A prominent Utah
County physician stands accused of negligent homicide in connection
with the death of a Salt Lake City teen in a southwest Colorado
wilderness therapy program.
But Keith R. Hooker, who has worked in the emergency department at
Utah Valley Regional Medical Center since 1970, says he is innocent.
And the indictment, which also accuses him of child abuse, contains
no allegations about what he is alleged to have done or failed to
do.
Caleb Jensen, 15, died May 2, 2007, from a staphylococcus infection,
which Colorado prosecutors contend went untreated despite glaring
symptoms. The boy spent the last week of his life lying in his own
urine and feces, in a remote field camp operated by Alternative
Youth Adventures in Montrose County, Colo., court documents allege.
Jensen had been
sent to the camp by Utah juvenile justice officials. Colorado
authorities shut AYA down two months after Jensen's death.
Hooker, who served as the program's medical adviser, was indicted in
July and related documents were unsealed Aug. 25. He was arraigned
in a Montrose, Colo., court last week and pleaded not guilty. His
next hearing is scheduled for Oct. 6.
Reached at his Mapleton residence Friday, Hooker declined comment.
His Provo lawyer, Mike Esplin, said he has not seen testimony given
before the grand jury, but he believes there is insufficient
evidence to support the
charges.
"Doctor Hooker never examined Caleb. His role is an adviser to the
program. We think it's an overshot," Esplin said. "He didn't give [AYA]
any advice concerning this incident. We are in the dark.
[Investigators] never talked to him."
Montrose County District Attorney Myrl Serra did not return phone
calls.
Also charged are camp emergency medical technician Ben Askins, who
faces a more serious charge of manslaughter; program director Jim
Omer and the businesses, Alternative Youth Adventures of Colorado
and its corporate parent, Community Education Centers Inc.
The New Jersey-based company provides treatment to 6,000 juvenile
and adult offenders a year, in seven states. A corporate spokesman
said the company was in the process of closing AYA at the time of
Jensen's death, but declined to comment further.
No charges were filed against field counselors who tended to Jensen
and later spoke to investigators.
Jensen was admitted to AYA's 60-day program on March 28, 2007. He
had undergone an initial medical exam in Utah, but the exam did not
reveal any illness, court documents said. His symptoms began April
23 when "it was noted that Caleb had a small blister located on his
right ankle," the indictment said.
The teen wrote in his journal the next day that he was "burning up,
vomiting and having trouble hiking."
Suspecting Jensen of "faking" his illness, camp staff separated him
from the group until he died eight days later, the charges allege.
Staff ordered him to wear diapers and put him on suicide watch, but
allegedly did nothing to treat the fatal infection.
Askins checked the boy on April 26 after he complained of hip and
knee pain. Jensen was given ibuprofen but none of his vital signs
were recorded. Jensen was soon urinating and defecating on himself
and fellow students expressed concern about his health, documents
said.
For the last three days of his life, Jensen was not eating and he
rarely stirred from his filthy sleeping area. Counselor Tracy Hale
noted that he would lie in the sun most of the day without
attempting to move into shade, the charges said.
Field staff
repeatedly called Askins and Omer at the AYA base camp, but no staff
responded and no additional medical attention was ordered, documents
said. After Jensen died on the afternoon of May 2, a helicopter
ambulance crew responded to Hale's call for help and pronounced the
teen dead at the scene.
Omer and Askins
could not be reached. Jensen's mother, Dawn Woodson, declined to
comment, citing the advice of her Salt Lake City attorney, Tom
Boyle. "We are investigating the facts and circumstances," Boyle
said.
Hooker, who also
advises Utah County search and rescue, remains on UVRMC's medical
staff. "If in the course of the proceedings something comes up, then
we would re-examine that," hospital spokeswoman Janet Frank said.
Hooker's indictment is a shock to many who have worked with him in
Utah's wilderness-therapy industry. He helped found Loa's Aspen
Achievement Academy and serves as medical director for Wilderness
Quest in Monticello.
He was inducted in 2005 into the Clan of the Hand, an industry hall
of fame.
"In my dealings with him, he has been very professional. . . . [He]
has a great knowledge of young people in a wilderness setting and
the types of protocols that need to be in place to make sure they
are safe," said Mike Merchant, who runs an Arizona program and
presides over the Wilderness Quest board.
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