Judge Yanks Wilderness Therapy Programs License
Oct. 25, 2003
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- An administrative law
judge revoked the license of a wilderness therapy program over the
death of a Texas boy to heat exhaustion in Utah's west desert last
year.
Nephi, Utah-based Skyline Journey has until
Friday to shut down and send 10 campers packing under the order.
Owner Lee Wardle refused to say if Skyline Journey would appeal the
decision to a state court.
The ruling affirms "his death means something,"
said Judith Pinson, of Drumright, Okla., the birth mother of Ian
August, a 14-year-old Texas boy who was placed in program by his
adoptive mother.
Skyline failed to describe the harsh
environment of Utah's west desert and physical demands on the teens
when it asked a Texas doctor to sign off on enrollment for Ian
August, who weighed 198 pounds on a 5-foot, 3-inch frame, according
to Friday's ruling from Sheleigh Harding, a Department of Human
Service's administrative judge.
Skyline Journey failed to comply with "one of
the most critical rules governing wilderness programs," wrote
Harding, who determined that "Ian's doctor never had the opportunity
to determine whether Ian's physical condition would make him an
appropriate candidate for the types of activities Skyline Journey
would require him to do."
The boy set out with five other teens and three
counselors on a 3-mile trek across the Sawtooth Mountain region in
western Millard County on July 13, 2002, when a heat wave rolled
across Utah. They had covered little more than a mile over three
hours when August refused to hike further, leaving him in the sun
for an hour before he collapsed and stopped breathing, according to
court records.
Counselors were unable to revive him and an
autopsy determined he died of hyperthermia or heat exhaustion.
Mark Wardle, a program manager and part-owner
of Skyline Journey, was cleared of criminal wrongdoing in August's
death last February when a 4th District Court judge dismissed a
charge of child abuse homicide.
The state Office of Licensing, which regulates
wilderness therapy programs, filed the complaint against Skyline and
says the ruling prevents the Wardles from operating any other
wilderness therapy program.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All
Rights Reserved.)
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