Former students say Judge Rotenberg Center's electric shocks aren’t all they endured

Electric shocks were only the beginning. On Tuesday, a former student told lawmakers the abuse at a Canton facility runs far deeper — with an advocate sharing similar accounts from others, including claims of sexual abuse.

The Judge Rotenberg Center (JRC), a special needs day and residential facility in Canton, is known across the country for using electric shock devices, which are attached to the residents at all times, on people demonstrating self-injurious or aggressive behavior.

It is the only facility in the country to use them and has been the center of many advocates’ concerns for decades.

The JRC has said the device is “lifesaving” and that it is important it “remains available to those for whom all other treatment options have been tried and failed,” the JRC and the JRC Par