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DR. DREW

New: Update in Child-Kicked-to-Death Case; Special Education Teacher`s Aide Caught Abusing Student; Tori Spelling`s Marriage Troubles

Aired April 23, 2014 - 21:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. DREW PINSKY, HLN HOST (voice-over): Tonight, a 9-year-old boy is beaten to death. His mother tells cops she did it. Now his stepfather, the man heard verbally abusing the child, has been arrested for the 25th time. Why was he on the streets? The behavior bureau wants answers.

Plus, special needs students choked, hit and beaten by teachers aides. Parents are asking, how could this happen?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was heartbroken. I was very heartbroken.

PINSKY: Let`s get started.

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PINSKY: Good evening.

My co-host is Samantha Schacher. Good to be back in studio with you.

SAMANTHA SCHACHER, CO-HOST: I know.

PINSKY: I`m sorry I was gone.

SCHACHER: That`s OK. Did you have fun in Dallas?

PINSKY: I did have fun in Dallas. A great recovering community there, and I love the time with Nexus recovery program. It was tremendous.

On this program, coming up, hitting and choking of children, it`s good to be home. It`s good to be back.

SCHACHER: Right.

PINSKY: Welcome to HLN.

Hitting and choking children, it`s caught on tape. Look at this. It`s unbelievable.

We have a guest who may change your mind about what -- he`s going to have a hard time changing my mind. That is what I call child abuse.

But, first, we`ve got breaking news on the Omaree Varela story. He is the 9-year-old who was stomped to death by his own mother. Tonight his stepfather, he is under arrest -- I beg your pardon.

(INAUDIBLE) came in, Sam, because he`s caught with meth.

SCHACHER: Yes.

PINSKY: I was anxious to tell y`all about that. Meth, guns, $17,000 of cash, same guy who can be heard viciously berating Omaree on a 911 call. This guy left court just a moment ago.

Take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: State versus Steven Casaus.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Last month, Steve Casaus was arrested on drug charges.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Casaus had been on the run since March 24th. Last month, he begged the judge for mercy saying he had been through a lot.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Casaus, you want to say anything about the failure to report to pretrial or anything else?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Last December, Omaree Varela was killed in his home. Omaree`s stepfather, Steve Casaus, was home at the time.

PINSKY: We hear him emotionally abusing him in ways that I can`t believe one human talks to another human, let alone a stepdad to a stepson.

STEPDAD: You`re a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) everything hurts you. I`ve never hated nobody like you in my life. You know what, Omaree? I hate you more than I hate anybody in my whole life.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Giving police all kinds of excuses.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my baby was playing with the phone. Baby, did you take mom`s phone?

KID: I think I know where your phone is.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Failing to report to pretrial is ordered. I`m going to set this bond at $20,000 cash.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His deranged, disgusting, sick parents.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And bringing a man into your home who could potentially hurt a child. (END VIDEOTAPE)

PINSKY: Sam, I`m awash in disgust, I want to vomit, I`m hurt, I`m upset. This guy is thankfully in jail now. What`s the latest?

SCHACHER: This is like his 20th time in jail.

PINSKY: Fantastic. Oh, good. Let`s let him have more kids.

SCHACHER: Right. Poor excuse of a help stare, poor excuse of a human being. So this time, he was caught selling meth to a police officer, also in possession of a semiautomatic pistol, $17,000 in cash, meth.

And get this -- apparently, he told multiple people that he would have a shootout with police before having to go back to jail.

PINSKY: Wrong. He`s back in jail.

SCHACHER: Yes, exactly.

PINSKY: Thankfully. But I can`t get over -- now, remember how I was sort of sympathetic to the cops? Remember when they went and investigated the household? I was saying they were --

SCHACHER: How do you feel now?

PINSKY: I feel like an idiot. I feel really not so good.

SCHACHER: Don`t feel like an idiot, but yes, this guy deserves to be in jail. What happened to three strikes law? Five, 10, 15? I mean, 20 times?

PINSKY: Let`s find out by talking to our buddy, Mark Eiglarsh, attorney at SpeaktoMark.com, Kirsten Haglund, former Miss America, founder of the Kirsten Haglund Foundation, and Vanessa Barnett, social commentator, host of HipHollywood.com.

Vanessa, I`ll go to you first. Do you think this guy had something active, something specific to do with Omaree`s murder?

VANESSA BARNETT, SOCIAL COMMENTATOR: Absolutely. He is an accessory to a crime. He is a murderer.

He stood in that room. He`s no better or no worse off than this mother. She kicked him, but he stood there and watched it happen.

SCHACHER: Right.

BARNETT: He berated him. He verbally abused him, and he is still not -- there are no charges for that still. I`m dumbfounded at how this man was even on the street in the first place.

SCHACHER: Thank you.

BARNETT: They could have saved his life by putting this male in jail -- this man in jail maybe the third, fourth, fifth, I don`t know, 17th arrest, but no, he`s still on the street, and he is a murderer just as much as that mother is.

PINSKY: I see Kirsten nodding her head. Yes, yes.

