PLEA BARGAIN IN `REBIRTHING' DEATH
Date: 08-04-2001; Publication: Denver Rocky Mountain News; Author: Peggy Lowe
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Denver Rocky Mountain News PLEA BARGAIN IN `REBIRTHING' DEATH

An Evergreen couple charged in the ``rebirthing'' death of a 10-year-old girl pleaded guilty to a lesser charge Friday in hopes of avoiding time in prison. Brita St. Clair, 42, and Jack McDaniel, 48, who are married, could receive five years probation, a fine or from four-to-16 years in jail under terms of a plea bargain.

The two each pleaded guilty to negligent child abuse resulting in death for the April 2000 killing of Candace Newmaker, an adopted girl from Durham, N.C. The couple will be sentenced Oct. 4 by Jefferson County District Judge Jane Tidball. Tidball has already sentenced the two therapists in charge of Candace' s treatment. Julie Ponder, 40, and Connell Watkins, 54, received 16 years in prison, a mandatory sentence under state law. Prosecutor Steve Jensen called the plea bargain ``a fair resolution' ' for two people who had a lesser degree of responsibility for the crime. ``We hope this sends a message that if you're involved in the abuse of a child - even if you are just following orders - that kind of defense doesn't cut it and you will be held responsible,'' Jensen said. The couple assisted Ponder and Watkins, both unlicensed therapists, during a controversial therapy they called ``rebirthing,'' which they said could help Candace with her attachment disorder. Candace was wrapped in a flannel sheet, placed under pillows and urged to be ``reborn'' to her adoptive mother, Jeane Newmaker. But instead, Candace was suffocated after she spent a torturous 70 minutes trying to get out, screaming for air and telling them she would die. The therapists yelled back at her to, ``Go ahead and die, '' that she must die to be reborn. The procedure was videotaped and played for the jury considering Watkins' and Ponder's fate in April. Jeane Newmaker, a nurse practitioner, was in the room during the rebirthing session and has also been charged with negligent child abuse resulting in death. Her trial is set for November. St. Clair was Watkins' office manager, and McDaniel was an unemployed construction worker - and they were not yet married - at the time of Candace's therapy. The Newmakers stayed at St. Clair's home during their two-week stay in Evergreen. ``There is no doubt that Brita St. Clair feels great pain and sorrow at the loss of Candace Newmaker's life,'' said her lawyer, H. Michael Steinberg. ``Brita has dedicated her life to helping ease the burden of the parents with attachment disorder.'' McDaniel's attorney, Robert Ransome, said they accepted the plea because the state's mandatory sentencing laws made going to trial too risky. They opted, he said, for ``the path of least resistance.' ' ``They trusted the experts,'' Ransome said. ``It's unfortunate they didn't speak up a little louder. But when there's experts involved, you listen to them.''

 

Peggy Lowe; News Staff Writer, PLEA BARGAIN IN `REBIRTHING' DEATH. , Denver Rocky Mountain News, 08-04-2001, pp 3B.