Teen with autism attacked by classmate, parents say

LECANTO (FOX 13) - An irate mother and father sat down only with FOX 13 after their teenage son was the victim of a brutal attack, they say, at the hands of his classmates.

Holly Fischofer and her husband, Craig argue school officials at Lecanto Middle School in Citrus County never did enough to stop the violence in the first place.

“I'm kind of in bunker mentality right now; take care of him, take care of defending him, and getting him the help he needs,” said Holly Fischofer.

Photos taken by Holly show the scrapes and scratches 13-year-old Connor Fischofer was left with after a rough run-in with a bully.

“The kid grabbed him by his hair, smashed him into the floor first, threw him back into the concrete, stepped back and kicked his head into the concrete wall,” she said.

His parents say Connor is autistic and gay. They believe these are possible reasons their son was sought out by the bully during a student dance at the middle school.

“When you actually physically commit battery against a person, that's a different matter entirely,” said Fischofer.

The Fischofer’s say the school's principal had assured them he would take care of the continued issues between Connor and his schoolmate, but that resolution never happened.

Connor's mom wants the alleged attacker to face battery or assault charge. Connor's family has hired a lawyer. 

“It hurts because the people who we trusted to take care of this and to make sure this didn't happen to him didn't take adequate steps to make sure that it didn't,” said Fischofer.

FOX 13 reached out to the Citrus County School District, which would only say there is an ongoing investigation.