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http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansas...l/11085363.htm
Posted on Wed, Mar. 09, 2005
Allegations denied in teen's boot camp death
By STEVE ROCK The Kansas City Star
A 15-year-old boy who died in November while attending a Missouri boot camp for troubled teenagers was not abused or neglected, say officials at Thayer Learning Center.
In court documents filed late last week and Tuesday in Buchanan County Circuit Court in St. Joseph, attorneys for Thayer denied allegations of abuse and medical neglect made in a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the parents of Roberto Reyes.
The lawsuit, filed last month by Victor and Gracia Reyes of Santa Rosa, Calif., alleged that Roberto was subjected to physical exertion and abuse at the Kidder, Mo., facility that caused or contributed to his death. The lawsuit contended he was dragged, hit, placed into solitary confinement and “forced to lay in his own excrement for extended periods of time.”
In addition, the lawsuit alleged that Roberto would have lived had he received competent medical care in a timely manner.
The lawsuit named Thayer, a referral service and three Thayer employees as defendants.
“Thayer makes proper medical care, treatment and evaluation available to its students,” the defendants said in their response. “… Students have access to proper medical care, evaluation and treatment upon request.”
Thayer attorneys argued in the filings that if the plaintiffs sustained injury or damage, it was caused “through the sole fault and/or negligence of decedent Roberto Reyes and/or others whose fault must be compared with that of these defendants.” The “others” are not identified.
Benjamin Fadler, an attorney for Thayer and the three employees, declined comment Tuesday. Ed Proctor, an attorney for the Parent Help referral service, which steered Roberto to Thayer, couldn't be reached.
The three Thayer employees — Richard Sperry of Chillicothe, Dave Swymeler of St. Joseph, and Robert Carter of Kidder — denied in court filings all allegations against them, such as failing to take reasonable steps to dial 911 once it was clear Roberto was gravely ill. They asked to be dismissed from the lawsuit.
Attorneys for Thayer also argued that if Roberto's parents sought punitive damages, they should be denied.
Thayer, a military-type home, houses about 100 students in Kidder, about 50 miles north of Kansas City in Caldwell County.
Roberto died Nov. 3, and the probable cause of death was identified as a spider or insect bite by the Jackson County medical examiner. According to the lawsuit, however, the condition that killed Roberto “would have been present for a significant period of time prior to his death.” What caused that condition, the Reyes' attorney has said, has not been determined.
The lawsuit “misstates” the conclusion of the medical examiner, the defendants said.
Some of the specific allegations in the wrongful-death lawsuit, all of which were denied in court filings, include:
• That Roberto “was subjected to sadistic, cruel and harmful acts,” and that he was dragged to the showers “in a crude attempt to wash off human excrement and filth.”
• That the defendants treated Roberto's physical complaints as “games and ploys,” and that he was left “to die alone … with a feeling of utter hopelessness.”
• That Thayer and Parent Help are “inextricably intertwined for common schemes and goals,” and that Parent Help misrepresented the type of discipline and care that children got.
No charges have been filed in connection with Roberto's death. A division of the Missouri Department of Social Services is conducting an investigation, and Caldwell County Prosecutor Jason Kanoy has said he is awaiting results from that 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 “may have prevented this fatality.”
To reach Steve Rock, call
(816) 234-4338 or send e-mail to
srock@kcstar.com