KIRSTEN HAGLUND, FORMER MISS AMERICA: Yes, well, there were nine referrals, actually, from, you know, the various sources in the community. People caught on tape saying, like, we saw this family beating this child out in public before, where this could have been stopped. It could have been prevented. That`s what is seriously the most heartbreaking thing here.

But what`s so ironic to me is the fact that, you know, states will spend $20 billion in the next six years enforcing drug laws across this country. And yet, we have this guy and the wife also who was arrested 35 times prior to, of course, Omaree`s death, and they`re not in jail. Like what is broken with our system here that we`re enforcing, you know, all these laws and they`re not in jail yet. I don`t get it.

PINSKY: Lots of questions.

Mark, it`s your system, buddy. You`re the one defending guys like this. Come on, let`s go. Help us understand. We can`t understand it.

MARK EIGLARSH, ATTORNEY: OK, as long as you don`t kill the messenger. First of all, you know, all right, let`s concede he`s got a record dating back to the disco crisis. That`s not good. OK?

But keep in mind, there`s a distinction between arrests and convictions. It`s not uncommon for someone to have many arrests but have very few convictions. We would have to look through his priors sheet and see how many convictions he has and what were those four?

PINSKY: Mark, Mark --

EIGLARSH: That`s the first thing. That would explain -- I knew you couldn`t handle it.

PINSKY: I can`t handle it because I`m going, how many arrests amongst the five people you see on this panel? How many arrests amongst the five PPC on this panels? How many arrests? How many convictions?

HAGLUND: Zip zero.

SCHACHER: How is this guy even allowed to be a father?

EIGLARSH: You`re all such wonderful people. You`re all wonderful, great people. You`re great. Yay!

BARNETT: Where there`s smoke, there is fire.

EIGLARSH: Well, of course, but you can`t convict someone with smoke, ladies and gentlemen.

BARNETT: But you can keep them away from children.

EIGLARSH: But in this case, hey may be guilty, he may be horrible. He`s a horrid father, got all that. But you have at best proof that maybe 100 percent shadow of a doubt, he probably had some role in this. That`s not enough. You can`t strip him of his liberties.

BARNETT: I have proof that he verbally abused him and berated him on a 911 call. That is proof.

EIGLARSH: That`s not murder. I`m with you, that was horrible. That was horrible. You are absolutely right. It makes him a horrible father. That`s not murder.

BARNETT: That`s abuse.

EIGLARSH: Verbal abuse is not going to -- I`m with you in the court of public opinion. Not in -- not in the criminal justice system.

PINSKY: What I`ve got is a woman coming up in the next segment who says that the wife would do anything for this man. The stepmom, I guess. And that I wonder if it was her running -- one of the things that occurs to me is that the mom could be taking the fall for the stepfather.

But between the two of them, they have more than 35 arrests. The mom actually has more arrests than the dad.

SCHACHER: I know.

PINSKY: Which is stunning. Vanessa, I know you love that one.

So, the question we have is should people like this be having kids? How do we deal with it when they do?

Behavior bureau comes in to tell us about that.

And later, an 8-year-old facing felony charges. His outraged stepfather -- hopefully a good father, I believe he is -- joins me after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPDAD: I could beat the life out of you, shut up!

That is not a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) rugburn.

MOM: It`s not a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) bruise either! That`s not a bruise. That doesn`t hurt so don`t act like it hurts.

STEPDAD: You`re (EXPLETIVE DELTED) everything hurts you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PINSKY: Back with Samantha. We`re talking about the 9-year-old Omaree, Omaree`s stepdad, under arrest tonight. Cops say he sold meth to an undercover cop.

But I`m telling you what you just heard there, Sam, is not just child abuse. That causes brain damage. It causes brain damage. It causes kids` brains to develop abnormally when they are emotionally abused, when they`re physically abused.

SCHACHER: I believe it. I mean, just watching that footage and knowing he`s no longer here, where is the justice? Where is the justice for Omaree?

PINSKY: Well, let`s bring the behavior bureau.

We`ve got Tiffanie Davis Henry, psychotherapist, HLN contributor, Kirsten Haglund, Judy Ho, psychologist, professor of Pepperdine.

Tiffanie, what is your gut feeling about this guy? Do you feel as though he had something -- if he didn`t have anything direct to do -- could it be that this woman was -- is covering for him?

TIFFANIE DAVIS HENRY, HLN CONTRIBUTOR: It certainly could be. At the very least, he was there. He admitted to being there when the mom was beating Omaree. So, at the very least, to me he seems like an accessory to murder.

But it wouldn`t surprise me. You made a great point last segment. Mom has like 35 arrests. He has, like, 19.

It wouldn`t surprise me that she would just kind of jump in and do a bid for her man. Maybe she`s this ride-or-die chick that really wants to get in there and show him how much she loves him. If she would do this to Omaree, who`s to say she wouldn`t do anything to keep him out of jail one more time.

PINSKY: That`s right. Judy, do you agree with that?

JUDY DO, PSYCHOLOGIST: I do. And, Dr. Drew, I really believe that he encouraged the mom to hate and to aggress on Omaree.

He is probably somebody who rewards criminality in his romantic relationships and encourages his partners to take after him. He probably even fed her the lines to lie to the cops and lie to CPS so they could keep them at bay.

I really would not be surprised that he was really the one pulling the strings here.

