SKYLINE JOURNEY?S VIOLATIONS OF REGULATIONS
On the day of Ian August?s death, 13 July 2002
Skyline Journey/Leigh Hale killed Ian August, Judge Eyre killed the case- dismissed charges.
Judge Eyre, ?Perhaps nothing in the State?s allegations is more than glaringly absent than the lack of evidence that Defendants had failed to comply with the State Office of Licensing regulations governing youth wilderness programs.
Comments to the press made by SJ and DHS re: Violations of Regulations
7/15 Kelly Husbands (Oversees SJ for DHS) in a Press Release sent to Struggling Teens by Lee Wardle: ?..has complied with all state regulations, and can find no wrong doing.?
7/16 Ken Stettler (Lic Dir) : No initial indication that SJ violated regs or failed to bring enough water.
7/21 Stettler: Another investigator sent to re-examine and re-interview.
10/11 DHS will revoke license on 25 Oct. Reinvestigation found 4 violations:
1)Hike exceeded the physical capabilities of the weakest member 2) Improper Admissions Screening- should have considered his medical history (overheating) 3) Doctor?s form didn?t describe the physical demands or environment 4) Didn?t treat effects of heat illness in a timely or reasonable manner.
10/12 Stettler: Believes Ian sat in sun for up to an hour after showing signs. Original accounts indicated Ian was moved to the shade when he refused to hike.
10/13 Lee Wardle(Exec Dir): SJ will appeal.
14 July 03 At the end of their three-week investigation, Husbands wrote in his final report that, ?there is no credible evidence or statement that indicates that SJ was out of compliance with Office of Licensing rules or their own policies in the death of Ian August. There is also no evidence that Ian was abused or that his needs were not met by the staff in the field.?
MY LIST OF VIOLATIONS
R501-8-5
F. The program shall provide consumers with clean clothing at least weekly and shall provide a means for consumers to bathe or otherwise clean their bodies a minimum of twice weekly.
Judge Eyre: ?Indeed, the evidence presented to the court only serves to establish that SJ took many more precautions than those provided in similar youth programs by providing two-way radios, access to a satellite phone, a GPS unit, and thermometers, and weekly showers.
Violation 1
G. Hiking shall not exceed the physical capability of the weakest member of the group. If a consumer cannot or will not hike, the group shall not continue.
17 July Stettler: Group continued when Ian stopped. Wasn?t a violation because Ian wasn?t forced to continue.
19 Aug 03 SJ contends that another teen who was diagnosed with ?high-functioning autism? was the slowest member of the group and therefore the weakest, according to Randy Smart, SJ?s attorney.
State contends that the instant Ian stopped hiking he became the weakest member and the hike should have stopped. The group kept going though. [In fact, they were already further ahead of Ian and the autistic child.]
Violation 2
G. Hiking shall be prohibited at temperatures above 95 degrees F. or minus 10 degrees F, including wind chill factor.
15 July Ken Steller (Lic Director for DHS): ?temp between 90 and 95?group was above 8,000 feet. May seek to extend acclimation period?? [He didn?t]
15 July Assoc Press: Stettler: Temp in Delta (4,000 ft) reached 110. Air would have been cooler at the higher elevation about 1pm when Ian fell ill. [Later dispelled by the accounts of the Rescue Team] Six students, two counselors. Three mile hike. 7,000 feet.
16 July Stettler: Inspector recorded 95* at the site on Monday at 1:30 [11* cooler on Mon]
17 July Stettler: SJ followed all regs. The ?nondeprivation? wilderness program stayed within appropriate temperature guidelines and responded correctly to the situation. Waiting for an official cause of death and a completed police report before making a determination about possible violations. Knows ?for sure? temp was under 95 because ?program officials carried thermometers.? Group continued when Ian stopped. Wasn?t a violation because Ian wasn?t forced to continue.
18 July Carol Sisco (Spokesperson for DHS): Camp followed all the rules. Camp leaders: when hike began at 8:30 it was 90*. 101* at 1:30 according to NWS.
