The Death of Candace Newmaker

This is one of those cases that shows like Law and Order and CSI based at least one episode on. Admittedly I do not watch Law and Order but I am a fan of CSI, at least in the beginning and I remember the episode that was inspired by this case. It is also one of those cases that inspired reform in laws, although I must admit that I am unsure that it inspired enough of them.

Candace Newmaker was born as Candace Elmore in November of 1989 in North Carolina. Her birth parents were Angela and Todd who would go on to have a son and another daughter after Candace was born. It was only said that “at a young age” Candace and her siblings were taken from their parents on allegations of neglect and were then separated by social services. By the time she was five Angela and Todd's parental rights were terminated. When she was six or seven (depending on the source), she was adopted by a single woman named Jeane Elizabeth Newmaker. Jeane was a pediatric nurse and came from only what was described as a wealthy family.

Allegedly within months of the adoption Jeane had Candace seeing a psychiatrist complaining of her behavior and attitude within her home. Over the next few years Candace would be placed on medication and have other therapies but Jeane insisted that instead of getting better, Candace's behavior worsened. It was said that she played with matches and a few sources say that she started at least a small fire at some point. It was also said that she had killed a goldfish. What is unclear is if anyone else saw the behaviors that Jeane claimed and to what extent. Oftentimes doctors simply rely on the information given to them by the parent without really knowing for sure. A few months ago I blogged about the death of Rebecca Riley in which her doctor came under fire for her treatment of Rebecca. Whether this was the case her is uncertain. However, I could completely understand if it was, especially considering Jeane social standing as well as her occupation. That is not to say that I do not believe Candace had the issues that Jeane described to doctors, I am simply saying that I found nothing to say they occurred other than the reports that she made.

In the end Candace's psychologist, William Goble recommended an alternative treatment being offered in Colorado by a doctor named Connell Watkins. The therapy was “attachment therapy” and would include a session of “rebirthing.” It was said that this would treat Candace's “reactive attachment disorder.” However, in fairness, I am unsure if she had been officially diagnosed with this prior to going to Colorado for treatment.

Attachment therapy is defined as “alternative child mental health intervention intended to treat attachment disorder.” Reactive Attachment Disorder, or RAD, is said to be rare but “arises from a failure to form natural attachments to a primary caregiver in early childhood” or who fail in social interaction in some way. I want to be clear once again that I could not determine when it was given as an “official” diagnosis relating to Candace. I feel that this is important considering the end result to this case. It is not clear whether this diagnosis was legitimate when it came to Candace or whether it would later be used as a defense tactic to lessen the culpability of those involved in her death.

At any rate, the therapy that Dr. Watkins was offering was conducted out of her home in Colorado and consisted of a two week “intensive” session nearly seven thousand dollars. Considering that this form of therapy is considered to be alternative therapy, it is highly unlikely that very many insurance companies would cover the service which means more than likely only those with sufficient ways to pay for the therapy received it. Jeane and Candace headed to Colorado in April of 2000.

On April 17^th, during the second week of therapy at the Watkins home the “rebirthing” technique would take place. Julie Ponder, an assistant therapist for Watkins would also be conducting the session. The office assistant, Brita St. Clair and her finance' Jack McDaniel would play the role of “therapeutic foster parents” and Jeane would also be present in the room. It was said that all of the sessions were video taped and could also be viewed on monitors in real time from another room. For this session Candace was wrapped from head to toe in a flannel sheet to simulate a womb. She was then covered and surrounded by pillows. All of this was done to “recreate” the birth canal. Candace was told to fight her way out.

Candace weighed about seventy pounds and it was said that the combined weight of the four adults (not counting Jeane) was nearly seven hundred pounds. The adults used their hands and feet to push on her head, chest and body to make her have to struggle that much more. Throughout the process Candace repeatedly screamed for help and it was said she stated at least eleven times that she was dying. To one of those cries Julie Ponder responded with “You want to die? Ok, then die. Go ahead, die right now.”

