Camp staff is accused of abuse in teen death

If upheld, state's finding will keep 3 employees out of child-care work

By Jonathan Osborne

January 4, 2003

State investigators have accused three Hill Country wilderness camp employees of physical abuse and neglect in connection with the restraint-related death of a teenager in their care, an official with the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services said Friday. According to a Travis County autopsy report, 17-year-old Chase Moody died Oct. 14 of traumatic asphyxia, which investigators said occurred after he was physically restrained in a prone position by the camp's staff. Officials with the Brown Schools, the Nashville- based company that owns and operates the On Track wilderness program, have disputed the medical examiner's ruling.

Each of the accused staff members, whose names have not been released, will have two opportunities to appeal the investigators' findings -- first with the regulatory department's administration and then with the state office of administrative hearings.

If the reviews uphold the accusations, the three staff members' names would be entered into a central registry as having been cited for abuse and neglect of a child, department spokesman Geoffrey Wool said.

"Everyone who is involved in licensed child care in Texas, their background is checked on this central registry," Wool said. "The finding of physical abuse would basically prohibit you from ever being employed in licensed child care in Texas. That's just a hands- down ruling."

Brown Schools spokeswoman Diane Huggins said Friday she had not yet learned of the findings and could not comment.

State investigators also are looking into whether the Brown Schools violated any state regulatory standards, which prohibit certain kinds of physical restraints, in connection with the incident. That investigation is expected to be wrapped up within the next two weeks.

The findings, which are part of a report that has not been released, are separate from an ongoing criminal investigation. Ronald Sutton, the McCulloch County district attorney with jurisdiction over Mason County, said he plans to take that case to a grand jury sometime within the next few months. He said the regulatory department's report would be helpful.

"It's interesting," Sutton said. "I'd like to read the findings."

The Brown Schools operates residential treatment centers, wilderness camps and boarding schools that for the most part focus on treating troubled or disabled youths. Huggins said her company is cooperating fully with authorities.

The camp in Mason County is marketed as a 28-day therapeutic adventure program.

On Nov. 5, Brown Schools officials voluntarily stopped admitting children into On Track until the investigation into Moody's death is resolved. In December, the company lost its lease to the land it used -- 6,000 acres owned by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

Ron George, deputy director of the department's wildlife division, said the termination of the lease was unrelated to Moody's death.

"There was a series of cases of On Track not delivering services they said they would provide -- building things, clearing brush -- those kind of things," George said. "The review of the contract was already in place before that incident took place."

Moody, who lived in Richardson with his mother, had been sent to the camp primarily to work out anger issues, his parents said.

According to Huggins, Moody lashed out at one of the counselors on the night of his death. Staff members then placed him in what's known as the "team control position," where they interlock legs, pull back the person's wrists and cup their hands on the shoulders. In the struggle, they fell forward and continued to restrain Moody on the ground while using a cell phone to call for help.

Sutton has said it was his understanding that at least one of the staff members was sitting on Moody when sheriff's deputies arrived. Department standards prohibit any pressure being applied to a youth's back when being held in a prone restraint.

Huggins has repeatedly said that no weight was placed on Moody's back and that the On Track staff handled the situation appropriately and followed all the proper procedures.

The company also hired Bexar County Chief Medical Examiner Vincent DiMaio to review the autopsy report. DiMaio, who disputed the Travis County medical examiner's findings, has said he believes Moody died of "excited delirium." In other words, Moody's highly excited state, combined with the antidepressants he was taking, caused his heart to stop. The Travis County autopsy found that he suffocated.

The boy's father, Charles Moody, a former defense lawyer, represented the Brown Schools in a 1988 restraint-related death. He's now a plaintiff's lawyer who specializes in medical malpractice.

He said he learned of the investigator's findings on Friday. "It certainly comes as no surprise given the lack of answers or information I've been given based on very specific questions I posed to (officials at the Brown Schools)," Moody said. "They can't possibly, in good conscience, in my mind, say that they handled this situation appropriately in every facet. There's just no way. You just don't have this outcome."

josborne@statesman.com; 445-3621