Leader (counselor) says when the trek began at 8:30, the temperature was 90* degrees.
22 July Lee Wardle (owner) in a Press Release to Struggling Teens: Less than 90*. Quotes Stettler 7/17 statement. Deputies have confirmed temp was less than 90*, after contacting the US Meteorological Service. Temp at 11:30 at the altitude (6,800 ft)- 85-86*.
5 Aug Lee Wardle in statement to Struggling Teens: 1.4 miles of a two-mile hike. Complete and thorough investigation and State can?t find any violations of regs, company rules, or lack of common sense on the part of SJ. Still operating and ?appreciate the referrals that are coming from all sources?.
20 Sept Child Abuse Homicide charges filed against Mark Wardle, Leigh Hale, and SJ. Sheriff?s Office believe the temp was above 95*- contradicting Lee Wardle?s statement 7/22 that "deputies had confirmed temp less than 90*".
7 Jan 03 Defense Attorney: Contends it was less than 95*. If the case proceeds to trial, gauging an exact temperature will be a central issue.
14 July Lic Rep Husbands testified before Judge Eyre, despite the fact that he was removed from the case when it was discovered that he and Wardle attended the same LDS church ward. Husbands told the court that by his ?rough estimation? it would have been about 88* degrees at 12:30 on the day Ian died. Among other things, two days after Ian died, Husbands hung a pocket thermometer in a tree at a similar elevation. [Impossible. Hale recorded 90* at 8:30.]
Stettler: ?When the county filed charges we said, ?Crud, there?s got to be something.?? Wondered whether his investigators had been too focused on the temperature at the scene.
Rescue Team: As the team passed the intersection of Marjum Canyon and Long Ridge Reservoir roads (just east of where Ian died) shortly after 2pm- 2 1/2 hours after Ian stopped hiking- a thermometer measuring outside temperatures registered 110 degrees. As the crew drew closer to the scene, the gauge hit 106 degrees.
[Pay attention: It was also 106* in Delta at that time, indicating that temperatures were/are consistent between the two locations. The high that day- 107*. It was 101* at 1:30. The day before, when temps hit 102*, it was 95* in Delta at 12:30.]
There were teens hiking after 12:30. In fact if they had only traveled 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, or 1.5 (which ever story you believe) miles of their 3 mile hike at 11:30, they would not have reached their destination until 2:30 or 3 when temps in Delta were hitting 103-104*. They simply started the hike too late to avoid excessive temps and had to make it to the next camp to replenish water supplies. Ian didn?t have adequate water to make that trip. Even had Ian not fell ill, they would have exceeded the maximum temperature guideline. Also, given that Hale carried a thermometer and noted 90* in her log at 8:30, why don?t we have an EXACT temperature at 11:30 when Ian refused to hike? Did the thermometer get lost or broken between 8:30 and 11:30? How far did Hale expect they would get before temps increased 5*? State regs require her to be aware of the temp and stop at the appropriate time.
Violation 3
R501-8-6
E. Re: Each program shall have SENIOR field staff working directly with the consumer who shall meet, at a minimum, the following qualifications:
3. have six (6) months program field experience or comparable experience
5. Have completed an initial staff training [1 week] and field course [3 weeks].
6. be with groups at all times.
Hale testified that she had been with SJ for 7 months. Provided that she had fulfilled the requirements, she had just qualified for Senior Field Staff status. Hale was not with the group at all times.
Reported in Salt Lake Tribune: Ian hiked slower than usual on the strenuous route; he and another teen stopped every few minutes, moving at the rate of one city block an hour based on a reading from Hale's GPS unit.
Soon, the group spread out, with the faster hikers ahead, Ian in the middle and Hale in the rear with the slowest boy. Gause, who had reached the crest of the next hill, watched the agitated teens as they spent approximately 20 minutes trying to get Ian moving. One teen backtracked to Hale, who was about 20 yards away. Still convinced Ian was faking illness, the two counselors split up -- Hale running ahead to check on the rest of the clan (who were with the other intern) and Gause moving 30 to 50 feet away so he could observe Ian from behind another tree. Gause waited about 10 minutes and then crept closer to Ian.
