After years of battling critics, aggrieved parents and prosecutors investigating his controversial techniques for treating disturbed young people, Matthew Israel, 77, who founded and runs the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center in Dedham, Mass. was indicted on charges of destroying evidence. He has agreed to step down as director of the facility he founded 40 years ago. The charges arose after two special needs teenagers were wrongfully given electrical shocks. Patricia Wen, reporter for the Boston Globe has been covering the controversial center for the past five years and was in the courtroom yesterday.
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