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By Dennis Wagner
Arizona Boys Ranch officials replaced the director of their Oracle campus and fired two staffers amid revelations of misconduct in the death of a 16-year-old juvenile. Carl Prange, new program director at the boot camp for delinquents, admitted that Nicholaus Contreraz was mistreated and given inadequate medical care before he died of a lung condition March 2. Prange was particularly critical of employees who forced the youth to do push-ups with his face above a bucket containing defecation-smeared clothing. "That is a complete breach of our philosophy and of our discipline policy," Prange said. "Any violation of their dignity as human beings, or their safety, is intolerable." Meanwhile, interview transcripts released Monday by Pinal County Sheriff's investigators show that, one day before Contreraz died, a supervisor took him to see the camp nurse because of unexplained wounds on his body. Cornel Wilkes, the ranch employee, told detectives he wanted to document the marks so that he could not be blamed for them. He said the 16-year-old Sacramento boy had a cut chin, bruised genitals, a back laceration, a sternum injury and sores under the armpits. Wilkes said some of the injuries resulted when employees tried to "assist" Contreraz with exercises, while others occurred when the boy threw himself to the ground in defiance. Contreraz died at the military-style campus of a lung condition after being forced to exercise, and after struggling with ranch employees. Boys Ranch officials, who initially claimed there was no wrongdoing on their part, reversed themselves over the weekend. Prange said Peter De La Rambelje, who headed the Oracle campus since it opened in 1992, was replaced because investigations so far reflect a need for new leadership. He would not say whether De La Rambelje is still a ranch employee. In addition to firing two employees, Boys Ranch suspended four others. A nurse who examined Contreraz and pronounced him fit shortly before he died remains on administrative leave, along with three other employees who were involved with the boy, until Boys Ranch completes its investigation, Prange said. Connie Woodward, grandmother to Contreraz, said family members are not placated by the terminations at Boys Ranch. "Fired? I want 'em in jail for the torture of my grandson," she said. "And they've got to do something with the people who allowed this to happen." Interview transcripts released Monday by the Sheriff's Office indicate that Boys Ranch staffers regarded Contreraz's illness as a ploy to escape work. The youth suffered from asthma and chronic hyperventilation. During the final week, he vomited repeatedly, defecated on himself at least four times and collapsed to the ground on numerous occasions. But staffers viewed him as a recalcitrant who refused exercise despite being given a clean bill of health by a nurse who saw him at least 10 times in the week before his death. The nurse, Linda Babb, told detectives that Contreraz's main problem appeared to be self-induced hyperventilation. She said he did not have a fever or show signs of lung congestion. A coroner's report says the boy suffered from strep and staph infections, bronchitis, and pneumonia. About 2 1/2 quarts of pus were found in the lining of Contreraz lungs. The medical examiner also indicated that physical exertion may have contributed to his death. The sheriff's report says one staff member told Contreraz he was so good at faking that he deserved an Academy Award. Moments before Contreraz died, several staff members asked him why he would not cooperate. One of them acknowledged that he watched Contreraz fall down, then turned to several teenagers and asked how they would score the performance. A short time later, Contreraz collapsed again and died. Interviews with nine other boys produced a portrait of Contreraz as a young man who became steadily sicker during the last two weeks of his life, yet whose complaints were ignored by a staff that was convinced he was faking. Several of the boys described how staffers forced an exhausted, complaining Contreraz to continue strenuous physical exercise. "They would make him run and do push-ups and if he didn't (do) the exercises right, staff would grab him and . . . beat him against the ground if he was doing push-ups," one 16-year-old said. "They'd pick him up and beat him against the ground." Several boys said that staff became irritated with Contreraz because the nurse repeatedly said there was nothing wrong with him. "The nurse said he's faking the whole thing," said a boy who said he overheard the conversation. So the staff became irritated at him, scorned his pleas, and ordered him to continue the exercises. "He was saying, 'I'm sick, sir; I can't do this stuff, sir,' " one boy said. "And they just say, 'You're not sick'; the nurse says you're not sick." Another boy said, "They were making him do PT (physical training) and he couldn't, he couldn't. He was like, 'I can't. I can't do it. I'm going to faint . . .' They were just like, 'Do it then. Faint, faint, because you're faking it.' " Several boys said Contreraz defecated on himself while the staff forced him to exercise and refused to allow him to go to the bathroom. "They said, 'No, you go ahead and defecate on yourself; we ain't going to let you defecate,' " a 17-year-old said. "Then he defecated on himself. Then they say, 'Oh, you stinking son of a, you SOB.' " Other youths described Contreraz during physical training: "Staff was always shouting at him, putting their hands on him, throwing him to the ground, dragging him up and down a hill," said one. "When he said he couldn't run, they just said, 'You're going to run.' Then when he just say he wouldn't, they'd just dragged him up and down a hill." Several boys said Contreraz was forced to carry a can with his defecation and vomit for an entire day. One told of Contreraz's bewilderment as staff repeatedly slammed him into the floor and yanked him back up during push-ups. "He was like, 'Ow!' Then he kept asking like, 'Why is you guys hurting me like this?' " The boys said Contreraz vomited repeatedly, to the scorn and mockery of the staff, who counted down the eruptions. "They was like, 'Oh yeah! Oh yeah!' Like that, and then 'Oh yeah - five, four, three, two, one.' But then, then he just threw up again. They just started laughing and clapping their hands and stuff." Another boy said staffers would refer to Contreraz as they urged other boys to complete the exercises that were a central part of the ranch routine. "They'd be like, 'You want us to treat you like a human being, or do you want us to treat you like an animal like Mr. Contreraz,' " a 15-year-old said. He added, "Staff made fun of him and say, 'You're going to catch Contrerazitis' and they say like, like they make fun of him, saying he has AIDS or cancer and stuff like that." Another boy said that once, after Contreraz defecated on himself, "staff stuck it in a yellow wastepaper basket or bucket and made him stick his head in it and smell it." Residents said Contreraz starved himself in hopes of getting out of Boys Ranch. "He even admitted it to the whole group that he wanted to get terminated from the program," said one youth. "And then I talked to him about it and then it was just like he'd say he missed his family so much and he just didn't want to be here no more. He couldn't take it because of pressure, he just missed his mom so bad." Pinal County sheriff's detectives and prosecutors are conducting a criminal investigation of the Contreraz case. In addition, state Child Protective services is investigating, along with social services agencies in California.
Copyright 1998, The Arizona Republic
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