As Hale made her way back to the tree, Wardle called for an update. "How is Ian doing?" Hale yelled over to Gause, who, figuring his cover was blown, hurried to the tree. Ian had stopped breathing and lacked a pulse. Sitting alone under the pinyon, Ian August had died.
Violation 4
Matt Gause testified that he had been with SJ for 4 weeks; that he had no formal training as a counselor or outdoor guide; 2 days book training and 3 days field training. Regs require 3 days on the books and a 4 day practicum (field training). Provided that his testimony was accurate, he was two days short on the ?initial staff training? and would have just completed the 3 week field course; therefore, still considered an Intern until he had acquired 2 months field experience.
Violation 5
R501-8-6
I (6) Field interns shall not supervise consumers at any time.
Violation 6 -two interns were supervising in Hale?s absense
Staff in training are considered Interns until they have completed the initial training, field course [1 month] and have 2 months field experience; at which time they are considered Asst. Field Staff, whom are then eligible to be considered in the staff/teen ratio requirement of 1:4.
Further:
R501-8-7
A.Each youth group shall be supervised by at least two staff members (Trained) at all time.
Violation 6,7
Hale had just acquired Senior Field status; was supervising 6 teens and two interns.
So, How could the judge rule that, ?The youth camp was at all times adequately staffed by trained counselors, one of whom was an emergency medical technician? ?
Did the Prosecutor fail to prove the inadequate training he alleged, or did the judge ignore it?
Did the Prosecutor fail to prove the group was not adequately staffed, or did the judge ignore it?
R501-8-10
B.Admissions screening shall be supervised by a treatment professional before consumer entrance into the field program and shall include the following:
Wardle testified at the DHS Administrative hearing that a licensed school counselor assisted him in determining whether August?.was physically suitable for the program. Also, that he had told a licensing specialist the counselor helped screen the applications, as required by state statute. The licensing specialist testified the next day that that he could only remember Wardle telling him about discussions with Ian?s mother while screening the case.
Violation 8
D.A physical examination form shall be provided to the licensed medical professional by the program and the form shall clearly state a description of the physical demands and environment of the program, and require the following information: 6) physical stress assessment based on climate, temperature, age, weight, and sex
DHS Rep Kelly Husbands testified before Judge Eyre that the only violation he found was a failure by SJ to provide the doctor who performed Ian?s physical exam a description of the program.
Lic Dir Stettler: The review should have included thorough consideration of his health history. Information provided to the program indicated that Ian had ?low heat tolerance? and was taking medication that could have been a factor in an exposure-related illness. [Depakote, Topamax, and Concerta. The FDA issued a warning a few days prior about the risks of hyperthermia associate with Topamax.]
12 Oct 02: The state alleges that SJ failed to complete an adequate review of Ian?s health history. If that history had been done, SJ would have known Ian had a ?low heat tolerance?. The history also would have shown Ian was taking medications that ?hinder the body?s ability to cool.?
Prosecutor Berkley, ?They caused the death of this kid [who] shouldn?t have been in the program in the first place.? ?Ian was a fat kid. He pretty much ate Twinkies and played Nintendo all day?and he is doing stuff that his body couldn?t handle. So that?s why we figured that they shouldn?t have been out there in the first place, and if he was out there, they should have taken a lot more care to keep him cool.?
Violation 9
R501-8-10
H. Upon admission, the consumer shall be given a period of no fewer than three days to become acclimated to the environment.
Ian arrived at SJ on 5 July 2002. He was hiking the next day.
Violation 10
R501-8-11
A.Six quarts of potable water shall be available per person, per day, minimum, plus on additional quart per person for each five miles hiked. Although it is not required that the entire amount be hand carried, access to water shall be available at all times during hiking.
B. In temperatures above 90 degrees F., staff shall make sure consumer intake is a minimum of three quarts of water per day, electrolyte replacement shall be available with the expeditionary group at all times.
