The New Jersey Attorney General's Office says a nurse caught on videotape stabbing an autistic boy with a hypodermic needle to control his behavior has agreed to surrender her license during the investigation.
Acting Attorney General Christopher Porrino made the announcement Monday.
Porrino says in his complaint with the state Board of Nursing that Naomi Derrick stabbed the boy with the needle six times in the knees, leg and arm on May 15. He says the actions were witnessed by employees at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Atlantic City.
"A developmentally disabled child, confined to a psychiatric ward under the supervision of nurses, is as vulnerable a patient as you can find," says Acting Attorney General Porrino. "Instead of caring for this boy and protecting him from harm, as was her duty, Naomi Derrick allegedly used her position of authority to bully and assault him. There is no place in the health care profession for this kind of barbaric behavior."
She's also accused of bending the 10-year-old's finger back, stepping on his bare foot with her shoe and causing him to fall by shoving a chair he was using to stabilize himself.
Derrick couldn't be reached for comment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.