PINSKY: Well, on the phone -- yes, wow -- I`ve got Roberta Morales. She is a friend of Omaree`s mom.

Now, Roberta, you heard -- I hope you heard what Judy was saying and Tiffanie. They`re speculating that somehow this guy maybe set the mom up. Is there any validity to that?

ROBERTA MORALES, FRIEND OF OMAREE`S MOM (via telephone): I believe that with everything I have in my heart and soul. I know -- I don`t condone Synthia to be backing up this guy, but I also have seen relationships where it does happen.

She`s known him way prior before the kids came along, et cetera. But with everything I have inside me, I believe it was him. There`s nothing no one can tell me different from day one, that story aired. They specifically stated that the kids were taken into custody and that the kids said, my parents, with an "S," discipline us with a belt.

Now, he has been in everything -- you can see the videotapes from the past. I`ve seen them the day before the incident. He was living there. But you did not see him throughout any of the news whatsoever.

PINSKY: Roberta, it`s hard to back up your friend. I m percent, you know, she is alleged to have stomped this child to death. It makes us all sick.

MORALES: Right. And I understand that. But I truly believe she didn`t do this. I know her.

PINSKY: Did you have concerns about this guy before this all came down?

MORALES: Oh, yes, yes. Yes. They gave me a ride one time from my friend`s house home. And him and I got into a lightweight argument. And I had to zip it. And I told her when we got to my house because she came with me in. I told her, I don`t know about that dude. If it wasn`t for you, I would have went off on him. I`d probably end up back in prison or dead.

PINSKY: Judy, you have a question for Roberta.

HO: I do. Hi, Roberta.

I was wondering if you saw any real big behavioral changes from before when you knew your friend and then after she met this guy. Was she different to you, and did your relationship with her change as well?

PINSKY: Good question.

MORALES: No. See, she was with him before I ever came into the picture. That`s why I`m stating, you know, way before the kids were born. Now, when he went to prison, then she had, you know, the kids, each time she had another kid.

PINSKY: Was she different when he was in prison?

MORALES: Oh, yes, compared to when I seen her out here with him, no, I never really --

PINSKY: Sam, one quick question.

SCHACHER: Roberta, this wasn`t the first time that he was abused, and unfortunately this time --

PINSKY: The child.

SCHACHER: Yes, that it cost him his life. He showed up to school with burn marks and bruises. So, is that also you think contributed to the father and not her?

MORALES: The way I`m seeing it, they`re stating all these marks and stuff. Now, if you go back to the baby Brianna case or any other child abuse case, they show at the time --

PINSKY: The pictures.

MORALES: -- you know, the pictures and everything. They`re talking about things from the past. You understand what I`m saying?

PINSKY: Yes. So it`s speculation still. Roberta, thanks again --

MORALES: My whole thing is, is to bring this dude to surface.

PINSKY: Well, he`s in prison. He`s in jail, anyway.

MORALES: He changed his story and stated that he was at the house that night.

PINSKY: Yes.

MORALES: I don`t understand why day one, they didn`t question him.

PINSKY: Hold on. A guy that`s been arrested 15 times changes his story? I`m shocked.

So hold on, Roberta. Thank you so much for joining us. We may need you again. So, hang tight.

Next, an 8-year-old special needs student faces felony charges for a run-in he had with police. That`s the child. He is facing felony charges. His stepfather is here with us after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This 8-year-old boy faces two felony counts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t even think he did anything wrong in this case. You know, he`s special need.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Robert Bloom says his stepson, Edward, ran away from the Hillside Learning and Behavior Center in Allegan, where he attends school. Police were called to help. And according to their report, school staff requested the officer drive Edward back to the school. Edward is said to have cursed at the officer, told him to shut up, and assaulted him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He has special needs. He has anger issues. They know this. And they`re going to throw him in the back of a cop car all by himself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They say Edward broke the rear police camera in the back of the car. And as a result, the 8-year-old has been charged with malicious destruction of police property and resisting and obstructing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PINSKY: Back with Sam, Mark Eiglarsh, Tiffanie and Judy.

Eight-year-old boy, special needs child, developmental issues, facing two charges, felony charges.

I`m going to talk to his stepfather in just a second. But I`m glad I`ve got this panel together because this is where the rubber hits the road on the issue of treatment versus punishment. Somebody who`s sick versus somebody who`s a criminal.

Sam, what`s the latest on this story?

SCHACHER: The latest is the stepfather who we just saw on that tape, he and the 8-year-old stepson, they went to the police station with $50 in hand in hopes to pay back the police chief.

PINSKY: So, the dad took the kid in and apologized.

SCHACHER: And he did. He told them to apologize. The stepson did. And reportedly, he accepted the apology, but then the stepfather asked for the police chief to please call the prosecutor`s office, please get these charges dropped. But he said, it`s out of our hands, the police chief.

And as of now, the 8-year-old is still facing two felony charges.

PINSKY: So, Mark, right, prosecutor`s office, out of control, no?

EIGLARSH: Completely.

PINSKY: Thank you.

EIGLARSH: Prosecutorial discretion.

PINSKY: Thank you.

