DA says criminal charges will be
filed in girl's death
November 30, 2006
 A
homicide charge is expected to be filed in the next week against
Northwest Guidance and Counseling Clinic for the death of 7-year old
Angellika Arndt.
A misdemeanor negligent patient
abuse charge will also be filed against Bradley Ridout, 29, of 20 E.
Evans St., Rice Lake, said Barron County District Attorney Angela
Holmstrom this Wednesday morning.
The maximum penalty for a homicide
conviction against the corporation would be a $100,000 fine. The
maximum penalty for the negligent abuse conviction is up to a
$10,000 fine and/or up to 9 months’ imprisonment.
The clinic operated the now-
defunct Rice Lake Day Treatment Center, where Angellika was a
client.
On May 25, Angellika was in a
control hold administered by Ridout at the center when she became
unconscious.
Angellika was airlifted to
Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis, where she died the following
day. The medical examiner ruled her death was caused by
complications of chest compression asphyxiation leading to
cardiopulmonary arrest while restrained by another person.
The clinic, headquartered in
Frederic, provides intensive intervention and preventative mental
health services for youths.
Holmstrom said assistant attorney
general William Hanrahan plans to file the homicide charge against
the clinic.
Clinic board president Denison
Tucker recently informed the state’s Department of Health and Family
Services that the clinic would not re-open the Rice Lake center
following its state-imposed 6-month suspension.
The state suspended its funding
following an investigation after Angellika’s death that led to
multiple violations, including the proper use of control holds, at
the center.
In a letter to the state dated Nov.
10, Tucker wrote, “The public scrutiny, although understandable,
would place the program under an onerous set of public expectations
for perfection.”
In a letter to Tucker dated Nov.
14, DHFS director Otis Woods informed Tucker that a state-imposed
plan of corrections must be followed at its 12 other sites.
“We continue to be concerned with
the number of control holds within the NWGCC system,” Woods wrote.
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