C. In temperatures above 80 degrees F., water shall be available for coating consumer?s body for the purpose of cooling as needed.
D. Each water cache shall be placed prior to the day the group leaves camp. Water cache location information shall be verified with field staff before the group leaves camp each day.
G (1) Multiple vitamin supplements shall be provided daily.
15 July: Lee Wardle in a report to Struggling Teens: Ian had just finished his third quart of water.
17 July: Ian had hiked 3 hours when officials reported that he said he was thirsty and was given water, complained of dizziness and sat down.
22 July: Jeff Johnson (Adm Dir for SJ) in a Press Statement to Struggling Teens: Temp was less than 90* and Ian had just finished his third quart of water.
Ian?s birth mom, a registered nurse, was upset that Ian had to ask for a drink of water. ?That?s not cool. Being as hot as it was they should have been taking regular water breaks.?
7 Jan 03: Lic Rep Husbands testimony at the Preliminary hearing: All the participants were given adequate food and water.
14 July 03: Prosecutor Berkley: SJ?s employees were under trained, its health-screening process was inadequate and its water supply insufficient.
11 July Hale noted in her log that ?everyone except Ian drank a lot of water.? Also, that he had refused to eat the last two meals. Staff nurse advised Ian to ?keep drinking water.?
According to Berkley, some of Hale?s testimony conflicted with her own daily log. Ex: Hale testified that she made sure Ian ate all his meals because he was finicky.
13 July 03 Salt Lake Tribune reported: The clan set out for what was supposed to be a 3-mile hike around 9 a.m. -- a little later than Hale had hoped in order to avoid the heat. Ian finished his water, his supply already reduced during the previous night's hike, and began to complain of thirst. Some teens shared their water, and Hale gave him half of her quart at one point. Ian drank it in a gulp. The group crossed three ridges, one hill after another. Ian labored, at times stumbling. But as Ian crested that final hill around 11:30 a.m., after hiking 1.4 miles? On the ridge, Ian stood still, his body already in the process of shutting down as his blood thickened in the heat and he became delirious. One teen noted Ian didn't seem to know what was going on. When Hale reached Ian she ?nudged him with her foot, shook him and slapped his face to try to rouse him from his stupor. (In testimony, Ian was difficult to motivate. Sat down, came across as being a little bit defiant. Tried to convince him to keep hiking.) Wardle told Hale in the first phone call to do the ?hand drop test? which ?flushes out faker?. Ian passed the test. [Obviously not a reliable method!] After sitting/laying in the sun for 45 minutes: Wardle, in the second phone contact, told Hale to pour water over Ian and move him into the shade. The counselors sat Ian up and tried to get him to drink water. It merely dribbled down his face. They poured warm water from their bottles over his head, chest and back.
The Medical Examiner testified: Ian had overheated. The problem could have compounded over the course of several days, and even at lower temperatures than set in state regs if the circumstances were right. Once in trouble, Ian needed to be cooled immediately, preferably with an ice bath. The warm water poured over Ian?s head would not have helped.
As reported Aug 2002 Struggling Teens visits Skyline: We hiked about 2 ½ hours, arriving at the next site before noon. One boy struggled climbing the last hill and everyone in the clan supportively cheered him on.
A key to their program is utilizing peer pressure as a motivator for the kids to improve .Lee and I arrived with water and food supplies after spending a comfortable evening in an air-conditioned motel room. That?s right, I chickened out on the offer to spend the night with the kids in the field!
In none of the reports and testimony, was Electrolyte replacement or Multivitamin supplement ever mentioned.
Note: The State guidelines (3 qts/day over 90*) are insufficient. The National Park S ervice warns: Hikers can lose one or two liters (liter= 1 qt + 1.3 oz) of water per hour. Hikes longer than 3 miles round trip should begin before 7 am or after 4 pm. It is critical to replace electrolytes by eating and drinking frequently. To replace electrolytes, two qts of replacement fluid is minimum, and one gallon is recommended for every 8 hour of hot-weather hiking. Eat nutritious snacks high in carb every 20-30 minutes. Go slowly, take frequent breaks.
