Video shows alleged abuse of developmentally disabled Colorado man: "This is abusive. Period."
A 71-year-old Strasburg woman, Gerilynn "Lynn" Amaro, is now facing six felony charges of assault of an at-risk person, and two misdemeanor charges of child abuse, in connection with the alleged abuse of her cousin, a 55-year-old Colorado man nicknamed "Oscar" who is developmentally disabled and operates at the level of a 5- to 8-year-old child.
Amaro is the man's legal caretaker and has had legal custody over him since his father died 11 years ago.
"We are not abusive," Amaro told CBS News Colorado during a lengthy phone call this week. "He was not treated bad. We love him," she said.
But CBS News Colorado obtained approximately 17 minutes of cellphone video recorded last December of Amaro appearing to force Oscar to exercise with a bar of soap in his mouth as she screamed at him, berated him and threatened him if he did not properly perform "squats" and running in place.
"You do your squats and you do them right, now!" Amaro can be heard screaming at the man. "Get your f-----g arms down," she yells at one point. "If I see you do this again I'm going to break your arms," she yells." The video shows Amaro knocking Oscar off his feet three different times.
"You hit me, I can hit you back," she says as she shoved him to the floor. At one point, Amaro can be seen pulling Oscar up by his hair.
The videos, which were turned over to the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office in January, led investigators to arrest Amaro on Feb. 7. They were recorded by one of Amaro's daughters, Melissa Crawford, 48, who stayed at her parent's Strasburg home from September 2023 until last month. She said she secretly recorded the videos on her cellphone in mid-December as she said the alleged abuse of the man was unrelenting.
"That was every day," she said of what is seen on the videos. She said Oscar does not speak much and is, "Like a little kid.. he's really sweet."
Crawford told CBS News Colorado she decided to do something because she thought Oscar might die in the home. She said it was "horrible" to give investigators the evidence that would lead to her mother's arrest.
"Moms are the ones you run to in pain and the ones you talk to and, instead, I feel like I have a monster, but it's still my mom. It's just got to end. I have so much guilt for bringing in the government, but it was 'Oscar die' or 'me turn them in.'"
Asked why she didn't go to authorities before Jan. 20, she said she was "terrified" of her mother. She said she was sorry she didn't communicate with authorities earlier but she was "too scared to call the cops or social services."
The Arapahoe County Sheriff indicated in a news release that the video showed "dehumanizing acts" against the man, "who was being forced to exercise for extended periods of time with a bar of soap in his mouth as an act of punishment." The child abuse charges filed against Amaro were because her grandchildren were present during the incidents in question, according to a spokesperson for the Arapahoe County Sheriff.
In an arrest affidavit for Lynn Amaro, investigators said the video showed Amaro apparently kicking the man in the chest. Deputies also said when they interviewed Oscar: "he reported being hit in the face numerous times and that Gerilynn beat him with a 'yellow stick' all over his body."
A doctor who examined the man said he had "chronic nasal fractures consistent with injury reported." Melissa Crawford also shared photos she took of Oscar's badly bruised body, which she said was the result of the constant beatings by her mother.
"Metal brooms, wooden brooms- it didn't matter. If it was long and hurts, it was used," she said.
Damon Vaz, a retired investigations sergeant with the Aurora Police Department, watched the videos and said, "this is abusive. Period."
Vaz oversaw APD's special victims unit and said they received between 40-80 complaints of abuse in a typical month. But he said the vast majority never led to arrests or prosecutions because they lacked the kind of evidence that has surfaced in the Amaro case.
"This is gold, this is seriously gold," he said of the video that was shared with police and CBS News Colorado. "You never have video evidence," said Vaz.
He encouraged other families that witness abuse to follow the lead of Melissa Crawford and attempt to video suspected abuse so police and prosecutors have hard evidence.
"Video is gold, it tells a story physical evidence doesn't," said Vaz. He characterized the video as showing acts that were "just mean."
The U.S. Department of Justice reported in 2016 that persons with disabilities were 2.5 times more likely to be violently victimized than people without disabilities. Disability Justice, an advocacy group for people with developmental disabilities, said people with disabilities are more susceptible to abuse for many reasons, including:
- Predators may perceive a person with disabilities as weak, vulnerable or less likely to report abuse;
- People with disabilities are often isolated and dependent on a small circle of friends or caregivers for critical support. These same caregivers are often the abusers;
- People with limited communication abilities and/or cognitive disabilities may find it difficult to report abuse effectively;
- Many people with disabilities are afraid they will not be believed when they report abuse.
Lynn Amaro, who said Oscar "was treated like a family member," said in recent years, she attempted to get help from government agencies to have Oscar moved out of her home, but she said, "all we got was the runaround."
She said the video does not show Oscar spitting on her and punching her. She called him, "very abusive.. mean and vulgar."
Amaro is due in court in Arapahoe County on March 11.
