Counseling center, staffer
convicted in girl's death
December 6, 2006
BARRON, Wis. - A counseling center
and one of its staffers were convicted Wednesday of negligence in
the death of a 7-year-old girl who had been restrained at a center
in Rice Lake because of behavioral problems last spring.
Northwest Guidance and Counseling
Clinic Inc. pleaded no contest to one felony count of negligent
abuse of a resident, Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager said. The
maximum punishment is a $100,000 fine.
The staffer, Brad Ridout, pleaded
no contest to misdemeanor negligent patient abuse, Lautenschlager
said. The maximum punishment for Ridout, 29, of Rice Lake, is up to
nine months in jail and a $10,000 fine, District Attorney Angela
Holmstrom said.
Barron County Circuit Judge Edward
Brunner set sentencing for the center and Ridout for Dec. 27. Ridout
was freed on a $1,000 signature bond, according to court documents.
A criminal complaint filed last
week said Angellika Arndt was repeatedly endangered at Northwest
Counseling and Guidance Clinic's day treatment center in Rice Lake
and a May 25 chokehold resulted in her death.
Arndt had attended the clinic's day
treatment center five days a week for a month for behavioral
problems. She was restrained on nine separate occasions, according
to a state report released June 22.
She died May 26, the day after she
was injured while being restrained. The Hennepin County, Minn.,
medical examiner ruled her death a homicide because her ability to
breathe was significantly impaired in restraining her.
On May 25, Ridout was called to
assist another employee already restraining Arndt. He covered the
crying girl's upper body with his own and held the head for about 30
minutes, or until she became calm and listless, according to court
documents.
Believing Arndt had fallen asleep,
staff members rolled the girl over and found she had turned a bluish
color and was non-responsive, court records said. Attempts to revive
her were unsuccessful.
After Wednesday's court appearance,
Ridout, surrounded by his wife and family, read a statement
expressing "deep sadness" over Arndt's death.
"I regret that any of my actions to
help protect this girl may have actually caused her harm," he said.
"I understand the demand for personal responsibility. I hope that my
decision not to contest the charge is the first step in allowing
everyone involved with this tragedy to begin to heal and to move
forward."
Denison Tucker, president of the
clinic's board of directors, did not immediately return a telephone
message left Wednesday at the company's headquarters in Frederic.
Northwest Guidance was accused in
court documents of failing to adequately train staff members on how
to do restraints.
The Wisconsin clinic opened in 1997
and expanded to 12 facilities that saw about 225 children every day,
according to its board of directors. Northwest Counseling closed its
Rice Lake office after the state revoked its license for six months.
A service of the Associated
Press(AP)
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