A local mom is calling for justice for her special needs son after he nearly drowned at the hands of two men he thought were his friends.

19-year-old Parker Drake has Tourette syndrome, Type 1 diabetes, and is on the autism spectrum.

Parker Drake
Parker Drake, a 19-year-old Howell resident with autism, nearly drowned after two local men dared him to jump in the frigid ocean. (Christine Marshall)
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On February 25, two men Parker knew from high school dared him to jump into the icy ocean waters off Manasquan for $20 and a couple of packs of cigarettes. Parker accepted the dare...and almost didn't make out of the frigid waters.

He didn't realize how cold or deep the water was, his insulin pump froze in the cold temperatures, and he had trouble keeping his head above the water.

The worst part of all?

While Parker was struggling to swim back to shore, the two men, identified as 20-year-old Nicholas Formica and 19-year-old Christopher Tilton, both of Howell, didn't try to help him.

Parker's mother, Christine Marshall, alleges they instead videotaped the struggling teen, laughed at him, and later posted the video on Snapchat and bragged about it on Twitter.

Marshall went to the police, who opened a brief investigation, but she was later told by the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office that because Parker is legally an adult, and jumped in the water voluntarily, that there were no laws broken, and she'd have to go after the pair civilly.

Marshall has filed charges against them, including endangering the welfare of an incompetent person, but says she wants a law on the books that would qualify this as a hate crime.

"The fact that he's physically adult doesn't take away from the fact that mentally he's not an adult. He couldn't think for himself, he didn't understand the situation and the dangers of it. These two individuals knew the dangers of it. They purposely put him in that situation where he could have died." she told me during a phone interview. "They had no compassion. They treated my son like an animal."

Marshall believes the pair's punishment should involve time behind bars.

Marshall said, "I think it should be years, because Parker's personality is changed forever now. I have him in therapy, he's constantly depressed. He's just not the same person. They took a part of my son away forever."

For now Marshall is hoping to raise awareness of this issue, not just for her son, but for all special needs individuals.

"All [individuals with] special needs should be protected. I have a 5-year-old with Down's Syndrome as well, I want to make sure when he gets older, he's protected too." she said.

In New Jersey, children with special needs are legally considered adults when they turn 18, though they can receive education and services until they are age 21. Marshall says it seems like after that point they are forgotten about.

autism
Devonyu, ThinkStock
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A Wall Township mother, and author of the blog Autism with a Side of Fries, agrees that this should be classified as a hate crime, saying, "I'm disgusted by this. Everyone is all 'rah rah autism' when they are kids and cute, but they grow up and there are no laws protecting them. These folks need to be charged with a hate crime because that's exactly what it is."

A Facebook group called 'Justice for Parker Drake' already has more than 1300 members, many of whom have posted their well wishes and support for the cause.

Marshall says she has contacted the Governor and plans to speak to NJ State Senator Bob Singer in hopes that something will be done.

Keep your head up Parker, there are a lot of people on your team!

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