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PRESS RELEASE UPDATE
What: Press Conference – 3 deaths in 2 months
When: Wednesday, April 5, 2006 @ 11:30 a.m.
Where: Harrisburg, PA Capitol Building, Rotunda
Who: Forensic Pathologist Dr. John Shane, Attorney
Peter J. Karoly, and the parents
of Giovanni “Joey” Aletriz
Why: To prompt a thorough investigation into the
restraint death of Giovanni “Joey”
Aletriz, the 2nd SummitQuest death in 2
months
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The following issues will be addressed:
On February 4, 2006,
Giovanni “Joey” Aletriz, age 16, was restrained and died at
SummitQuest Academy, a ViaQuest Behavioral Health facility located
in Ephrata, PA, just on the heels of the beating death of
Martin Lee Anderson in Florida. On December 12, 2006,
James White died allegedly of a heart condition, also at
ViaQuest’s SummitQuest Academy.
According to family attorney,
Peter J. Karoly, the autopsy report showed evidence that Joey
suffocated while being held face-down, “most likely forcefully.”
Further, the report states Joey suffered a traumatic injury to the
left side of his head; chest compression; “traumatic
injuries about the shoulder, right lower abdomen, indicating
compression and forcefully being maintained in a face-down
position”; lesions inside his shoulders; bleeding near his shoulder
blade, in his ribs, and in his spinal area; bite marks on his lips
and tongue; vomit in his nasal cavity;
trauma to the left side of his head and back, consistent with
possibly being forced against the floor.
SummitQuest officials told Aletriz’s parents he died from
congestive heart failure.
On Friday, April 1, 2006, I received an e-mail
from Cynthia Allen,
Joey’s mother, stating what happened to her son.
The Pennsylvania Protection & Advocacy, Inc. (PPA)
issued a
review of their inspection into the death of Geovanni Joey
Aletriz at SummitQuest. They reported that initially the Department
of Welfare’s Office of Children, Youth, and Families banned
admissions to SummitQuest, and that the Department of Welfare (DPW)
is now recommending their license be reinstated in 90-days. The PPA
further reported SummitQuest inappropriately restrains the youth in
its care in lieu of appropriate behavioral interventions, resulting
in both abuse and neglect.
District Attorney Donald R. Totaro issued a
statement yesterday indicating no criminal charges would be
filed against anyone involved in Joey’s death, in spite of the fact
the DPW and the Lancaster County Children and Youth Agency have not
yet concluded their investigations.
Forensic pathologist John Shane, and Attorney
Peter Karoli, will be present to comment about their dissatisfaction
with the DPW’s lenient recommendation to reinstate SummitQuest’s
license and the Lancaster County District Attorney’s failure to
indict SummitQuest for the forceful restraint death of Joey.
Two months before Joey died, On December 12,
2005,
James White, age 17, also died at SummitQuest. No information
has been found other than “an autopsy conducted here showed he had
an enlarged heart and died of natural causes.” The DPW has been
unable to obtain a copy of James’ autopsy report.
In addition to these two recent ViaQuest
deaths, we have uncovered that in October 2004, 13-year old
Kasey Warner died in another ViaQuest program located in Ohio,
and in March 2005, ViaQuest was sued by the parents of
Damien Stansfield who was allegedly sexually abused in their
SummitQuest program.
We have compiled
articles, reports, and other information found regarding
ViaQuest, along with a
list of children who have died under similar circumstances.
Submitted by:
Isabelle Zehnder
President
Coalition Against Institutionalized Child Abuse, Inc. (CAICA)
Tel: (360) 903-3951
E-mail:
izehnder@comcast.net
Website:
www.caica.org
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