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6 Indicted in Juvenile Offender's
Death
April 17, 2007
By Ben Nuckols
The Associated Press
WESTMINSTER, Md. -- Six former
staff members at a school for juvenile offenders waited 41 minutes
before calling 911 about an unresponsive 17-year-old student who
died, prosecutors said Tuesday in announcing an indictment against
the workers.
"They thought he was faking,"
State's Attorney Jerry F. Barnes said.
Isaiah Simmons died Jan. 23 while
being restrained by staff at Bowling Brook Preparatory School.
Medical examiners ruled Simmons'
death a homicide, and the FBI has opened a civil rights
investigation. The school has closed, and Simmons' death prompted
the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services to reform its crisis
intervention policies.
The grand jury declined to indict
the six employees on the more serious charge of involuntary
manslaughter. Steven Heisler, an attorney for Simmons' family, said
they disagreed with that decision.
"There's no question that there was
reckless endangerment," Heisler said. "However, when reckless
behavior results in a death, that is manslaughter."
Charged with reckless endangerment
in the indictment returned this week are Michael P. Corradi of
Middletown, Pa.; Dennis Harding of Baltimore; Brian G. Kanavy of
Mechanicsburg; Jason W. Robinson of Westminster; Shadi Sabbagh of
Keymar; and Mark R. Sainato of Keymar.
Messages left with Corradi, Kanavy
and Robinson were not immediately returned. Sainato's number was
disconnected, and Harding and Sabbagh had unlisted numbers.
Barnes did not release names for
any attorneys representing the men.
If convicted of the misdemeanor
charge, each could face a maximum of five years in prison and a
$5,000 fine.
Brian Hayden, an administrator with
nonprofit Bowling Brook, said the school hopes to reopen and fully
supports its former employees.
"Hopefully, the truth will bear out
through the criminal proceedings and these gentlemen will be found
innocent of all charges," he said in a news release.
Bowling Brook was under contract
with the state of Maryland to educate boys in trouble with the law.
Youths at the residential school, including some from Pennsylvania,
were relocated to other schools after it closed.
The Maryland Department of Juvenile
Services placed Simmons at the school following a 2006 conviction
for robbery with a deadly weapon.
Among the changes since his death,
staff at state-owned and private juvenile facilities have been
advised that youths should only be restrained if there is an
immediate risk of harm, that restraints should last a maximum of 30
minutes, in 15-minute intervals, and that they must be videotaped.
Simmons was restrained over a period of several hours.
Medical staff also will have to be
consulted in the event of a restraint that lasts 15 minutes, Donald
DeVore, Maryland's secretary of juvenile services, said Tuesday.
"These are things that, based on my
experience, if they had been in place at the time that Isaiah died,
might have saved his life," DeVore said.
DeVore also said that he would not
allow staff to use compliance techniques that caused pain.
"There are methods for juveniles
that are safe methods of dealing with kids that don't cause pain,"
he said.
The department also ordered
inspections of all juvenile facilities. DeVore said he expects to
receive reports from those inspections by next week.
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On the Net:
Bowling Brook Preparatory School:
http://www.bowlingbrookprep.org
State's Attorney: http://ccgovernment.carr.org/ccg/stateatt/index.html
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