EIGLARSH: They don`t have to bring charges. It was Gandhi who said, we as a nation are judged by how we treat our weakest member, 8-year-old with special needs?

SCHACHER: Right.

EIGLARSH: This is how we`re treating him? Telling him he`s a criminal at 8 years of age? Good job, prosecutors.

PINSKY: Thank you, Mark.

Tiffanie, back me up on this. This issue of somebody who`s not well, their brain`s not working right for somebody who`s a criminal. Why can`t we tell the difference? And, by the way, resources much better spent in treatment, right?

HENRY: Correct. Correct. And it`s not why can`t we tell the difference. Why do we choose not to tell the difference?

PINSKY: There you go.

HENRY: I think in this case, he`s just choosing to go forward with the law as opposed to looking at this as an individualized, independent situation. And it`s just wrong. I think that this young man probably doesn`t know exactly what he did wrong, or maybe he does know that he did wrong but he has lax impulse control.

PINSKY: Right.

HENRY: And can`t really stop himself. And so those types of things have to be taken into consideration, especially when you`re dealing with an 8- year-old.

PINSKY: Eight-year-old.

HENRY: When he`s got special needs.

PINSKY: I have his stepfather on the phone. His name is Robert Bluhm.

Robert, you hoped the visit would end all this. You go to the police. You ask for the prosecutor to back off. It didn`t end it, did it?

ROBERT BLUHM, STEPFATHER (via telephone): No, it did not.

PINSKY: What`s happening now?

BLUHM: Now, we`re just awaiting to see what they`re going to do. I mean, nobody has talked to us -- not even from the prosecutor`s office -- they appointed him a court-appointed attorney, and so far, he has been the mouthpiece for the whole deal. I`ve done, I think, my part, he apologized to the officer he assaulted and the chief of police.

PINSKY: Robert, you`ve said that the public defender was looking for some sort of probation. And you had a reaction to that, is that right?

BLUHM: Yes. Because, I mean, the kid doesn`t -- he realizes he did wrong, but like somebody said on your panel, he does black out. He doesn`t realize what he`s doing when he`s doing it.

PINSKY: Judy, this is the problem. If he`s on -- and, Mark, you`d agree with this, too, but I`ll let Judy have this -- if he`s on probation, he`s going to violate the probation.

HO: That`s right.

EIGLARSH: Yes.

HO: And I happen to believe that we are directing our outrage at the wrong party. We know that school systems are actually the gatekeepers to children`s mental health care. Now, Hillside is supposed to be a school that deals with special education children. This child has a really long track history of being kicked out of public school and not being able to be maintained there.

Why do they not intervene earlier? Why do they not direct testing? Why do they not mandate counseling?

PINSKY: Hang on. Let`s find out.

Mr. Bluhm, has he been getting enough care, your stepson?

BLUHM: Yes. He has a counselor on a weekly basis.

PINSKY: But, I mean, is he getting testing? All these blackouts and these rages and impulse problems, are they become adequately and systematically treated?

SCHACHER: Right.

BLUHM: I don`t have an answer for that. They have been. He`s been to -- we have a place out here called Pine Rest. He`s been part of that since he was born pretty much when we knew something was wrong.

HO: But if we see these impulse issues, Dr. Drew, they need to be testing him for things like autism, developmental disabilities. I don`t know if that`s it.

PINSKY: Seizure disorder. It could be -- who knows? It could be lots of different things.

Guys, I have to wrap up.

Thank you, Mr. Bluhm, for joining me.

Next, a shocking video. This one is unbelievable. Special needs children being choked, beaten by a teacher`s aide.

And later -- that`s allegedly -- but we look at some tape that`s pretty intense. Later, Tori and Dean`s sex life imposed. Why are they telling the world about his cheating and why now, and what does it all mean?

Back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TV REPORTER: I was about to interview the mother of this special education student who, according to police, is on this video being choked, hit and beaten by teacher`s aide Alger Coleman. The video was too difficult to watch, and she couldn`t continue. Coleman faces charges of first-degree child cruelty and simple battery.

This all began after this special education teacher says school administrators refused to believe her but she said the aides were mistreating students. Then, she got an idea.

SPECIAL ED TEACHER: If they don`t believe me verbally, maybe I should set up a video.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PINSKY: Back with Sam, Mark, Kirsten and Vanessa.

That report was from our affiliate WSB-TV.

Sam, the man arrested is not only -- the only alleged abuser. There was a second person as well on that video. Tell us about that.

SCHACHER: Yes. Well, we spoke to the Atlanta Police Department earlier today. And the other person -- their actions came to light after the first video of that guy who has been charged, he has been arrested. But the police did say, listen. This investigation is still open. And they are still going to figure out those charges. They just haven`t been filed yet.

PINSKY: Against her.

SCHACHER: Against the woman.

PINSKY: She`s being looked at carefully.

SCHACHER: Yes, she is being investigated.

PINSKY: Yes, I heard Nancy Grace over there going off about that. And I thought, it can`t be. They`ve got to be looking into this.

SCHACHER: Absolutely.

PINSKY: All right. Fair enough.

Vanessa, you were a teacher. How do you react to this?

BARNETT: Well, I want to say, first, these are not words that are in any way, shape or form defending these teachers.

