I rescued my son from there. Here is the story you are talking about from the KS Star
Posted on Sat, Feb. 05, 2005
Parents of teen sue boot camp
By STEVE ROCK The Kansas City Star
The parents of a 15-year-old California boy who died while under the care of a northwest Missouri boot camp filed a wrongful-death lawsuit Friday.
The family alleged that their son ? Roberto Reyes, who died in November while a resident at Thayer Learning Center, a military-type home for troubled teens ? was subjected to physical exertion and abuse that caused or contributed to his death.
Among other things, the lawsuit alleges that he would have lived had he gotten competent medical care in a timely manner and that he was dragged, hit, placed into solitary confinement and ?forced to lay in his own excrement for extended periods of time.? The parents, who placed Roberto at the center less than two weeks before his death, also accused Thayer and an affiliated referral service of fraudulent misrepresentation.
An employee at the center, located about 50 miles north of Kansas City in Kidder, referred calls to attorney Ed Proctor. Reached by phone Friday evening, Proctor said he had not seen a copy of the lawsuit and therefore could not comment.
Proctor had previously told The Kansas City Star that ?every child at Thayer has immediate access to medical care at any time.?
The lawsuit names Thayer Learning Center, Parent Help and three Thayer employees as defendants.
The employees named are Richard Sperry of Chillicothe, Robert Carter of Kidder and Dave Swymeler of St. Joseph. The lawsuit filed in Buchanan County Circuit Court claims they failed to take reasonable steps to contact emergency personnel once it was known that Roberto was gravely ill.
Sperry declined to comment Friday night. Neither Carter nor Swymeler could be reached.
The plaintiffs, Gracia and Victor Reyes, through their attorney declined to comment.
?Their reaction is shock,? said attorney James Thompson. ?As more and more information comes to light, they cannot even comprehend it.?
According to the lawsuit:
Roberto's parents contacted a referral service called Parent Help in October 2004 to seek help with Roberto. Parent Help recommended that the Reyeses send their child to Thayer but did not disclose its connection to Thayer.
Thayer and Parent Help are owned by John and Willa Bundy, and the lawsuit says the two businesses are ?inextricably intertwined for common schemes and goals.? The lawsuit alleges that Parent Help and Thayer misrepresented the type of discipline and care that children get.
The lawsuit says that between Oct. 25 and Nov. 3, Victor and Gracia Reyes received periodic contact from Thayer representatives. The parents were told that Roberto was not being cooperative, that he had sore muscles from exercising but that he was otherwise fine.
On the morning of Nov. 3, a Thayer representative contacted the Reyeses to ask whether Roberto had any breathing problems in his medical history. Roberto died that afternoon. According to the lawsuit, symptoms of Roberto's failing health ?would have been present for a significant period of time prior to his death.?
?Had Roberto Reyes received competent medical intervention in a timely manner,? the lawsuit states, ?he would have survived.?
Previously a doctor with the Jackson County medical examiner's office identified the probable cause of death as a spider or an insect bite. What caused Roberto's health to fail, Thompson said, has not been definitively determined.
?What he died from, regardless of the cause, would not have led to a deterioration of his condition in an immediate sense,? Thompson said Friday. ?It's a process that would have taken time.?
The lawsuit alleges that Roberto ?was subjected to sadistic, cruel and harmful acts.?
?Defendants' agents, servants and employees forced other students to wake up and drag and attempt to carry Roberto Reyes to the shower in his filthy clothes to be hosed down in a crude attempt to wash off human excrement and filth,? according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit says the defendants treated Roberto's physical complaints as ?games and ploys, despite an inability to walk, deteriorating respiratory status and diminishing mental and cognitive function.? The lawsuit says Roberto was left ?to die alone ? with a feeling of utter hopelessness.?
It also states that Thayer ?engages in a pattern and practice of inflicting physical and emotional harm to children under its care? and that it fails to provide them with adequate medical care.
The lawsuit says the family is seeking in excess of $25,000.
No charges have been filed in connection with Roberto's death. A division of the Missouri Department of Social Services is conducting an investigation.
Gus Kolilis, deputy director of the department's legal division, said a state investigator had spoken with many people connected to Thayer.
?There are just a lot of pieces here, ? he said.
Kolilis said he hoped to conclude the investigation this month.
Caldwell County Prosecutor Jason Kanoy said he was awaiting results from the state investigation before deciding whether his office would take any action.
After Roberto died, a panel of county and state officials charged with reviewing child deaths said earlier medical treatment might have prevented the death. That review, coupled with police reports and allegations made by former students and employees, painted a disturbing picture of life at Thayer, which houses about 100 teens.
A Dec. 19 story in The Star cited police reports and interviews with seven former Thayer employees and students alleging physical and emotional abuse of students, such as one being forced to eat her vomit and another being forced to sit in a tub of urine.
In a response to The Star in December, Thayer officials called the allegations ?ludicrous and false.?
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