Group Requests Federal Investigation Into Mentally-Ill Boy's Death

Mar 3, 2000 - 10:23 PM
The Associated Press

OCALA, Fla. (AP) - A group requested a federal investigation Friday into Florida's treatment of mentally ill children, saying the death of a boy crushed by a counselor at a state-contracted facility is part of a larger pattern of mistreatment.

The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill wrote Attorney General Janet Reno asking her to investigate Florida's system for treating mentally ill children and the death of 12-year-old Michael Wiltsie.

The 65-pound boy was suffocated in January when a 300-pound counselor at a Marion County camp for troubled children pinned him to the floor to restrain him after he began fighting with another child and kicked the counselor. A grand jury last month cleared the counselor of wrongdoing, saying he was following proper restraint procedures.

But the grand jury - and now the alliance - say the state Department of Juvenile Justice should have placed Wiltsie in a mental hospital and not at Camp E-Kel-Etu. Wiltsie, who had been undergoing periodic mental health treatment since age 5, was sent to the camp after several run-ins with police.

"The tragedy illustrates widespread, systemic problems in the way Florida responds to the needs of children with mental illnesses," said Laurie Flynn, executive director of the Virginia-based alliance. "Florida's mental health program, not the juvenile justice system, should have been providing care for this child."

U.S. Justice Department spokeswoman Kara Peterman said the request will be reviewed.

Catherine Arnold, spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, said Wiltsie and other mentally ill children are sent to a camp or a hospital only after consulting with mental health professionals and the state Department of Children and Families.

In Wiltsie's case, the camp "was an appropriate placement," Arnold said. She said that the department has up to 40,000 children in its custody daily and many of them have mental illnesses, she said.

She said the department's investigation into Wiltsie's death is continuing. The camp is located near Silver Springs, which is about 100 miles northwest of Orlando.

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