PINSKY: What?

BARNETT: But as a person that`s been in the classroom, you -- I know what it is to be overwhelmed and overworked in that environment.

Now, I know to step away and ask for help. These idiots did not. And this is -- I know you hate when we blame the system, but this is what happens when you have overworked teachers that are inexperienced. Clearly they don`t know how to deal with children with special needs. And this is their reaction. And I feel like it`s the overall -- this woman went to the board. She asked for help. She pleaded with them. She told them something was wrong, and they did nothing.

PINSKY: Mark?

BARNETT: And so, that is the problem. That`s the bigger problem here.

PINSKY: Mark?

EIGLARSH: Vanessa, I appreciate what you`re saying. I thought that was well articulated, but the persons to blame are those who are mistreating this child. I thought to myself as I`m watching this, filled with sadness, that I would literally defend pro bono the parent who responded with violence. I`m not advocating it -- against these teachers for treating their kid like a sack of potatoes. There`s no excuse for it.

BARNETT: You don`t have to convince me. That was my teacher`s side. My mother`s side is over there kicking some butt and going off. You don`t have to convince me of the defense on that behalf. I`m just saying.

PINSKY: Now, the teacher that set up that hidden camera told Nancy Grace what they were saying to one of the boys and why they had started beating him. And by the way, the teacher that Sam said is being looked into seems to me was part of the problem. She was really egging on the guy that really perpetrated the violence. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENIFIED FEMALE: I was in the classroom at the time, but I was behind a partition with another student. So while I didn`t witness that action myself, I could hear them saying -- well, the para-professional, the woman, she was saying, you know, you`ve gone soft to Mr. Comb (ph). And you`ve gone soft. You used to be able to have control of the students. You don`t have control of him anymore. You know, you`re soft. You`re soft. And that`s kind of what prompted his behavior.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PINSKY: That is exactly what I was talking about. Now, Nancy Grace also reports that Alger Coleman has a record of run-ins with the law, driving with a suspended license, leaving the scene of an accident, contempt of court twice, two counts of abandoning a minor. Kirsten, what`s says your reaction?

HAGLUND: Wow! Well, these two individuals were clearly the most unqualified people to be able to be teachers, much less teachers who are working or, you know, aides that are working with kids with special needs.

I mean, my heart goes out to those two moms. It`s difficult enough to raise a child with disabilities, much less to see them on camera being beaten in this way. But, you know, good for those parents and that teacher for sensing that something was wrong, and those parents for going after, you know, filing a lawsuit, being involved in their kids` lives.

You know, I want to, you know, give props to them because they`re really doing the right thing. And too many parents drop their kids at the door and just leave and expect teachers or aides to raise their kids. They`re really stepping up and saying it`s not OK.

PINSKY: Well --

BARNETT: I don`t they expect people to raise their kids. They expect people not to beat their kids, and that should be the expected expectation.

PINSKY: Here`s what I want to do. I want to bring in Terance Madden. He is the attorney for two sets of these parents that you`re talking about.

I`m sorry, Mr. Madden. Tell us about these two boys. What are you looking to accomplish? How are they doing?

TERANCE MADDEN, ATTORNEY (via-telephone): Well, first of all, of course, they are devastated, you know. They are non-verbal children, so they`re unable to come home and talk to their parents or even tell another teacher or go to the principal or do the normal things that a child would be able to do if they were hurt in this manner.

Of course, the para-professionals that hurt them know this. I`d like to touch on a couple of things that I`ve already heard. One, I will not stop and say that it`s only the responsibility of those who did the physical actions. They were warned. The warning signs were there. Any psychologist, psychiatrist will call in and tell you that the warning signs come with verbal abuse. The warning signs come with neglect.

And so, it only escalates from there. This was expected from the behavior that had been reported to them. So they should have done something. We can`t just stop at what happened at the end result.

Another thing I would like to draw attention to is look how comfortable, how comfortable, the (inaudible) felt in their actions. This was not something that it was the first time. I bet you that this happened previously. I mean, and how uncomfortable. And especially with the second one.

PINSKY: Well, and -- and Sam, it goes against -- Vanessa was saying, that they`re overwhelmed. He`s carrying his coffee. He`s just going through his day. Boom, it`s the kid. But you had a question.

SAMANTHA SCHACHER, HOST, POP TRIGGER: Yeah, I do. Really quickly, Terance, what is the excuse of this school district, of the principal who turned a blind eye? I mean, what else are they turning a blind eye to?

MADDEN: I cannot tell you speck specifically about the principal himself, but I can tell you that I gave an opportunity to go to the settlement table, get the help that these children needed, and immediately fast and in a hurry, and -- and give them an opportunity to get out of this situation.

And what they are depending on is this -- this -- this legislative-given qualification called sovereign immunity. That is what they are depending on, to break the chain and to break the link of responsibility.

PINSKY: All right.

MADDEN: Now, it`s true, it`s a hard mountain to get over.

EIGLARSH: That is the law. That is the law.

MADDEN: It is the law.

EIGLARSH: That is the law.

(CROSSTALK)

MADDEN: Well, you know what?

