Rebirthing Case Hearing To Begin

By STEVE GUTTERMAN Associated Press Writer

GOLDEN, Colo. (AP) — It was therapy meant to re-create a birth. Instead, it is accused of leading to a 10-year-old's death.

Wrapped in a flannel blanket meant to represent the womb, Candace Newmaker, 10, cried again and again that she couldn't breathe as therapists pushed against her with pillows. They wanted her to fight her way out and become "reborn," investigators say.

About 30 minutes later, therapists unwrapped the blanket; Candace was no longer breathing and was lying in vomit, according to the sheriff's department. She died of asphyxiation a day later at a Denver hospital.

On Tuesday, four people, including therapists Connell Watkins, 53, and Julie Ponder, 39, face preliminary hearings on child abuse charges as a result of the April 18 "rebirthing session."

The session was supposed to help Candace overcome "reactive attachment disorder, " in which children resist forming loving relationships and become unmanageable and violent.

Also charged and facing preliminary hearings are Jack McDaniel, 47, an intern at Watkins' home-based therapy center in Evergreen, and Watkins' business manager, Brita St. Clair, 41. Candace's adoptive mother, Jeane Newmaker, 46, faces a hearing next month.

"I believe these people were trying to help this child and not injure her," said David Savitz, McDaniel's lawyer. "I don't believe it rises to the level of a criminal offense.

Savitz said that if McDaniel is arraigned, he will plead innocent. None of the other defense attorneys involved in the case would comment.

Prosecutors, too, declined comment, but the prosecution's case is outlined in an affidavit filed when Ponder, who allegedly led the session, was arrested.

The affidavit alleges that a videotape of the therapy session shows Candace frequently complaining oft breathing difficulties and saying that she feared for her life.

The affidavit says the therapists ignored Candace's pleas, and that one of them told the girl, "You want to die? OK, then die. Go ahead, die right now." Evergreen has become an unofficial center for therapists specializing in attachment disorder since the now-retired Foster Cline started developing treatment methods in the mountain town two decades ago.

But other area therapists have said they were shocked to hear that Watkins used the rebirthing therapy. They said they had never before heard of rebirthing therapy used in children or in cases of attachment disorder.

Court documents say Newmaker, a nurse practitioner from Durham, N.C., hired Watkins to treat Candace for two weeks for $7,000. She had been seeking help for her daughter's problems since adopting the girl in 1996.

Watkins and her three associates were charged with knowing or reckless child abuse resulting in death. They face up to 48 years in prison if convicted.

Newmaker was charged with criminally negligent child abuse resulting in death, which carries a maximum sentence of 12 years.

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On the Net:

Attachment Disorder Support Group: http://www.syix.com/adsg