Recommended water consumption is ½ - 1 liter per hour or 7 - 8 liters per day.
State guidelines should enforce ?common sense? by requiring hiking to cease if a ?consumer? refuses to drink or runs out of water. Field Support Staff, responsible for food/water can make a trip out with more water. Pushing kids to get to the next camp, where their other 3 qts awaits, should not be tolerated.
Violations 11, 12, 13, 14, 15
R501-8-12
B.A consumer with an illness or physical complaint beyond standard first aid treatment shall be immediately transported to the appropriate medical professional or facility.
And
R501-19
B. There shall be a means of transportation in case of emergency.
17 July 02 SJ Officals: EMT stayed with Ian. A tarp was provided for shade. [Lie]
19 July Lee Wardle: He sat under a tree for two hours, then collapsed. [Lie]
21 July Counselors told Sheriffs Office Investigators: Ian began to moan and was breathing heavily, sweating excessively and lying on his back. When Ian became unconscious they moved him under a tree.
22 July Jeff Johnson (Adm Dir) in Press Statement to Struggling Teens: ?At the time he sat down, the staff moved Ian into the shade and sat with him until he lost consciousness, at which point the head instructor called the field director, Mark Wardle, and asked for medical assistance.? [Lie]
21 Sept Prosecutor Berkley: Ms. Hale was a licensed emergency medical technician but she either did not recognize signs of stress or ignored them. It is our intent to show there was reckless disregard for his symptoms and signs of trouble.
11 Oct Lic Director Stettler: Ian was left sitting and laying in direct sunlight for up to an hour after he stopped hiking before staff moved him out of the sun and attempted to cool him.
12 Oct Stettler: Our belief is they allowed him to sit in direct sun for up to an hour. Original accounts [lies] indicated Ian was moved into the shade after he refused to continue.
EMT/Senior Staff Hale testified in the preliminary hearing that she thought Ian was ?faking? when he collapsed, 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.
19 Aug 03 Hale: Ian was acting ?normal.? Later, ?I figured it was pretty serious, but I didn?t know the extent.?
Intern Gause testified that there was nothing about Ian?s behavior that seemed to be out of the ordinary, felt sure he was faking; Wasn?t flush red. No severe sweating. [Lie- Contradicts the ?counselor?s account? given to the Sheriffs investigator.]
As reported by an eye witness at the scene: Ian just stood there, dazed and sweating ?like a pig.?
An hour after Ian stopped hiking: Ian now lay on the ground, motionless, his eyes open and occasionally making contact although his breathing was ?strange?, a mixture of a moan and a cry. Hale goes ahead to check on the others, Gause hides behind a bush to observe. Gause observed that Ian stopped moaning shortly after Hale left, ?proof? he was faking. When Hale returned 15 min later, Ian was not breathing and had no pulse.
14 July 03 Stettler: Counselors failed to recognize Ian?s symptoms and get him treatment quickly. ?When they were sitting, they were sitting in the sun, so they weren?t really cooling down.?
Provided that Support Staff who delivers food and supplies had transportation, they were never summoned.
Violations 16, 17
R501-8-13
A.First aid kits shall include sufficient supplies for the activity, location, and environment. Emergency evacuation equipment shall be on standby.
Violation 18, 19
R501-8-6
B. The executive director (Lee Wardle) and C. the field director (Mark Wardle) shall have at a minimum, the following requirements:
5. demonstrate complete knowledge and understanding of relevant licensing rules.
Violations 20, 21
R501-8-4
C. Information provided to parents, community, and media shall be accurate and factual.
The lies are too numerous to list.
Violation 22
R501-8-21
Due to the difficulty of monitoring outdoor programs and the inherent dangers of wilderness, a single violation of the foregoing life and safety rules may result in immediate revocation of license and removal of consumers from programs pursuant to General Provisions as found in R501-1.