(CROSSTALK)

MADDEN: Laws are meant to be challenged and changed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

MADDEN: One of the things that all your viewers -- all your viewers need to understand is that that is the law. And they can -- they can go to the legislature. They can write their congressmen. They can. That`s --

(CROSSTALK)

EIGLARSH: That`s the key. Changing the law.

PINSKY: Exactly. Get involved in your schools. Get involved in your politics.

PINSKY: Wow, OK. Thank you.

MADDEN; Get involved in everything.

PINSKY: Thank you, Mr. Madden. We have to go.

Next, we will hear from the school and what they are going to do about this.

And later, inside a therapy session with Tori Spelling and her husband. We`re back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was heartbroken. I was very heartbroken.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This mother says the video shows her 11-year-old autistic son being mistreated, hit and tossed around by another teacher`s aide.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I really just couldn`t believe the school would let this go on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This special education teacher says school administrators refused to believe her when she said the aides were mistreating students.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That school, that principal have failed these children.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PINSKY: Back with Sam and a behavior bureau, Tiffanie, Kirsten and Judy. And of course, if you`d like to join the conversation, tweet us right now, @drdrewhln #BehaviorBureua.

So our affiliate providing the disturbing video. It`s shot with a hidden camera inside a special needs classroom. It appears to show two different boys, allegedly -- and I don`t know how you can call it anything other than what it is -- being abused by a behavior specialist and another staff member.

Judy, you work with kids like this. What`s your take on this? What went wrong? How bad is this? How are these kids going to recover?

HO.: Well, Dr. Drew, kids with special needs tend to be more at risk for maltreatment and abuse because of a lot of reasons. And one of them is that people believe that these children can adequately communicate themselves. And so, they may not ever be able to stand up for themselves. At the same time, they`re also a little more frustrating for adults to deal with. So again, that puts them at more risk.

But we know, as you said at the top of the hour, that this type of maltreatment really leads to a lot of problems in the child`s developing brain. In these children, what happens is their fear response is overactivated. So that gets overdeveloped while other areas that govern problem solving is underdeveloped.

We`ve actually seen that their brains are sometimes smaller when they`ve been severely abused than kids with normal development. And they don`t know how to attach normally to people. They can`t accept nurturing and kindness.

PINSKY: All right, so I actually have a brain. I`m glad you brought that all up. So the fear response is out and here in the brain, the amygdala, the frontal area, as you were referring to, what we`re trying to help develop. And of course they don`t develop when kids are being abused, right, Judy?

HO: That`s right.

PINSKY: And the attachment stuff near the frontal area is what we`re trying to develop. But again, that gets shattered when people abuse them. Tiffany, you agree?

HENRY: I absolutely agree. And it really is frustrating in this particular case because the Atlanta public school system has been under fire as of late. They`re already --

(CROSSTALK)

PINSKY: Are you hearing local stories about it? Tiffanie, is there a lot of local buzz about this?

DAVIS HENRY: Yes, Yes. There`s a lot. There`s a lot. I was actually watching the local news earlier today and heard about this. And, you know, they`re struggling with this cheating scandal and now this.

The most vulnerable kids are the ones that are left in this precarious kind of situation. Not everybody is cut out to work with special needs kids. I don`t think that I would be able to do it, but I wouldn`t put myself in that position.

You know, the last -- on the last segment, they were talking about how, you know, lax -- these teachers were just going about their day, watching TV, doing other things. The kids were pretty much interrupting their doing nothing, you know? They were getting in the way. And that`s the problem.

PINSKY: Kirsten, imagine, though, it`s your child. You`d dropping the child off there to be cared for. You`re expecting special care for kids with special needs.

HAGLUND: You can`t even imagine. And the thing is, one of the moms said in an interview something very poignant. She said I feel like the Atlanta public school system failed me.

And I lived in Atlanta for a while. I know if that`s the only option you have is the public school system and that`s the way your children are treated, you know, it`s unbelievable.

But, yes, this school system has been plagued by controversy. And those principals probably didn`t want to report when this teacher brought -- maybe there`s some mistreatment -- up to them because they didn`t want any more controversy, and now they`re getting double.

PINSKY: All right, thank you, guys.

Next up, Tori Spelling says her husband, Dean -- we`re going to talk about his brain. He had a -- she says they had a good sex life. He says not so much. Now they are in treatment and therapy on television. Reminder, you can find us anytime on Instagram @drdrewhln. Back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PINSKY: I`m back with Sam. The story you are literally tweeting about more than anything else, it is Tori Spelling`s marriage in trouble. We know that because she and her husband, Dean, are documenting this whole process and their struggles on a reality show. I want you to look now at the premiere episode on Lifetime when Dean, in treatment, in a therapeutic setting, exposes this troubled sex life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN MCDERMOTT, MARRIED TO TORI SPELLING: I cheated on my wife. That`s my worst nightmare.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why her?

MCDERMOTT: I wasn`t attracted to her. It was like -- it was just like a warm body.

TORI SPELLING, ACTRESS: Like everyone told their version of what I was going through. None of them have been true.

MCDERMOTT: We would have sex once every two weeks. It wasn`t fantastic.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know. I`m going to address it.

