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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.
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