Remembering Ryan Christopher Lewis

So, despite the best possibilities and predictions for a glorious blooming season, a particularly fragile rose will share its glow for awhile, then fade and die. And the gardener, and the rosebush and the earth, and all around, grieve.

We are never ready for a loss. Not for the loss of a promising rosebud, nor the loss of a dear one whose life appears ready to unfold with brilliant color and fulfillment. In the midst of our grieving, we can be grateful we were in the garden during the same season. We can remember and celebrate the glimpses of color and fragrance and growth that were shared. We can love the fragile rose and the fragile soul for the valiant battles won, and the blooming that was done. And as our own petals unfold, we can remember the softness and the beauty of the one who touched us all along the way.

Paul and Diana Lewis

Parents of Ryan Christopher Lewis

June 19. 2007

On a rosebush full of blooms, there is occasionally one rose more fragile than the rest. Nobody knows why. The rose receives the same amounts of rain and sun as its neighboring blooms; it receives the same amounts of water and of food from the earth; the same amount of clipping and tending and gentle encouragement from the gardener. But for some inexplicable reason, once in awhile, a rose does not reach maturity. It is not the gardener's fault. It is not the fault of the earth, nor or the rain, nor the sun. But neither is it the fault of the rose. For some roses, even the touch of the gentle spring rains leaves bruises on the petals. The sun's rays - so warm to some flowers - feel searing to others. Some roses thrive while the fragile ones feel buffeted by inner and outer ghost winds.

NEWS FILES

May 16, 2006 I CHARLESTON, W.Va.

Treatment center settles lawsuit over Mass. boy's suicide

A wilderness treatment center has agreed to pay $1.2 million and admit responsibility to settle a lawsuit filed by the parents of a Massachusetts teenager who killed himself while in its care, the parents' lawyers said Tuesday.

Paul and Diana Lewis of East Longmeadow, Mass., sued the Aldredge Academy, also known as the Ayne Institute, in 2002 in Kanawha County Circuit Court alleging negligence and fraud. The couple's 14-year-old son Ryan hanged himself on Feb. 13, 2001, a day after he told instructors that he had been trying to kill himself, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also named as defendants L. Jay Mitchell and Lance Wells, the Tucker County center's founders.

Angie Senic, executive director of the center, did not immediately return a telephone message Tuesday. Mitchell and Wells could not immediately be located for comment.

As part of the settlement, the center, Mitchell and Wells admitted they were "personally responsible for returning Ryan Lewis safely to his parents" and that "they failed in that responsibility," said Jim Lees, a Charleston attorney representing the Lewises.

"This was never ever about money ... This was about responsibility, for them accepting responsibility for what they did," Paul Lewis said in a telephone interview.

"It was horrific what happened to Ryan and it never should have happened. It was just completely preventable. Ryan clearly knew he was in trouble. He asked them for help. He begged them for help. They ignored him."

Ryan Lewis was brought by his parents to West Virginia to participate in a three-month program at the center, which offered therapy through outdoor activities like hiking and camping. The center works with young people with problems such as substance abuse and depression.

Paul Lewis said Ryan was suffering from depression and the family decided, after exhausting other resources, to enroll him at the center. He said his son was involved in the decision and believed, as Lewis and his wife did, that it was a good opportunity for him.

"He didn't do anything wrong. He did exactly what he was supposed to do, he asked for help," Paul Lewis said.

Former state Health and Human Resources Secretary Paul Nusbaum ordered the center to close in 2001 following Ryan Lewis' death. Investigators said at the time that the center had no qualified staff and no procedures to handle suicidal children.

The center was fined $5,000 in June 2002 after pleading no contest to charges of child neglect resulting in death.

In August 2002, the center entered into a court-approved agreement with the DHHR to rename itself, evaluate residents within 24 hours of arrival and hire experienced behavioral health staff. The agreement allowed it to reopen and barred Mitchell from being a manager, officer, board member or staff member.

"Part of what we're hoping will come out of this, at least it gives people a difference perspective in looking at this whole industry," Paul Lewis said. "Maybe there is more than is being presented. They really need to do their homework and not rely on somebody to do the process."

"I'm not saying the industry is bad but there are certain providers in any industry that are not as good as others."

Mitchell and Wells have both sold their interests in the center, Lees said.

Wells filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Arizona in 2004, according to court documents.

July 16, 2002

I recently read Alldredge's "Corporate Resolution" concerning the death of Ryan Lewis. As Ryan's Uncle, I was personally offended by this slick and self-serving press release dressed up as a so-called "Corporate Resolution." As an attorney, I was also offended by Alldredge's spin on its nolo contendere plea.

I am not licensed to practice law in West Virginia. But one does not have to be an expert on West Virginia law to know what has happened in Court. Plain and simple, Alldredge made a "plea bargain" with the Prosecutor.