MCDERMOTT: Why? What did I say?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PINSKY: Bring back the behavior bureau, Tiffanie, Kirsten and Judy. Tiffanie, what`s your reaction to how he`s behaving there in session?

HENRY: He`s a douche, Dr. Drew.

SCHACHER: Yes! Absolutely, yes.

PINSKY: That`s a clinical term, isn`t it? I`ve heard it before.

HENRY: Yes, you heard it from Sam, probably. She has that potty mouth that I love.

SCHACHER: OK.

PINSKY: So the douchiness, where is the douchiness coming from, I guess is the question?

HENRY: Well, I think his expectations of what his relationship and what his sex life should be with his wife are very different. And I think actually he`s using sex kind of like a baby uses a pacifier, as a self- soothing mechanism. Any time he`s angry or frustrated or upset or uneasy or anxious or depressed, he wants sex, and Tori is not built that way or cut out that way, and she`s a twice-a-month girl. And, hey, the average married couple actually has sex about once a week. They`re not doing too bad. I mean, Dean, talk to me when you get to a month without sex or two months or six months or even five years like some of my clients.

SCHACHER: Wow!

PINSKY: Whoa! Judy, it sounded like Tiffanie was describing somebody reaching outside of their body to regulate internal emotions. And that`s where addiction gets going. Do you think it`s -- people keep alleging addiction here? I don`t think so.

HO: Well, you know, Dean is somebody who externalizes blame and responsibility.

PINSKY: Ooh.

HO: Just in that short clip you showed us.

PINSKY: Hold on. Hold on. Let me get my brain, the brain`s coming back here.

HO: Let`s bring the brain back.

PINSKY: So that`s people who maybe don`t have as much attachment and empathy in this part of the brain up in here, the anterior cingulate, and they perhaps are sort of only concerned with their own feelings and not that of somebody else. Is that right? That`s what you`re building here, yes?

HO: Absolutely. It`s all about him. It`s all about the fact that she can`t satisfy him sexually and the fact that even this woman that he picked up didn`t really satisfy him either. It was just a warm body. I mean, look at the way that he loosely describes the women in his life. And what is his perception?

But I just wanted Sam to take note, too. You need to put in your new DSM the douche word. Put the douche word in there. And put a picture of Dean.

PINSKY: We`re having range of douche, douchiness. Extreme douche. We have different --

SCHACHER: Douchebaggery, Dean`s picture.

PINSKY: He went to some sort of rehab, which again a term that means nothing, unless it was a chemical dependency treatment program. I saw allegations of maybe some alcoholism. Is that worth dealing with here? Is he an alcoholic?

SCHACHER: That is part of it.

PINSKY: So he has come clean about that?

SCHACHER: Well, that`s been alluded.

PINSKY: See --

SCHACHER: She talked about that with People magazine. But what is this -- some people are believing that he may be suffering from a sex addiction. How do you know the difference between someone that`s just making an excuse and really does have an addiction?

PINSKY: Right.

HO: Whatever.

PINSKY: Who said whatever? Judy or Kirsten?

HO: I said whatever.

PINSKY: OK, but listen, I`m going to give Kirsten a chance. A lot of guys that cheat use the I`m a sex addict as an excuse, when people who really do have sex addiction, they completely lose control. And, b the way, Kirsten, I`ll have you react to this as well, Tori and Dean`s relationship started as an affair. They both were married when their romance began. Should she be surprised that she`s getting into this problem with him?

HO: Bingo.

HAGLUND: Not at all. And here`s the thing IS I think you have two very insecure people. So the sex is just a symptom -- You know, him having an affair is just a symptom of a deeper problem. They both have their -- they`re both looking to the other people to satisfy them completely, and no other person can ever do that. You need to be satisfied intrinsically inside of yourself before you can put that expectation on someone else. You can`t do that. That sets you up for failure. And unfortunately we`re seeing that play out on national television.

PINSKY: And a lot of people are tweeting, Sam, sympathetic messages to Tori, particularly people who have been tweeted upon.

SCHACHER: Right.

PINSKY: Cheated upon, rather.

SCHACHER: It is sad to see that, but why air this personal of a matter on television? I do have a tweet right here from a Canadian, from @TrulyAfricanDesigns. I watch your show every night in Canada. Thank you very much. Why should you wash your dirty linen in the streets? OK. Tori and Dean should stop it. Why are they doing this?

PINSKY: And the question is what is that motivation? Anybody have any theories about that? Is this just to get more reality television? Kirsten, go ahead.

HAGLUND: I have a theory. I thought about this. I think that Tori Spelling has grown up in this very public arena, and she needs affirmation. She`s not getting it from her husband or anyone else, and she think she needs to put her life out in a public sphere and everyone will affirm her and say we like you, Tori. And then she`ll feel (inaudible).

PINSKY: So she`s outing her husband.

HAGLUND: But she needs to find that within.

PINSKY: Outing her husband on TV and getting the support from the public. Judy says no.

HO: Well, no, what I was just going to add is that if they`re really serious about fixing their relationship, they would not be putting it on television. This is just for TV. It`s just for attention. The two of them need to actually get help for what`s underlying. Addiction or whatever, there`s underlying issues that they need to resolve, whether it`s anxiety, depression or low self-esteem. They need to work on that.

