Friday, September 22, 200
Plea deal for ex-school operator
She agrees not to run another rehab facility in Juab
By Linda Thomson
Deseret Morning News
The former operator of a therapeutic school for troubled youths who has been kicked out of Mexico and accused of starving horses in Canada has agreed not to run another rehabilitation school in Juab County.
The agreement in Cheryl Sudweeks' case was reached this week as part of a plea bargain in a hazing incident involving students at the now defunct Whitmore Academy in Nephi, once operated by Cheryl Sudweeks and her husband, Mark.
Sudweeks, 51, pleaded no contest to four charges of attempted hazing, all class C misdemeanors. She was originally charged with six counts of child abuse, class A misdemeanors, and two counts of hazing, one a class A misdemeanor and the other a class B misdemeanor. A no contest plea is not an admission of guilt but is treated as such for purposes of sentencing.
The charges stem from claims by four teens that they had been abused at the facility, where investigators insist there were instances of physical abuse, as well as medical, educational and environmental neglect.
The grandmother of one of the victims is furious over the plea deal reached ? insisting a child abuser got off easy. Even the prosecutor is muted in his praise for the outcome of the criminal case, calling it the best he could get under the circumstances.
"These kids made some allegations of abuse and I completely believe them. That's why I filed the case. But the fact that I believe them is one thing, whether a jury is going to believe is a whole different question," Juab County Attorney Jared Eldridge said.
The plea bargain allowed Sudweeks to enter a "plea in abeyance," which means the case will be closed in 12 months and the charges dismissed as long as she complies with the court's terms.
Those terms issued out the 4th District include completing 50 hours of community service and payment of a fine. Sudweeks also signed an agreement promising to never run a youth program in the county for the rest of her life.
"After discussing this case in the office and with other prosecutors I know, I felt this was a good way to resolve this case," Eldridge said. "It addresses some of the concerns I have ? not all of them ? but it resolves Mrs. Sudweeks to a be a law-abiding citizen for a year. Even if we got a conviction, that's all the probation she would have been given anyway. It requires her to pay a fine and do community service.
"And it shuts her down, at least here in Juab County, so they can't do business here. I believe it effectively shuts them down in the state of Utah," Eldridge said, adding that he forwarded the plea agreement to state officials over licensing.
Susan Schacherer, grandmother of a girl who was Sudweeks' boarding school for about a year, is convinced her granddaughter was repeatedly abused and humiliated.
Schacherer said the plea bargain is a slap on the wrist that sends the message that Cheryl Sudweeks can rough up minors and face no consequences. "For all intents and purposes, she got away with it," Schacherer said.
Sudweeks' lawyer, James Merrell, thinks otherwise: "Cheryl Sudweeks has had her life destroyed by the actions of some gullible people who work for the government who believe the words of kids that have a long history of lying and manipulating."
While the criminal case has been resolved, the families of four young people have filed a civil lawsuit against the Sudweekses seeking financial compensation.