BIG VIOLATION FOR DEPT OF HUMAN SERVICES
Immediately after Ian?s death SJ attempted to blame his death on the slow response time of emergency medical personnel.
16 July 02 Mark Wardle, ?We?re not a bunch of bumbling idiots out here, abusing kids. It takes 40 minutes to drive to the hikers?site from Delta, and law enforcement insisted on taking an alternate route from the one suggested.?
Sheriff Ed Phillips: ..the deadly in response time was due to the hikers? isolated location. The groups was 70 miles from Delta, 25-30 of those miles are reached first by a gravel road, then a ?two-wheel-track kind of a road? and finally by a hike of one to two miles.
16 July Phillips: Helicopter was given wrong coordinates, which was quickly resolved, the real problem was that the helicopter was unable to land at the remote campsite because of the terrain and the heat. A GPS system doesn?t cut the driving time. ?Why are we in cardiac arrest before any calls for help or even made?? ?I would have hoped that Wardle would have kept his comments to himself until the investigation was over.?
19 July Mark Wardle: dispatchers didn?t trust GPS coordinates. Phillips: The chopper would not have been able to land safely because the heat had decreased air density.
14 July 03 Mark Wardle blamed the tragedy on the response of the sheriff?s rescue team. Crews wasted time by not following his directions, turning what Wardle said was a 40-minute drive from Delta into a two-hour trip.
This made Phillips livid. Phillips said the ambulance dispatched from Delta traveled 70 miles to reach the scene, nearly half of those miles on gravel and graded dirt roads. The crew had to backtrack because of Wardle?s confusion about the best way to reach Ian. Rescuer split into two groups, one following Wardle?s directions to a road that proved impassable and the other hiking to Ian with a handheld GPS unit. The hikers reached him first and, on their arrival, pronounced him dead.
Skyline Journey?s website reads:
Skyline Journey believes that an outdoor program is the most effective way to eliminate destructive behavior. By taking advantage of a "positive peer culture" and Mother Nature, we can achieve needed changes by two methods. First - We remove the participant from his or her comfortable surroundings and place them in an unfamiliar environment where they must learn to cooperate with others of the group and to depend on advice and assistance from adult leaders.
Examples of the ?positive peer culture? and ?assistance from adult leaders? as reported by the Salt Lake Tribune:
But as Ian crested that final hill around 11:30 a.m., after hiking 1.4 miles, all he could see before him was more of the same: up, down, up and down, an undulating landscape of sagebrush, native grasses, broken shale and scattered junipers and pinyon trees. To his right spread the Sevier Desert, empty and browned under the summer sun.
On the ridge, Ian stood still, his body already in the process of shutting down as his blood thickened in the heat and he became delirious. One teen noted Ian didn't seem to know what was going on.
"Come on, man." Ian didn't respond. "You can go down this hill willingly or we can put you down it," his hiking companion said.
Gause, who had reached the crest of the next hill, watched the agitated teens as they spent approximately 20 minutes trying to get Ian moving.
"Come on, man, who dogs it on the downhill?" one frustrated teen asked Ian.
Ian just stood there, dazed and sweating "like a pig."
The teen grabbed him and began pulling him along. Ian finally responded.
"Oh, I can do it," he said.
When Ian didn't move, the boys threatened to drag him to the next camp.
"No, I can do it," Ian said. And then he sat down. The two teens pulled off Ian's 29-pound backpack, and Ian lay against it.
One teen backtracked to Hale, who was about 20 yards away. She called out to him: "Ian, get your pack on and let's go."
When Hale reached Ian, he stood briefly and then sank back down to his pack.
"So do you need a break? Are you tired? What's the problem?" Hale asked Ian. He crossed his arms and stared at her. Hale tried to cajole Ian into moving for about 20 minutes. According to one teen's taped statement, Hale nudged Ian with her foot, shook him and slapped his face to try to rouse him from his stupor. Finally, she pulled out her radio and called Mark Wardle, who was in Delta.
