On 2004-05-07 06:54:00, Anonymous wrote:
"Unfortunately, whenever criminal charges have been brought, the end result was the vindication of the accused program owner or counselor by a judge.
Who were the judges who let em off and what was the "legal" loophole that enabled them to do so?
:flame:
"
Birth Mom Protests Judge's Action in Wilderness Fatality
BY KEVIN CANTERA
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
The birth mother of Ian August -- the teenager who collapsed and died while hiking in a wilderness program last summer -- blasted a judge's decision Monday to dismiss a felony homicide charge against the Millard County therapy business.
Fourth District Judge Donald Eyre issued an eight-page ruling tossing out one count each of child abuse homicide, a second-degree felony, against WOW Developments, the parent company of Skyline Journeys, and Mark Wardle, a program manager for the group.
In his decision Monday, Eyre wrote: "The youth camp was at all times adequately staffed by trained counselors. . . . Skyline Journeys took many more precautions than those provided in similar youth programs."
Eyre also notes that the 14-year-old Austin, Texas, boy had passed a medical exam prior to enrolling in the program, and had taken a shower and received a Popsicle the night before he died.
"With this decision, the judge has said that Ian's life meant nothing, and I take great offense at that," said Susan Pinson, who gave her son up for adoption following his birth but maintained close ties with him. "It is a huge travesty of justice."
Ian August died July 13 after collapsing along the trail during a hike through the mountains of Utah's west desert, accompanied by about a half-dozen other children in the Skyline Journeys program and three counselors.
The boy -- who stood 5 feet 4 inches tall, weighed about 200 pounds and was enrolled in the program by his adoptive mother -- died of hyperthermia, or excessive body heat, an autopsy determined.
Following a monthlong investigation, Millard County prosecutors filed charges, accusing Wardle and Skyline Journeys of recklessly causing August's death with inadequate staff training and insufficient wilderness equipment.
"We are very pleased with the judge's decision," said Nelson Abbott, a Skyline Journeys attorney. "You can't expect a wilderness program to ensure that no child will ever be hurt. . . . Skyline did everything right."
Deputy Millard County Attorney Brent Berkley said that he plans to forward Eyre's decision to the Utah Attorney General's office and ask that it appeal the ruling.
During a preliminary hearing last month, Leigh Hale, a former Skyline Journey counselor, testified that she thought the boy was "faking" when he collapsed.
She further said that she never took any measures to determine Ian's temperature beyond putting a hand on his forehead, and packed no cold compresses in the medical kit she carried.
It was 45 minutes before she and another counselor moved August from beneath the noonday sun into the shade of a gaunt juniper tree, Hale testified.
After the boy stopped breathing, she performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation for 2 1/2 hours until emergency crews reached them, about 50 miles west of Delta in Bird Canyon, she said.
Prior to that hearing, prosecutors had dropped a second-degree homicide charge against Hale in exchange for her testimony.
"They thought he was faking? They obviously didn't have the proper training," Pinson said. "It's all just very frustrating."
