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STAFFORD, Va. (AP) — A Virginia inmate with autism has pleaded guilty to a charge of assaulting a correctional officer and plans to seek a pardon from the governor.
Reginald Latson entered the plea in Stafford County Circuit Court on Thursday and was sentenced to six months in prison.
Mental health and civil liberties advocates say the 23-year-old's intellectual disabilities have caused his three clashes with law enforcement since 2010 and had been jailed twice.
His supporters say those incidents stem from a "fight or flight" reflex associated with his autism. They say he needs treatment, not punishment.
Now that he has been convicted, his attorneys plan to seek a conditional pardon from Gov. Terry McAuliffe. A secure treatment center in Florida has agreed to accept Latson if he is pardoned.
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