DAUGHERTY TWP, Beaver County — A Cranberry Township man has been sued by a family that claims he participated in the abuse of a physically and developmentally disabled minor while employed at a New Brighton care facility.

Tyler James Smith, 29, was named as a defendant in one of four lawsuits filed Nov. 22 against McGuire Memorial, an intermediate care facility for people with severe intellectual and physical disabilities.

The plaintiff claims Smith committed assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress against a minor, identified in the civil complaint only as “IY.”

Smith was charged in July by Beaver County authorities with endangering the welfare of children, assault and recklessly endangering another person. According to Pennsylvania's statutes, the combined maximum penalty for the three charges would be 3½ years in prison and fines up to $20,000.

His criminal case is pending.

Robert N. Peirce III, a Pittsburgh-based attorney representing the four families, said Smith's alleged behavior at the facility was part of a larger trend.Another employee, Zachary Lee Dinell, reportedly had cellphone video of Smith assaulting IY. The 26-year-old Freedom man faces more serious charges, including the abuse of 17 individuals under his care.In all, Dinell faces 47 criminal charges, including causing the wrongful death of a male patient at McGuire Memorial.“It has come to our attention that at least 17 individuals were subjected to physical and verbal abuse while residing at McGuire Memorial,” Peirce said. “We also believe that this abuse has led to at least two individuals passing away and multiple others suffering from a variety of injuries.”Because both Dinell and Smith were employees of McGuire Memorial, the four families claim the facility is at least partly responsible for the alleged abuse committed against their family members. In one lawsuit filed on behalf of IY, Smith, Dinell and McGuire Memorial are all named as defendants.They also charge that McGuire failed to inform the families of the alleged abuse, claiming they did not learn of the allegations until August 2018, if the victim was among the first discovered, or July 2019, if the victim was in the second group, despite the alleged abuse occurring in 2017-18.Three other families — those of residents Nicholas Maravich, Brian Short and Kasey Ferrence — also filed lawsuits. The families of both Maravich and Ferrence name McGuire Memorial and Dinell as defendants, while Short's family is just suing McGuire Memorial. All four families claim the facility was negligent.

According to the lawsuit involving Smith, he “touched, grabbed, undressed, and/or posed IY,” as well as struck the boy.The complaint relies mainly on details found in a criminal complaint filed against Smith in July. In that complaint, New Brighton police claim there was a video on Dinell's cellphone showing Smith jumping and landing on the 13-year-old victim, striking the victim's head and neck with his elbow.Reiterating those charges, the civil complaint described Smith's actions as “intolerable in a civilized society.”The complaint does not specify damages the plaintiff hopes to be awarded, but seeks remuneration from Smith for medical expenses; future medical expenses; pain, suffering, inconvenience and emotional distress; and loss of enjoyment of life. It also seeks punitive damages.

The investigation into alleged crimes at McGuire Memorial started with the arrest of Dinell in 2018 on charges he raped an unconscious woman at his home and took pictures of her nude body with his cellphone.That led New Brighton police to search his phone, where, according to the civil complaint, authorities found evidence of abuse against patients at McGuire Memorial.“During their examination, they identified seven individuals at McGuire Memorial who were abused by Mr. Dinell while he was employed there,” with 10 more identified during later investigations, Peirce said.The victims were depicted in more than 150 photographs on Dinell's phone, according to the civil complaint.All three lawsuits naming Dinell as a defendant allege he abused patients in the care facility. He is further accused of causing the wrongful death of Maravich.According to the complaint filed on behalf of Maravich, his feeding tube left him susceptible to aspiration pneumonia, and Dinell caused his death by splashing water in his face.Aspiration pneumonia is an infection that occurs by inhaling foreign objects, including liquids, into the lungs.

Because both Dinell and Smith were employees of McGuire, all four families claim the facility is at least partly responsible for the alleged abuse committed against their family members.In all four lawsuits, McGuire Memorial is accused of negligence and corporate negligence. Two lawsuits, filed by the estates of Maravich and Short, additionally allege wrongful death, as both patients died of aspiration pneumonia.The plaintiffs claim McGuire Memorial was negligent in performing its duty to provide care for the patients, saying that somebody should have noticed and stopped the alleged abuse in the year during which it occurred.According to its website, McGuire Memorial is a ministry of the Felician Sisters of North America, Our Lady of Hope Province and the Diocese of Pittsburgh.The facility provides comprehensive services to people with intellectual and physical disabilities, including complex medical conditions; offers supportive services to families and caregivers; and provides specialized services to individuals on the autism spectrum.Thomas W. King III, of Dillon, McCandless, King, Coulter & Graham, represents the care facility in all four cases. He said the facility was not culpable for any abuse suffered there.“We're devastated by the circumstances. There are two responsible people for any abuse suffered by anybody there,” King said. “Our mission going forward will be to render wonderful care to people in the fashion we have in the past, except, of course, for these devastating incidents that were thrust upon all of us.”

The civil complaints largely reiterate claims laid out in criminal complaints against the two men filed by authorities in Beaver County.Smith was charged in July in connection with his alleged crimes at McGuire Memorial. He is charged with endangering the welfare of children, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person, all misdemeanors.Dinell, however, faces more serious charges, which include 16 counts of aggravated assault, a first-degree felony; 18 counts of neglect of a care-dependent person, a first-degree misdemeanor; one third-degree felony count of endangering the welfare of children as a guardian; three counts of recklessly endangering another person, a second-degree misdemeanor; one second-degree misdemeanor count of invasion of privacy, which includes viewing or photographing a person without consent; one felony charge of photographing, filming or depicting sexual acts on a computer; and one third-degree felony count of criminal use of a communication facility.Dinell remains in Beaver County Jail after authorities revoked his bail stemming from charges in another case in October 2018.In addition to these state charges, Peirce said at a Nov. 22 news conference that he and Shaheen Z. Wallace, another attorney representing the plaintiffs in the civil suits, have met with federal prosecutors about the cases. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Pittsburgh declined to comment Monday.Eagle staff writer Nathan Bottiger contributed to this story.