Dad "with weekend visitation" chokes, beats disabled 21-year-old son (Lake Mary, Florida)

Dad JOHN CIZA has been arrested for choking and beating his disabled son, who has cerebral palsy. Though the son is 21, he is still in the legal custody of his mother, while his father has weekend visitation. Although the son must have relatively severe disabilities, he was still able to speak up for himself. At 21, he should have the option of cutting off or restricting visitation if he wishes. Younger children are not always so lucky.

http://www.wesh.com/news/20203145/detail.html

Dad Charged With Choking, Beating Disabled Son
Teacher Arrested After Son Reports Alleged Incident
POSTED: 1:26 pm EDT July 28, 2009UPDATED: 6:04 pm EDT July 28, 2009

LAKE MARY, Fla. -- The father of a disabled 21-year-old man was arrested Tuesday after police said he choked and beat his son.

John Giza, 57, a teacher at Indian Trails Middle School, was charged with felony battery, obstruction of an air way and abuse of a disabled adult.

After the son urinated in his pants, the 21-year-old said his dad stripped him down and started hitting him in the head with his soiled underwear. He said his dad shoved some type of rag in his mouth and he couldn't breathe.

"Struck his child in the head with the soiled underwear and used some type of a rag or a washcloth, placing it in his child's mouth and obstructing his normal air way," Lake Mary detective Matt Scheafer said.

The son told his school and mother in late May about the alleged incident. Although the mother has custody, Giza has regular visitation with his son on weekends. School officials contacted the Department of Child and Families after the son talked to them, DCF contacted police. An arrest was made only after consulting with the State Attorney's Office, police said.

Giza said nothing to WESH 2 cameras after his arrest.

The school district will investigate the case and decide Giza's professional future in mid-August. School is on break, so no immediate action is necessary.

Police have no evidence of issues between Giza and any of his students. He denies the incident.

According to the Mayo Clinic's Web site, cerebral palsy is a general term for a group of disorders that appear during the first few years of life and affect a child's ability to coordinate body movements. Cerebral palsy can cause muscles to be weak and floppy, or rigid and stiff. In Europe and the United States, cerebral palsy occurs in about two to four out of every 1,000 births.