"I can't convince Ian that he needs to continue hiking," she told Wardle. "What should I do?"
Wardle told her to check Ian's consciousness by doing a "hand drop test" -- holding his arm above his face and letting it go to see how he reacted. It flushes out fakers, Hale would say later, because a conscious person will protect the face.
Ian's arm slipped to his side.
"I need to know if there's something wrong," Hale said to Ian. "Respond to me, tell me your name."
"Ian," he said.
Hale called Wardle again. "He seems to be conscious," she reported. "I can't get him to hike. What should I do?"
Wardle, who already had begun driving toward Marjum Pass, told Hale to pour water over Ian and move him into the shade.
Hale beckoned to Gause to come assist her. Ian now lay on the ground, motionless, his eyes open and occasionally making contact although his breathing was "strange," a mixture of a moan and a cry.
The counselors sat Ian up and tried to get him to drink water. It merely dribbled down his face. They poured warm water from their bottles over his head, chest and back.
The noon sun had burned down on the dying teen for more than an hour when Gause grabbed Ian's torso and Hale held his feet and "pulled" him 10 feet to a patch of shade under a pinyon tree.
Still convinced Ian was faking illness, the two counselors split up -- Hale running ahead to check on the rest of the clan and Gause moving 30 to 50 feet away so he could observe Ian from behind another tree.
Gause noticed Ian's moans stopped minutes after Hale left -- proof, he figured, that Ian was acting. Gause waited about 10 minutes and then crept closer to Ian.
As Hale made her way back to the tree, Wardle called for an update.
"How is Ian doing?" Hale yelled over to Gause, who, figuring his cover was blown, hurried to the tree.
Ian had stopped breathing and lacked a pulse.
Sitting alone under the pinyon, Ian August had died.
How many of the teens on that hike are regretting pressuring Ian to continue, when in fact he was slowly dying? Think they might need some therapy? Might they have been thirsty too?
How is it that Skyline Journey had a minimum of 20 violations that day and are still operating, and were allowed to appeal?
Ian?s adoptive mom Judith, who has not spoken to the media, is another victim of new-age, group mind control thinking, and was described as a ?nurturer, enfolding people in conscious compassion?. She has chosen to accept Ian?s death and holds SJ blameless. She decided to accept his death as fate or karma, the work of larger forces. A neighbor quoted Judith as saying she, ?did not want to be a victim at all in the situation or blame any one. Death, even an accidental death, is not always even accidental.?
Ian's birth mother, a registered nurse, is able to see the truth, but has no legal stand to file a wrongful death lawsuit. Judith has less than a year to come to her senses, rather her own mind, and act. As it doesn?t seem likely that any significant action is going to be taken in Utah.
In Oct 02 after Ian?s death, Carol Sisco published two articles on the benefits of Wilderness Therapy to the Dept of Human Serices website.
Judge Eyre, stated in his ruling, that ?employees had some training, particpants were given plenty of water, and that the group only hiked a short distance. Hikes were ?never of greater distance than 1.26 miles? although Lic Rep Husbands had testified that the group had hiked about 1.4 miles of the planned 3-mile hike?.
In an interview Eyre was quoted, ?I?ve had a lot of experience with troubled youths, and I know that parents when they have a child that is clearly self-destructive, they will do about anthing to help them.?
Stettler was in charge of Youth Corrections prior to assuming the role of Licensing Director, and has a history of overlooking violations committed by his ?fellow mormon saints?.
Stettler is making a case for shutting down SJ, which he says is critical because there has to be a consequence for Ian?s death. ?I don?t feel like we have a strong enough guarantee that nothing?s going to happen again. If we don?t level a consequence in this case it sends a message to other programs that the Off of Licensing is nothing. They need to know there are rules and there are consequences for violating those rules, especially when the violations result in a similar thing like this death.?
The hearing to determine SJs fate was halted on the second day of testimony in order to allow Wardle to time to call a witness to support his contention that a licensed school counselor reviewed Ian?s application before he was cleared to enroll in the program.