Alldredge claims that "the Sate has acknowledged that L. Jay Mitchell and John W. White are completely innocent of and bear no responsibility in the death of Ryan Lewis." Oh really? The Tucker County Circuit Court accepted Alldredge's plea bargain in a Court Order that was posted on this website on June 12, 2002. Sure, Alldredge says that Mitchell and White are innocent; but if the State agreed with Alldredge's claim, then where in that Order, or anywhere else in the Court Record for that matter, has the State made such an acknowledgement?

And that is part of the problem with Alldredge's nolo contendere plea. Alldredge wants to have it both ways. On the one hand, Alldredge wants to continue to assert its innocence. At the same time, however, by its refusal to defend itself in Court, Alldredge has prevented an impartial group of West Virginia citizens from determining whether or not Alldredge, Mitchell and White bore any responsibility in Ryan's death.

As I understand West Virginia law, Alldredge's nolo contendere plea operates for the purpose of judgment and punishment, the same as a guilty plea. My question for the defendants, Mitchell and White is this: If you are so certain that you have "done nothing" to cause Ryan's death, then why are you unwilling to allow a jury to determine if that certainty is justified?

Alldredge, in defense of its refusal to let the issue of its innocence or guilt be determined by an impartial judge and jury, used high-minded words like "honor," "life long dedication to children," and "vital mission of helping families." But where is the "honor" in running away from the Courthouse, and refusing to let the legal system do its job of determining the defendants' guilt or innocence in Ryan's death? On the night before he died, Ryan intentionally cut himself with his knife. He went to the Alldredge Academy staff, showed them that he had intentionally cut his wrist, and he gave them his knife, explaining that he was afraid that he would hurt himself further if the knife was not taken away from him. Alldredge was already on notice from Ryan's application to the school that he was at risk for suicide. How devoted were Alldredge and its staff to their "vital mission of helping families," when they didn't even bother to call Ryan's family when he expressed suicidal thoughts and actions the day before he took his own life? And where was the defendants' "life long dedication to children" when, in the hours before Ryan died, Alldredge's staff chose to ignore this fourteen year old child's cry for help, and didn't even bother to talk to Ryan about his suicidal thoughts and impulses?

In their hearts, and before God, Mitchell and White know whether or not they contributed to Ryan's death. They will have to live with what they did, or did not do, for the rest of their lives. No easy plea of nolo contendere and no sanctimonious "Corporate Resolution" can relieve them of that burden.

Mark Turnamian

Uncle to Ryan Lewis

Published with permission of the Lewis Family

12/20/2002 I THE CHARLESTON GAZETTE

SON DIES AT WILDERNESS CAMP, PARENTS SUE

The parents of a Massachusetts teen who hanged himself at a Tucker County wilderness treatment center say counselors neglected their son when he killed himself, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday.

Ryan Christopher Lewis hanged himself using a tent cord, one day after showing instructors at the Alldredge Academy a slash on his arm where he tried to kill himself.

"Take my knife before I hurt myself some more," the 14-year-old reportedly said.

Alldredge Academy, now called the Ayne Institute, and the two founders, L. Jay Mitchell and Lance Wells, are named in the suit filed Thursday in Kanawha Circuit Court.

Lewis' parents, Diana and Paul Lewis, brought him to West Virginia in early February 2001 for a three-month program to get him back into school. The Alldredge wilderness treatment program for youths offered therapy through outings like hiking and camping.

Ryan Lewis was dyslexic and was being treated for depression when his parents applied to the program.

They noted on their application to the program that their son had attempted suicide twice before, the suit says.

A psychiatrist also noted that Ryan Lewis needed to be monitored for his depression.

During the first week, Ryan Lewis and several other youths ventured out for a month of camping and hiking, the lawsuit states.

A short time into that outing, Ryan Lewis allegedly went to instructors and showed them self-inflicted wounds. An instructor "exacted a promise" from Ryan Lewis that he wouldn't hurt himself again. The instructor returned the teen's program-supplied knife to him, the suit alleges.

Ryan Lewis then asked to call his mother so he could go home to Massachusetts. Instructors and counselors held a day of group and therapy sessions, but never addressed Ryan Lewis, the suit alleges.

On a trip to gather firewood later that evening, Ryan Lewis hanged himself.

Lewis' parents allege negligence and fraud in the suit, filed by Charleston attorneys Jim Lees and Stephen Jory.

The program promised their son a full-service therapy program that was innovative, comprehensive, therapeutically sophisticated and an effective therapy program, they allege.

They are asking that a jury award punitive damages for their son's death.

After Ryan Lewis' death, Mitchell and counselor John Weston White were indicted on child-neglect charges. Those charges were dropped after the center was fined $5,000.

