Drop Charges Against 23-year-old Autistic Man, Reginald Latson

  • by: Kristina Chew
  • recipient: Stafford County, VA, prosecutor Eric Olsen

Since 2010, Reginald "Neli" Latson, a now-23-year-old autistic man with an IQ of 69, has been in ten or so facilities in Virginia including prisons, group homes and psychiatric hospitals. He has been tasered, strait-jacketed to a chair, and held in solitary confinement -- all because, four-and-a-half years ago, he was waiting for a public library to open while wearing a hoodie.

The library was across the street from an elementary school. After someone reported Latson sitting on the grass and suggested he might be armed, a sheriff's deputy approached him. The deputy, a 33-year-veteran of the force and the parent of an adult child with disabilities, asked Latson his name a number of times. After Latson did not provide it, the deputy grabbed him and said he was under arrest, and the two reportedly wrestled. The deputy was severely injured and Latson was charged and convicted of a felony.

In court, Latson's attorneys did not dispute the details of what had happened. They presented an insanity defense and noted that Latson had also been diagnosed with, in addition to autism, intermittent explosive disorder and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. But rather than treating Latson's disabilities, Stafford County prosecutor Eric Olsen said the young man has "violent tendencies." A jury ruled that Latson was guilty.

Incarceration has only made things worse for Latson, a young man who already had many challenges. He was placed in solitary confinement because his disabilities meant he could not be placed among the general prison population. After he was released to a group home, he was charged again with a felony as a result of becoming agitated. Rather than being treated for a mental health crisis, Latson was transferred back to jail.

Specialists who have evaluated Latson state that he is a "boy in a man's body." State officials say he should be placed in a secure therapeutic treatment center and have arranged for such a placement in Florida; a judge has signed off on this plan and funding secured. But Olsen still contends that Latson should be incarcerated in a prison.

It is simply absurd that Latson, a young man with significant disabilities, has not only been incarcerated at all, but for so long. Denying Latson appropriate treatment for his disabilities -- as well as an education, as he was a teenager when initially convicted and imprisoned -- is a violation of his human rights.

Tell Stafford County to drop the charges against Reginald Latson immediately.

To the Stafford County Prosecutor's Office,

We, the undersigned, ask that you drop charges against Reginald Latson and release him immediately, so he can be transferred to a secure treatment facility.


Since 2010, Reginald "Neli" Latson, a now-23-year-old autistic man with an IQ of 69, has been in ten or so facilities in Virginia including prisons, group homes and psychiatric hospitals. He has been tasered, strait-jacketed to a chair, and held in solitary confinement -- all because, four-and-a-half years ago, he was waiting for a public library to open while wearing a hoodie.

The library was across the street from an elementary school. After someone reported Latson sitting on the grass and suggested he might be armed, a sheriff's deputy approached him. The deputy, a 33-year-veteran of the force and the parent of an adult child with disabilities, asked Latson his name a number of times. After Latson did not provide it, the deputy grabbed him and said he was under arrest, and the two reportedly wrestled. The deputy was severely injured and Latson was charged and convicted of a felony.


In court, Latson's attorneys did not dispute the details of what had happened. They presented an insanity defense and noted that Latson had also been diagnosed with, in addition to autism, intermittent explosive disorder and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. But rather than treating Latson's disabilities, Stafford County prosecutor Eric Olsen said the young man has "violent tendencies." A jury ruled that Latson was guilty.

Incarceration has only made things worse for Latson, a young man who already had many challenges. He was placed in solitary confinement because his disabilities meant he could not be placed among the general prison population. After he was released to a group home, he was charged again with a felony as a result of becoming agitated. Rather than being treated for a mental health crisis, Latson was transferred back to jail.

Specialists who have evaluated Latson state that he is a "boy in a man's body." State officials say he should be placed in a secure therapeutic treatment center and have arranged for such a placement in Florida; a judge has signed off on this plan and funding secured. But Olsen still contends that Latson should be incarcerated in a prison.

It is simply absurd that Latson, a young man with significant disabilities, has not only been incarcerated at all, but for so long. Denying Latson appropriate treatment for his disabilities -- as well as an education, as he was a teenager when initially convicted and imprisoned -- is a violation of his human rights.


For these reasons, we ask that the Stafford County's Prosecutor's Office drop the charges against Reginald Latson immediately.


Thank you very much for your consideration.

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