Jason’s Story
by Rick Tallman
My wife Jane and I have five children. The
three oldest are “normal” or “neuro-typical” to use the current
term. Our fourth child David is autistic. He is 23, living at home
and attending a day program. Our youngest son Jason was a very
bright, active boy. His IQ was around 150. He had a problem with
school. He would act out and cause distractions in class. We felt,
and still feel, that he was bored and unchallenged by the school
system. This was a kid who, by the age of 12, had read every Tom
Clancy book and most of Michael Crichton’s. Because of his behavior
problems and our refusal to have him put on Ritalin or other
medications, he was on homebound instruction for about a year while
a suitable school placement could be found. He was finally placed in
a residential facility, against our wishes. He went there on May 11,
1993. The following evening, when I got home from work, our oldest
son Rick told me that the facility had called and said that they had
a problem with Jason and that I should call them back. They didn't
leave a number.
About an hour later, I got a second call from
the facility. The person said that Jason had been involved in an
argument in the dining hall, and they had restrained him, and that
he had “passed out.” (I found out later that the person who called
was the person who had restrained Jason.) They had sent him to a
local hospital, and told us we should call there for any further
information. When I called the hospital, I learned that he had not
passed out—his heart had stopped. He was airlifted to Children's
Hospital in Philadelphia, where he died on May 13th. He was 12 at
the time. It was not until the following week, when the Philadelphia
medical examiner declared the death a homicide, that the police were
notified. One of the people involved in the restraint was tried for
involuntary manslaughter, but acquitted. The jury felt it was an
accident. A civil case against the facility was settled out of court
in 1996.
When we settled our civil suit we were under
the impression that ours was a unique situation. In fact, the
attorneys for the facility even stated, “At least we know that a
tragedy like this will never happen again.”
In December of 1998, another youth aged 14 died
at the same facility after being restrained. Ironically, this young
man lived in Toms River, about 20 miles from where we live. This
time, the county prosecutor decided not to press charges. He didn't
want to lose another case, and he felt it would adversely affect the
employment possibilities of the people involved.
Shortly after our son was killed, a friend from
Connecticut told us of the Andrew McClain case. That case led to the
Hartford Courant's special report on restraint deaths. The same
statement was echoed at that time, “At least we know that a tragedy
like this will never happen again.” WRONG!!
Update
Dean Sine, the counselor at Kidspeace who
killed Jason by restraining him, was sentenced to three to six years
in a state prison after admitting to molesting a 12 year-old boy in
1994. Sine touched the boy inappropriately, showed him sexually
explicit books and performed a sex act on him.
The Detective who conducted the police
investigation against Sine said other cases involving Sine and
children have been turned over to the Bucks County District
Attorney's Office.
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