About twenty minutes into the session Candace became sick. First she vomited and then she lost her bowels and yet she was still restrained. At about the forty minute mark Jeane asked her “Baby, do you want to be born?” Candace responded with “No” and the session continued. Once again Ponder was quoted as saying “Quitter, quitter.... quit, quit, quit... She's a quitter.”

At this point Watkins asked Jeane to leave the room because she did not want Candace to “feel” that Jeane had been sad at her response to her. She left the room and went to another room to continue watching the session on a monitor. Soon after that Watkins had both St. Clair and McDaniel leave the room also leaving only her and Julie Ponder with Candace.

It had now been about an hour and ten minutes into the session when Watkins and Ponder decided to take the wraps off Candace. She had stopped struggling some time ago. When they released her they found her motionless and blue. Jeane, noticed this on the monitor and went into the room and began administering CPR while Watkins called 911.

When the paramedics arrived about ten minutes later Jack McDaniel told them that she had been left alone for five minutes and when they returned she was not breathing. The paramedics determined that it had been much longer than five minutes (plus their time to get there) that the child had been without oxygen. Candace was taken to the hospital but the following day she was declared brain dead.

The “birthing” session, as well as ten more hours of sessions had all been videotaped. All five adults were charged with a variety of crimes relating to her death. Jeane would eventually plead guilty to neglect and abuse and given a four year sentence that was suspended and had the option to later be expunged from her record. Jack McDaniel and Brita St. Clair would both plead guilty to charges of criminal negligent child abuse. They each received 1,000 hours of community service and ten years probation. Both Watkins and Ponder took their case to trial.

Watkins and Ponder would have a joint trial. The prosecutors would show that they were unlicensed “therapists” and that the alternative therapy that was practiced was obviously akin to neglect. The defense would argue that the therapy had been highly successful in other cases, performed by Watkins and apparently Ponder. I am unsure if another argument the defense attempted to make helped or harmed them. They stated that Watkins and Ponder believed that Candace was being “manipulative” when she was saying she was dying and could not breathe and did not believe she was actually in any danger. They claimed that this was often an argument made by the participants. The problem that I have with making this argument is that is was nearly like saying “Well, I guess we're lucky no one died sooner.” I believe I understand the point they were attempting to make but I am not sure that I can agree with it. In the end after deliberating for five hours the jury returned guilty verdicts against both women on April 20, 2001. They were convicted of reckless child abuse resulting in death.

They each faced sixteen to forty-eight years. On June 18, 2001 the judge sentence both women to the minimum sentence of sixteen years stating that while the crime was horrible there did not seem to be enough evidence to show that they intended or wanted to harm her.

Connell Watkins was paroled in June of 2008 under what was called “intense supervision.” She was restricted in contact with children or any kind of counseling work and apparently was given home detention. I can only assume that has ended by now. She apparently continued to insist that the death was an accident and she was not at fault. I could not find any information on Ponder and where she is now. Both Colorado and North Carolina enacted “Candace's Law” which outlaws the type of therapy in which was used with her.

As I said earlier, I have questioned whether these behaviors were seen by anyone other than Jeane. There was at least one article that stated that Candace had allegedly bit and spit on prior therapists, however, once again I cannot say where that information came from. It could be completely true. The child did apparently have a traumatic early childhood. However, I know from even my own experience dealing with a difficult child, as well as other cases I have blogged about that much of the information about these behaviors come solely from the parents. Taking your child to a therapist is oftentimes much like going to a regular doctor. There is the joke that a child could be very ill at home and by the time they get to the doctor they are all better and have none of the symptoms they allegedly had earlier. I did not find anything that indicated that Candace was ever hospitalized for any reason, let alone any associated with her behaviors that would have given any therapists long term observation. And to be fair I have seen those types of cases also and even during hospitalization a child will sometimes not exhibit their normal behaviors. The point here though that I am trying to make is that we seem to only have the word of Jeane that these behaviors occurred and as the case progressed she was facing criminal charges.

In the end I can only hope that this type of therapy is not necessarily outlawed, if they can prove it helps, but administered by licensed professionals who take precautions. I believe we should look into alternative treatments when possible but not at the risk of our lives or the lives of our children.