Restraint death charges filed
Counseling center, staffer
accused of negligence in death of girl, 7, in Rice Lake, Wis.
December 1, 2006
By Kevin Harter
Six months after 7-year-old
Angellika "Angie" Arndt died after being restrained at a Rice Lake,
Wis., counseling center, prosecutors filed negligence charges
Thursday against the facility and a staff member.
Northwest Counseling and Guidance
Clinic, the Frederic-based corporation that owns and operates the
Rice Lake center, was charged in Barron County Circuit Court with
negligent abuse of a resident, a felony. Staff member Bradley A.
Ridout was charged with negligent abuse of a patient causing bodily
harm, a misdemeanor.
Prosecutors allege a number of
failures by the firm, such as faulty training and not consulting
medical records. Prosecutors accuse Ridout of improperly restraining
Angie.
"From the time of her admission to
the time of her death, there had been numerous acts and omissions by
employees of the facility that had compromised Angie's safety," John
Knappmiller, chief investigator for the Wisconsin Department of
Justice, said in charging papers.
Angie died May 26, the day after
she was held down at the center until she was blue and listless,
according to court documents. The girl, who had attended the
clinic's day treatment center five days a week for a month for
behavioral problems, had been restrained on nine separate occasions,
according to a state investigative report.
"This was not an accident or
mishap," Rick Pelishek, the Rice Lake-based regional director of
Disability Rights Wisconsin, said after learning of Thursday's
charges.
"I think it is an important first
step in holding the organization accountable for their actions, and
correcting the problems that have existed for years," he said.
Disability Rights Wisconsin is a nonprofit watchdog group that
earlier recommended the Rice Lake center be closed.
Ridout, 29, of Rice Lake, could not
be reached for comment.
Jill Chafee, the clinic's executive
director, said Thursday she has been on maternity leave and declined
to comment on the suit. Clinic president Denison Tucker did not
return a phone call.
Angie, an active girl who liked
dolls, dresses and country music, was born in Milwaukee. Her parents
relinquished their rights to her as a toddler and she became a ward
of the state. She had been in and out of foster care before Donna
and Daniel Pavlik took her into their Ladysmith home in early 2005.
The couple said they never
restrained her and believed they were making progress with the girl,
who, according to a state report, had been diagnosed with reactive
attachment disorder, mood disorder and attention deficit with
hyperactivity disorder.
Donna Pavlik declined to comment on
the charges.
The Rice Lake clinic had its
license suspended by the state and was closed after Angie's death.
According to the charges filed Thursday, it failed to follow a
treatment plan for Angie and used improperly taught and administered
restraint on the 56-pound girl.
According to the charges:
• When the Rice Lake center
admitted Angie, staff failed to review her medical and psychological
records.
• Essential staff failed to consult
a prepared treatment plan for Angie before treating her.
• Insufficient guidance was
provided staff in the proper implementation of the facility's highly
ambiguous written restraint policy.
• Inconsistent policy inadequately
defined what circumstances required restraint.
• The "emergency" restraint policy
became justification for almost daily physical restraint of Angie.
"The staff member that was
responsible for the training of all staff in proper restraint
techniques, Mr. Tim McIntyre, had, himself, never actually received
any appropriate training," the charging papers said. "Rather, the
methods that McIntyre taught were self-devised and substandard,
including his use of the face-down-on-the-floor-hold used on Angie
on the day of her death."
Ridout, charged because he was the
last employee to apply the "restraint technique" used by the center,
was called to assist another employee already restraining Angie. He
covered her upper torso with his own, and held the head of the
crying, thrashing girl, according to court documents. After about 30
minutes she became calm, and Ridout believed she had fallen asleep,
the criminal complaint said.
He then noticed she was "bluish"
and "non-responsive." After attempts to revive her failed, an
ambulance was called and she was taken to a Rice Lake hospital and
from there airlifted to Hennepin County Medical Center in
Minneapolis, where she was pronounced dead.
The Hennepin County medical
examiner ruled her death a homicide caused by "complications of
chest compression asphyxiation" leading to "cardiopulmonary arrest
while restrained by another person."
A criminal investigation into her
death was launched by Rice Lake police, Barron County prosecutors
and the state Justice Department. Assistant Attorney General William
E. Hanrahan filed the charge against the company, while Barron
County District Attorney Angela L. Holmstrom charged Ridout.
The corporation faces up to a
$100,000 fine if convicted and Ridout a $10,000 fine and nine months
in prison.
Corporate officials, who include
its board of directors, and Ridout are scheduled to make their first
court appearance at 1 p.m. Wednesday.
Tucker, the clinic's president,
last week notified the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family
Services that the Rice Lake facility would remain closed after the
state said it had not made the changes needed to reopen. The clinic
is one of 12 operated by Northwest.
Two clinics in Hudson and New
Richmond, which have a similar name — Northwest Counseling Services
— are not part of Northwest Counseling and Guidance.
Jennifer Bjorhus contributed to
this report.
Kevin Harter can be reached at
kharter@pioneer press.com or 800-950-9080, ext. 2149.
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