomery, the boy's parents boarded the bus and were also unable to wake their son, according to court records. at which point 911 was called and CPR was initiated. When paramedics arrived, they took the boy to the emergency room at Rush Copley Medical Center in Aurora, then he was transferred to Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

The boy suffered bruises and abrasions to his neck, chest and upper torso due to “aggressive physical restraint,” according to court records.