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March 29, 2001
Trial Begins In 'Rebirthing' Therapy Death:
Psychotherapists On Trial For Death Of 10-Year-Old
 The
therapy session was meant to bring Candace Newmaker closer to her
adoptive mother by having the 10-year-old girl push her way out of a
blanket to simulate birth.
Prosecutors said that the tape is the key
evidence againstBut a videotape shows Candace begging for her life
as she tries to escape the blanket meant to represent a womb. She
died of asphyxiation on April 19, 2000, one day after the so-called
rebirthing therapy.
The tape, prosecutors say, is the key evidence
against two psychotherapists charged in her death.
 Jury
selection began Thursday in the trial of Connell Watkins, 54
(pictured, right), known for her work with children with reactive
attachment disorder, and her colleague Julie Ponder, 40.
Both are charged with child abuse resulting in
death. If convicted, they each could face up to 48 years in prison.
On the 70-minute videotape, Candace struggles
and gasps for breath as the therapists and two assistants push on
either side of her in an effort to simulate her rebirth.
After 10 minutes, Candace said, "I can't do it,
I can't do it. I can't breathe. I can't breathe," according to a
transcript read at a court hearing.
Forty minutes later, her adoptive mother, Jeane
Newmaker, asked Candace if she wants to be reborn.
"No," Candace replied.
Those were her last words. After an hour, when
the blanket was unwrapped, Candace wasn't breathing and had no
pulse. Although paramedics revived her, she was declared brain-dead
the next day at a Denver hospital. The cause of death was
suffocation, according to an autopsy report.
Jeane Newmaker, 47, of Durham, N.C., adopted
Candace in June 1996. Newmaker told investigators that she went to
Watkins after Candace was diagnosed with reactive attachment
disorder, where a child resists forming loving relationships and can
become unmanageable and violent.
Newmaker and her daughter met with the
psychotherapists last April for two weeks of therapy, which cost
$7,000.
Ponder's lawyer has called Candace's death a
tragic accident. Watkins' lawyer has said little publicly, but asked
to have Candace's heart examined and filed motions to limit
testimony by Brita St. Clair, 42, Watkins' business manager, and
intern Jack McDaniel.
St. Clair and McDaniel participated in the
session and also face child abuse charges. They will be tried in
September.
Watkins is also charged with criminal
impersonation and unlawful practice of psychotherapy for allegedly
lying about practicing under another therapist's license.
Candace's mother is charged with criminally
negligent child abuse resulting in death. She was in the room when
the session began but was sent to another room when she became
upset.
Jury selection is expected to take at least
three days, with opening statements to follow next week.
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