The chilling facts of the boy’s savage beating by fists and feet are not in dispute.

He was left to die in the woods, his eyes, ears and nose bloody, teeth fractured, brain damaged. Months later, he cannot walk, cannot eat properly, cannot use the toilet and at 12, has to wear a diaper.

The equally chilling facts the assailant gave as reasons to hurt the boy are not in dispute.

“He’s a drain on society. His life is meaningless. It’s no big deal,” Greg Simard, 24, told police. “I did it for my country. . . . Um, maybe someone should come and shake my hand. . . a few pats on the back. . .”

What remains in question now is this: Can Simard be held criminally responsible for the beating, or does he suffer a mental disorder that gets him off the legal hook?

Simard pleaded guilty Friday to attempted murder Sept. 9, 2012, of the autistic boy under his care at the Child and Parent Resource Institute (CPRI) in London.

As a statement of facts agreed by both the Crown and Simard’s lawyer was read in court, Simard himself showed no emotion.

Members of the boys’ family sobbed.

“It is agonizing as a parent to listen to someone . . . casually accounting how they (assaulted) someone because . . . of a mental disability, that they decided to be judge, jury and executioner against someone who is effectively defenceless,” his father said outside court.

Many family members heard for the first time Friday what happened to the boy and the reasons Simard gave for hurting him.

“The evil things he said . . . they were broken hearted to hear someone actually say those words,” the boy’s father said.

After Simard was found guilty, and the facts read into the record, the Crown and Simard’s lawyer began arguments over the man’s mental state at the time of the assault.

Dr. William Komer testified Simard was likely schizophrenic and didn’t have the ability at that time to know his actions were wrong.

But Dr. Phillip Norris told court Simard suffers from several mental disorders, including some caused by substance abuse, but knew what he was doing was wrong.

Ontario Court Justice Jeanine LeRoy didn’t rule on the matter Friday.

The boy’s identity and that of his family are protected under a publication ban.

Severely autistic, and non verbal, the boy was taken to CPRI in June 2012 for assessment and treatment.

His parents hoped they’d learn how to better manage his autism, which expressed itself on good days in loving hugs and smiles, happily listening to music, and on bad days in angry outbursts and self harm.

The boy came home every weekend, and went back on Sundays. The week he was beaten was to be his last at CPRI before being returned to the family full time.

He was dropped off at 7 p.m. Sept. 9 at the cottage on the grounds on Sanatorium Rd. he shared with six other developmentally delayed children.

Working that night was Simard, an A-student in Fanshawe College’s developmental services worker program who got one of the few highly coveted placements at CPRI.

Simard told his co-worker that night he heard noises and three times went into to check on the boy.

Just before midnight, Simard, with a blanket over one arm, led the boy out of his room and told the co-worker he was taking him downstairs.

About five minutes later, the co-worker went downstairs and found no one.

She reported a missing person to her supervisor, just before Simard came back, with blood on his shoes.

The co-worker asked where the boy was.

“You know what happened,” Simard replied.

I don’t, the co-worker said.

“Shut up or I’ll kill you,” Simard said.

Police were called and began a search in the dense, dark woods outside CPRI. A police dog found a bloody towel and underwear on a path and officers heard groaning nearby.

About 20 metres off the path, 60 metres west of the cottage, police found the boy, beaten and naked from the waist down.

Eight months later, the boy can no longer stand or walk properly, the part of his brain handling balance damaged. His teeth are so damaged he cannot bite properly and he will need long-term dental surgery. His right eye still doesn’t open fully and his hands shake so much he cannot drink without spilling.

Simard was arrested Sept. 10 at a parking lot on Clarke Rd. and asked police to call a doctor, instead of a lawyer.

“I’m his bitch and he’s my master,” he told police.

While getting searched at the police station, Simard shouted obscenities. His underwear was filled with excrement, police reported.

In his cell he seemed at times rational and at others times made no sense while chatting with an undercover officer.

But he offered chilling explanations for his assault in an interview a day later.

“I just grabbed him by the hand and said come for a walk. . . . I hope he’s dead. He’s a drain on society,” Simard told Det. Amanda Pfeffer.

Questioned about the boy’s underwear being torn off, Simard said, “I didn’t sexually assault a retarded kid. That’s disgusting.”

He also told police he sometimes takes orders from God. “I’m not God but I take orders from myself.”

During the interview, Simard grabbed Pfeffer’s wrist and clenched his fist, and grabbed the collar of her shirt before another officer came. Pfeffer received no injuries.

Simard also pleaded guilty Friday to assaulting a police officer, uttering a death threat to the co-worker and an indecent act, after being spotted naked in public before the assault.

randy.richmond@sunmedia.ca