PINSKY: But let`s be fair. Tiffanie, let`s be fair. Maybe this is just a piece of it they`re showing on television. Maybe they need money, they need a job and they are continuing treatment away from the cameras.

HENRY: You know, it`s funny, Dr. Drew, I`ve done therapy on television. I`ve done it for celebrities. But never in a treatment setting like this and never when the wounds are this fresh. You have to really take some time out and take it away from the camera. I`m even surprised that this early in his treatment that a therapist would have allowed those cameras in the room at that time --

PINSKY: Hold it.

HENRY: -- to do that.

PINSKY: I want to pick up there. More with the behavior bureau and Tori and Dean`s sex life after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PINSKY: Back with Sam and our behavior bureau, Tiffanie, Kirsten and Judy. And we`re talking about the story you have been retweeting the most today. It`s Tori and Dean exposing their troubled marriage on a reality show. Take a look at this clip from Lifetime when Dean talks about his addictions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPELLING: I can never give him enough sex. Like he`s never going to be happy with just me.

MCDERMOTT: I`m insatiable.

SPELLING: I wasn`t given the option of dealing with this privately.

MCDERMOTT: I`m dealing with my alcoholism and my addiction and my depression and mental health.

SPELLING: Every story you could create, they`ve told. Except the real story.

MCDERMOTT: If I don`t change who I am from the inside out, then, you know, we`re not going to make it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PINSKY: So there it is, Tiffanie. Alcoholism, depression. And it may all just be alcoholism, let`s be fair. And she`s complaining about him lying - - shocking, alcoholics lie. News at 11:00. They do routinely. If they didn`t, their diagnosis would be in question. But, you know, you brought up the issue of him being tender and in need of treatment. He did go away and get treatment. I just wonder if he got enough.

HENRY: Yes. From the looks of it -- and granted, this was the first show -- it doesn`t seem like he got enough. My main concern, though, is these kids. They`ve got four little ones. I believe all four of them are under the age of 10. And one of the things that struck me in this is that Tori said she`s been trying to change him for the past seven years. Over the past seven years that they`ve been married, I`ve been trying to work on him and change him and he`s let me down over and over again. That puzzles me because, when you get married --

PINSKY: No, that doesn`t puzzle me.

HENRY: Those things need to be changed before you get married, not after. We don`t work on this -- we don`t work on this after the marriage. We work on it before.

SCHACHER: We have a tweet kind of in response to that. Can I read it please?

PINSKY: All right, let`s hear it, then I`m going to give you my opinion. Go ahead.

SCHAHCER: OK, so this is a tweet from @tasha445. She tweets, "There is a saying, how you got him is how you`re going to lose him. I always say a leopard don`t change its spots." Come on.

PINSKY: It`s true except when people go through recovery, when they really get deeply involved in treatment of addiction, they do change quite a bit. And here`s the deal -- one good codependent to another, that`s me to you, Tori. I`m telling you something.

SCHACHER: And me.

PINSKY: Oh, yes, Sam is too. We discovered that about her, but I`m talking to Tori for the moment. It`s that you don`t change him. He has to change himself. He`s got to want to change. You, honey, get therapy. Go to al-anon. Get a sponsor. Do all those good things. Because he ain`t going to change. If you change, by the way, it does sometimes set up a motivation for him to change. Tiffanie?

HENRY: Shouldn`t there be a place, too, for Tori to come to a place of acceptance?

PINSKY: Yes.

HENRY: That this is the person that I married and this is who he is. I can`t change him, but I have to accept him. And once I accept him, I can make a decision as to whether I want to stay in this with him as he is or if I want to do good by me and my kids and get out.

PINSKY: People are -- the tweets that are coming up now are suggesting that this whole thing is disingenuous. They`re just doing it as a show. I don`t think so. Kirsten, are you like me and Sam, you codependent?

HAGLUND: No, I`m not codependent. I have a couple of other things in my life but thankfully recovered. You know, I don`t think it`s disingenuous, but I think they`re going about it the wrong way. But what I would like to emphasize here is if you do have a family member who`s struggling with something like this, alcohol, sex addiction, whatever it may be, you should get support as you support that person through it.

PINSKY: That`s the point!

HAGLUND: Tori should also be getting counseling. Those kids should also be getting counseling, talking to people, so that the whole family is supported and it`s not just like all the focus is on one person to change. And if, like, national television -- if people across the country can see that, that will be a really cool success story, and then it`s worth being on TV.

PINSKY: Judy, I`ve got about 20 seconds.

HO: Well, what I want to say is that Dean is a compulsive liar. And until we actually see behaviors that indicate change, I`m not going to believe him.

SCHACHER: OK, Judy.

PINSKY: OK, that`s true. But let`s give him a chance to go get the right treatment and make those changes. It takes time, often years, so we`re not going to see it across a season on a reality show.

We`ll be back tomorrow live at 9:00 Eastern Time. Reminder, please set your DVRs every night, set up your recording right now so you won`t miss a minute of DR. DREW ON CALL.

And what follows us immediately after this show, of course, always is "FORENSIC FILES". Thank you, behavior bureau. Thank you, Sam. And "FORENSIC FILES" begins right now.

END