More group home workers charged in child's death

Josette Lee Pearson, 35, of Moncks Corner; and Robyn E. Nutzman, 23, of North Charleston, both workers at New Hope Treatment Center in Jedburg, were charged with homicide by child abuse in connection with last Sunday's death of Jamal Odum.

Another worker, William Brightharp Jr., 39, was charged Thursday with homicide by child abuse and faces life in prison, if convicted.

David Haller, a Mount Pleasant lawyer representing New Hope, said the workers were following standard restraint methods and company officials do not believe they should have been charged with a crime.

"We're very disappointed that Berkeley County officials have chosen to bring charges in this matter," he said. "Restraint methods were applied. And unfortunately it looks as if there was some problem in the course of the restraint method. This is a normal medical technique that is used widely in the psychiatric community. Just because a medical procedure goes wrong doesn't mean a crime has been committed."

Berkeley County Sheriff Wayne Dewitt said he wonders whether New Hope workers have been properly trained.

Dewitt said a videotape shows a worker lying on the boy for nearly seven minutes in an apparent attempt to restrain him. The incident started when the boy tried to hit one of the female workers at the New Hope cottage and then ran away, the sheriff said. The female worker caught him and threw him down on the floor, Dewitt said.

Rescue workers called to New Hope Sunday morning were unable to revive Odum, who had stopped breathing.

"In my personal viewing of the video, it just overwhelmed me, the technique they used to restrain this person," the sheriff said. "I've never seen anything like it. It was obvious that the child wasn't moving. For the life of me I can't understand it."

But Haller said nothing was improper in the technique, which he said is used to keep children from hurting themselves or others and to modify their behavior.

"There's no guarantee anytime medical treatment is given," he said. "Doctors give bypass surgery every day but every so often a doctor may nick an artery with his scalpel and the patient may die. You don't see police going in and arresting those doctors. We think that is what's happened here."

Blair Jennings, a prosecutor in the case, said Pearson and Nutzman, if convicted, face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison because they are charged with a lesser offense in the homicide by child abuse statute. The sheriff also said Friday that a boy from New Hope placed this week into protective custody alleged that a worker at the facility had dislocated his thumb. He said the boy on Wednesday asked to speak to a counselor at the middle school he attends and told her a worker had mistreated him three weeks ago.

"We found out that he had been treated at an emergency room at a local hospital to reset the thumb," he said. He said deputies have since questioned other children but have not uncovered any other allegations of abuse or neglect.

Haller said New Hope officials have reviewed the boy's allegations and have concluded that "all of the proper procedures were followed."

Jerry Adams, a spokesman for the state Department of Social Services, said the child now is in DSS custody. He said DSS officials are interviewing all children at the facility to be sure they are being cared for properly.

DSS temporarily stopped sending children to New Hope this week after the boy's death.

The 41-bed private facility located near Jedburg cares for children ages 6 to 13 who have psychological disorders. Adams said DSS has seven children at the facility. Others, including Odum, were placed from other states. Odum came from Newport News, Va., officials said.

Dewitt said his deputies have had little problem from the facility since he became sheriff in 1995.

Haller, whose law firm partner, former state Sen. Larry Richter, also represents New Hope, said the company was founded 17 years ago by medical professionals and has prided itself on quality service. The firm was the first of its type in the state to be accredited by a national accreditation organization, he said.

"We are very proud of the degree of care and our high reputation," he said. "One of the reasons we have a good reputation is we don't stand for one bit of employees dealing with a child in a way that is inappropriate."

The company employs 650 workers at its Jedburg facility and at three others in Rock Hill, West Columbia and Summerville, he said. It has averaged 225 children on any day during the past year.

Haller said some adolescents have committed suicide at its facilities but no other child has died under these circumstances.

Adams said New Hope is one of about 190 group homes and other types of facilities operating in South Carolina for the treatment of emotionally disturbed children, mostly adolescents.

One of those homes, Crain House in southern Greenville County, was the subject of a DSS and criminal probe last year over allegations of sexual assaults, excessive runaways and inappropriate contact between staff and youth. One former staff member was eventually charged with criminal sexual conduct with a minor in the second degree, assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to Greenville County sheriff's warrants.

Tim Smith can be reached at 803-256-7367.

REFERRALS: CAICA is not a referral agency. CAICA does not refer to or promote facilities or transport companies for children or teens. CAICA warns parents that the parent pay / parent choice programs ie. Residential Treatment Centers, Therapeutic Boarding Schools, Behavior Modification Programs, Christian Programs, Positive Peer Culture Programs, etc., are not regulated by the Federal Government and that it is a "Buyer Beware" industry. CAICA provides the following for parents: Message to Parents, Help for Distraught and Desperate Parents, and Questions to Ask and Warning Signs.

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