From The Morning Call
July 21, 2006 - 3:59 PM EDT
KidsPeace settles lawsuit over ‘98 death
By Debbie Garlicki Of The
Morning Call
The mother of a 14-year-old boy
who died after being restrained by counselors at the
KidsPeace treatment facility in North Whitehall Township
will get more than $30,000 a year for 30 years in a
structured settlement to end a prolonged lawsuit.
Marsha Draheim of Pelican Island, N.J., whose son, Mark, died on Dec. 11, 1998, had retained a New York City law firm two days after her son's death and later sued KidsPeace National Center for Kids in Crisis Inc. and counselors Craig Bleiler and Daniel Ziegler.
Her complaint alleged that the counselors at the facility for youths with behavioral and emotional problems used a restraint technique that caused her son's death. She also claimed that the facility didn't prevent Mark from being repeatedly sexually abused by other residents and ignored evidence that he had been abused.
After the death, Lehigh County District Attorney James B. Martin said he would not file charges against the counselors who held Mark down because they meant no harm and were following KidsPeace procedures. Coroner Scott Grim had ruled the death an accident, saying the boy died of compressional asphyxia.
State police determined that a report that Mark had been raped was unsubstantiated, and no charges were filed.
The Draheim case was part of a national debate about restraint methods that had been spurred by institutional deaths. In 1999, Marsha Draheim, who had 10 children, spoke at a news conference in Washington, D.C., where congressional Democrats had proposed legislation to impose stricter standards on institutions that restrain children.
Richard Stevens of Allentown, one of the lawyers for KidsPeace, said the settlement approved May 17 by Lehigh County Senior Judge John P. Lavelle is not an admission of wrongdoing by KidsPeace. The facility continues to deny that it was negligent in Mark's death and that the teen was sexually abused, he said.
One of Marsha Draheim's lawyers, Ralph J. Bellafatto of Easton, this week confirmed the case was settled and that the first installment was paid. "It clearly was not a frivolous lawsuit," he said. "This was a boy in KidsPeace's custody for three years who had some very terrible things happen to him.
"I think organizations that provide child residential care, such as KidsPeace, have an obligation to do better. They act as substitute parents in this situation, and their obligations are commensurate with that responsibility."
KidsPeace spokesman Mark Stubis said the settlement "closes a sad chapter from eight years ago."
Marsha Draheim of Pelican Island, N.J., whose son, Mark, died on Dec. 11, 1998, had retained a New York City law firm two days after her son's death and later sued KidsPeace National Center for Kids in Crisis Inc. and counselors Craig Bleiler and Daniel Ziegler.
Her complaint alleged that the counselors at the facility for youths with behavioral and emotional problems used a restraint technique that caused her son's death. She also claimed that the facility didn't prevent Mark from being repeatedly sexually abused by other residents and ignored evidence that he had been abused.
After the death, Lehigh County District Attorney James B. Martin said he would not file charges against the counselors who held Mark down because they meant no harm and were following KidsPeace procedures. Coroner Scott Grim had ruled the death an accident, saying the boy died of compressional asphyxia.
State police determined that a report that Mark had been raped was unsubstantiated, and no charges were filed.
The Draheim case was part of a national debate about restraint methods that had been spurred by institutional deaths. In 1999, Marsha Draheim, who had 10 children, spoke at a news conference in Washington, D.C., where congressional Democrats had proposed legislation to impose stricter standards on institutions that restrain children.
Richard Stevens of Allentown, one of the lawyers for KidsPeace, said the settlement approved May 17 by Lehigh County Senior Judge John P. Lavelle is not an admission of wrongdoing by KidsPeace. The facility continues to deny that it was negligent in Mark's death and that the teen was sexually abused, he said.
One of Marsha Draheim's lawyers, Ralph J. Bellafatto of Easton, this week confirmed the case was settled and that the first installment was paid. "It clearly was not a frivolous lawsuit," he said. "This was a boy in KidsPeace's custody for three years who had some very terrible things happen to him.
"I think organizations that provide child residential care, such as KidsPeace, have an obligation to do better. They act as substitute parents in this situation, and their obligations are commensurate with that responsibility."
KidsPeace spokesman Mark Stubis said the settlement "closes a sad chapter from eight years ago."
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