Publish Date: 1/11/2007
Academy puts official on leave
Debbie Bell
The Daily Record
The private school official arrested on charges of assaulting a student has been placed on administrative leave by the Royal Gorge Academy.
Randall Hinton of Cañon City, 32, was released on $2,500 bail following his arrest Tuesday on charges of third-degree assault, false imprisonment and reckless endangerment.
Hinton is project supervisor at the Royal Gorge Academy, a private school for troubled teenagers.
Michael Gillick, Hinton?s attorney, said this morning his client is ?completely not guilty? of all charges.
?This is a boarding school,? Gillick said, ?not a strict detention facility. This is to help children who have problems and hopefully get them turned in the right direction.?
Gillick said the teenage girl involved in the alleged incident that occurred at the end of December was ?brand new? to the school and had not adjusted to being there. :lol:
He admitted the girl was restrained using ?common, legal methods? for her own safety and that of school officials, but Gillick was not able to specify the restraint techniques used.
Hinton reportedly has been involved at other school facilities for troubled teens, most notably the infamous Tranquility Bay in Jamaica.
Various online accounts report abuse of students either by Hinton himself or directly supervised by him.
Cañon City Police Department Capt. Allen Cooper said this morning his office had been told of prior allegations before Royal Gorge Academy opened.
?As law enforcement officials, we are not allowed to react to things that happen outside of our jurisdiction,? Cooper said. ?My understanding is there is not a lot of oversight on private schools. The process to me sounds kind of superficial.?
Gillick maintained Hinton never before has been charged with similar accusations.
?Lots of bizarre things show up on the Internet,? Gillick said. ?You can read anything there and take it with a grain of salt.?
Gillick also questioned police tactics used in the investigation and said he offered to cooperate.
?I told them they could have anything they wanted, just let me know when. They chose to bully their way around and come back unannounced with a search warrant,? Gillick said. ?They could have done it the easy way or they could have done it the dog and pony show, like they did.?
Cooper refuted that statement.
?The initial investigating police officer asked for certain documentation and was told the school did not have to provide it,? Cooper said. ?That?s why we went with a warrant.?
Gillick also charged the CCPD with ?overkill? as they conducted official interviews with students at the school.
?They put all the kids in the auditorium, did not let anybody see what was going on. There were no guardians and parents were not allowed access to the children,? Gillick said. ?It was just absurd, conducting official interviews under those circumstances.?
At least one parent has contacted him, Gillick said, concerned her child was interviewed without parental consent.
Cooper said it is standard procedure to interview juveniles who are not suspects without permission.
?Parental consent is not required,? Cooper said. ?None of these kids were suspected of anything other than being potential witnesses.?
Cooper said the interviews with students provided more information than his department anticipated.
?This did turn into a larger investigation for us than we anticipated based on the reaction of some of the participants,? Cooper said.
Hinton is due in District Judge David Thorson?s courtroom at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday for advisement.