The program costs $18,900 for each teenager that enrolls. It is marketed to wealthy parents of troubled children throughout the country.

The state Department of Health and Human Resources ordered the program closed after Lewis' death. Kanawha County Circuit Judge Duke Bloom stopped that order when Alldredge officials fought it.

Alldredge closed in August, then reopened as the Ayne Institute. Ayne officials were ordered to follow more than two dozen DHHR rules and make regular reports on the program.

To contact staff writer Charles Shumaker, use e-mail or call 348-1240.

TUCKER TREATMENT CENTER FINED $5,000 AFTER TEEN'S DEATH, CHILD NEGLECT CHARGES AGAINST ALLDREDGE ACADEMY OFFICIALS DROPPED

THE CHARLESTON GAZETTE

06/14/2002

A Tucker County wilderness treatment center agreed not to fight a charge of child neglect resulting in death and to take the $5,000 fine, the maximum penalty for the felony charge, court records show.

In return, Tucker prosecutor William Miller agreed to drop charges of child neglect against two individuals: Alldredge Academy operator L. Jay Mitchell and counselor John Weston White.

They were indicted in February, a year after 14-year-old Ryan Lewis of Massachusetts hanged himself with a tent cord.

The boy had been at the wilderness treatment center for about a week, during which he also sliced his forearm open from wrist to elbow, according to a report by the state Department of Health and Human Resources.

Alldredge Academy and its employees had been scheduled to go to trial on June 24.

Mitchell's business partner, Lance Wells, said his company had a good defense planned and was looking forward to explaining the academy's philosophy to a Tucker jury.

But the two men also were concerned that the jury would be emotionally caught up in the case, Wells said.

At a pretrial hearing this week, the boy's family members wore pins displaying their son's face, Wells said.

"It made me feel really bad for them," he said. "It's eating them alive. It's eating us up, too.

"We're never going to forget Ryan Lewis. We're in the business of saving lives, not having them come here to die."

Paul Lewis, the boy's father, could not be reached for comment Thursday.

"Alldredge maintains that its conduct was not the cause in any way, in fact or in law, of Ryan Lewis' unfortunate death," states the no-contest plea filed in Tucker County Circuit Court.

Also included in the court documents is a corporate resolution.

"In recognition of the cost of defending Alldredge Academy in money, time and resources, and in recognition of the fact that this defense takes us from our vital mission of helping families, it is in the best interests of all to permanently conclude this matter by entering into this [no-contest] plea," the resolution says.

Last year, DHHR Secretary Paul Nusbaum ordered Alldredge to close after the boy's death, but was stopped by Kanawha County Circuit Judge Duke Bloom after the academy fought the closing.

Bloom ordered the state and the academy to work out an agreement. Alldredge officials agreed to train staff properly, to assess young people's educational and treatment needs, and to pursue state licensing.

Since then, Alldredge has complied with requirements set by DHHR, said department spokesman John Law.

To keep a state license, a company must do many things, such as maintain and follow a policy for reporting incidents, including suicide attempts, death, neglect and injuries.

West Virginia law requires that any organization that provides behavioral health services must be licensed by the state and get state permission, called a certificate of need, to operate.

These steps are required whether the company accepts public money or not.

Alldredge did not complete these steps before opening. Academy officials said they operate a private school, so they were not required to be licensed.

Alldredge markets its wilderness treatment program to wealthy parents of troubled children around the country. The program costs more than $17,000 for three months for teens ages 13 to 18.

To contact staff writer Dawn Miller, use e-mail or call 348-5117.

ADDENDUM

Paul Lewis (Ryan's father) gave a presentation at the APA (American Psychological Association) Convention on August 12, 2006.

Summary of Presentation:

Paul Lewis, B.B.S., will provide a first-hand account of his family’s experience with unregulated residential programming. The Lewis’ sent their

14-year-old son to a wilderness program where his rights were denied and he was mistreated, leading to his death. Mr. Lewis will explain that the intent in enrolling his son was to help improve his self esteem, learn strategies to deal with his depression and earn the necessary credits to complete 8th grade.

Once enrolled, his son was not allowed to communicate with his parents, and when his parents called each day to inquire about how he was doing, they were told he was fine and assured he would be safe. They only found out later that this was not the case. On the sixth day in the program the Lewis’ son slashed his arm four times with a program supplied pocketknife; he then approached the adults in charge and told them, “Take this away from me before I hurt myself any more, I can’t take it any more. I want to call my Mom and I want to go home”.

The next day the head therapist, who was not trained as a therapist, decided their son was just trying to manipulate them to get out of the program and go home, so he ignored their son’s cry for help. That night, their son hung himself only several feet from his makeshift campsite.