December 1, 2006
Counseling center, staffer
charged in girl's death
A counseling center and one of its
staffers have been charged with negligence in the death of a
7-year-old girl who had been restrained at the center because of
behavioral problems last spring.
Angellika Arndt was repeatedly
endangered at Northwest Counseling and Guidance Clinic's day
treatment center in Rice Lake leading to the May 25 chokehold that
resulted in her death, according to a criminal complaint filed in
Barron County Circuit Court.
The clinic was charged with
negligent abuse of a patient, a felony punishable by fines up to
$100,000, District Attorney Angela Holmstrom said.
Bradley A. Ridout, a mental health
professional-group facilitator at the clinic, was charged with
misdemeanor negligent abuse of a patient causing bodily harm, a
crime punishable by up to nine months in jail and a $10,000 fine,
the prosecutor said.
Ridout, 29, of Rice Lake, is
accused of improperly restraining the girl, resulting in her death
by asphyxiation, the complaint said.
The defendants are to make initial
court appearances Wednesday.
The charges are "appropriate for
the levels of culpability each of the defendants share in the death
of Angellika Arndt," Holmstrom said. She declined further comment.
In a statement Friday, Denison
Tucker, president of the board of directors for Northwest Counseling
and Guidance Clinic in Frederic, said attorneys for the clinic are
working with prosecutors to negotiate a final settlement to the
tragedy.
"Our day treatment programs are
focusing on the future and the improvements we are making to our
system. We remain committed to our mission and to the children and
families we serve," Tucker said.
Ridout's attorney, Tim O'Brien of
New Richmond, said Ridout has a college degree in criminal justice
and hoped for a career working with troubled children.
"He doesn't feel he has done
anything wrong," O'Brien said. "Mr. Ridout was simply doing what he
was trained to do by the facility and certainly didn't intend to
cause any harm to the child. He feels terrible about what happened."
The charges allege that Ridout, who
was much bigger than the girl, should have known better than to put
the girl in a choke hold, despite the training, O'Brien said.
Arndt had attended the clinic's day
treatment center five days a week for a month for behavioral
problems. She had been restrained on nine separate occasions,
according to the state report released June 22.
She died May 26, the day after she
was injured while being restrained at the center.
Arndt was born in Milwaukee and
became a ward of the state after her parents gave her up. She had
been placed in foster care when Daniel and Donna Pavlik of Ladysmith
took her into their home last year.
According to a state report, Arndt
was diagnosed with attention deficit with hyperactivity disorder,
mood disorder and reactive attachment disorder.
The Hennepin County medical
examiner ruled her death was a homicide caused by "complications of
chest compression asphyxiation" leading to "cardiopulmonary arrest
while restrained by another person."
On May 25, Ridout was called to
assist another employee already restraining Arndt. He covered her
upper body with his own and held the head of the crying girl for
about 30 minutes, according to court documents.
Starting with Arndt's admission to
the clinic "to the time of her death, there had been numerous acts
and omissions by employees of the facility that had compromised
Angie's safety," the criminal complaint said, citing reports by John
Knappmiller, chief investigator for the state Department of Justice.
The complaint said those mistakes
included:
_Insufficient staff training in the
proper implementation of the facility's highly ambiguous written
restraint policy.
_Overuse of an emergency restraint
policy against Arndt.
_Failure to adequately communicate,
keep records and supervise Arndt's situation and her behavioral
needs.
_Failure to consult Arndt's
medical/psychological history, including evaluations of previous
intervention methods used.
In August, state regulators took
the facility's funding away after they said the clinic failed to
adequately address shortcomings cited by the state following the
girl's death. Northwest Counseling and Guidance Clinic has
permanently closed the Rice Lake office.
Northwest Counseling and Guidance
Clinic opened in 1997 and expanded to 12 facilities in the state,
seeing about 225 children every day, Tucker has said.
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