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theage.com
Youth camp staff charged over
death
Jim Loney, Miami
November 30, 2006
EIGHT former staff members of a
Florida juvenile boot camp have been charged with the manslaughter
of a 14-year-old boy whose beating by guards was captured on
videotape, prosecutors said.
Seven guards and a nurse were
charged over the death of Martin Lee Anderson nearly 11 months ago
at the Bay County boot camp, in Panama City, which was later shut
down.
Florida Governor Jeb Bush, who was
accused by Lee's parents last week of a cover-up, welcomed the
long-awaited results of an investigation by a special prosecutor he
appointed, and said he hoped "justice will be served".
Lee, arrested for joyriding,
collapsed during an exercise drill on January 5, a few hours after
he arrived at the detention centre for young offenders. He died at a
hospital the next day.
A medical examiner initially ruled
that he died of natural causes, a decision that sparked outrage from
the boy's parents and Florida politicians after publication of the
videotape, which showed uniformed guards surrounding him, with some
holding him against a tree while others appeared to hit him. The boy
repeatedly fell to his knees, only to have the guards pull him up
and try to make him walk.
A second autopsy found the boy died
of suffocation because his mouth was blocked and he was forced to
inhale ammonia fumes, which resulted in a blockage in his airway.
Ammonia is used in smelling salts to revive unconscious or
semi-conscious people.
The medical examiner said he died
"due to actions of the guards".
The Anderson case prompted Florida
to scrap its teen boot camps and instead open juvenile centres
focused on education and counselling.
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