July 1, 1998: It's one hundred twenty days since Nicholaus Contreraz was pronounced dead and those responsible for his death are still free. Arizona Boys Ranch is still open for business, still collecting $3,000+ per month per juvenile offender. Still not being held accountable for the actions that caused the death of a 16-year-old boy sent to be in the care and custody of the Ranch for joyriding with a friend and running away from some group homes because he wanted to be with his mom.
One hundred twenty days since Nicholaus Contreraz was murdered. Murdered by his 'caregivers' through the deliberate withholding of medical treatment.
There are many who should be held accountable for the death of Nicholaus: The Ranch nurse, Linda Babb; the Ranch physician, Dr. Virginia Rutz; Ranch staff who ignored his pleas for medical help; his Sacramento County probation officer; and Arizona Boys Ranch for their negligence in hiring the involved staff members, nurse and physician, and for the lack of oversight of the house of horrors at Oracle.
And there are others as well: Ranch staff who witnessed the abuse of Nicholaus but said nothing until after he was dead; state officials who had been warned of problems by DES staff and agency social workers three years ago; state legislators who willingly conspired to cover up those problems by siding with the Ranch because it made them look 'tough on crime'.
One hundred twenty days. When will there be justice for Nicholaus?
By E.J. Montini
The Arizona Republic
July 5, 1998
It was four months to the day that Connie Woodward's grandson had been transformed by the merciless magicians at Arizona Boys Ranch from juvenile delinquent to martyr.
Four months since Nicholaus Contreraz, 15-year-old petty criminal and troublemaker, was led by his keepers on a modern day Stations of the Cross.
It began when a boy complaining of illness, with 2 1/2 quarts of pus in the lining of one lung, was told by a ranch nurse he was fine.
He was forced to exercise, ridiculed by staff members for defecating on himself, then made to carry a bucket of his own soiled clothing, to do push-ups over it.
Unable to go on, unable to breathe, the boy collapsed while, according to a sheriff's department report, a staff member told him he deserved an Academy Award.
It was four months to the day that Connie Woodward's grandson died this miserable tortured death, and she wanted to know why.
"Why is no one being held accountable?" she asked. "I don't understand. What's the problem in finding charges to bring against the people responsible? God knows we'd all be in jail if he'd been at home and this had happened."
A day earlier, Woodward and Nick's mother, Julie Vega, had been to a hearing on the issue at the California Statehouse in Sacramento.
They live nearby.
Nick had been sent from Sacramento to a place juvenile authorities call the Last Chance Ranch, where kids get an opportunity to straighten out before facing prison.
According to a report in the Sacramento Bee, nearly two-thirds of the boys at the Arizona Ranch once came from California, earning the facility $18.6 million in revenues.
Since Contreraz's death, California has stopped sending inmates and started asking questions.
Last week, at the hearing Connie Woodward attended, U.S. Rep. George Miller of California said, "I seriously question the legal policy that subjects children to treatment in Arizona and Nevada that would be a crime were it to be conducted in their home state."
Contreraz's Sacramento County probation officer has said ranch personnel did things to the boy that shouldn't be done to any human being.
There are ongoing investigations being conducted by Arizona's Pinal County Attorney's Office, state Child Protective Services and the California Department of Social Services.
Arizona also has suspended its policy of referring boys to the ranch.
But, so far, no one has been arrested or charged with a crime.
The president of Boys Ranch, Bob Thomas, called what happened to Contreraz "a total management breakdown."
Connie Woodward has a darker view.
"They killed a boy for no reason," she said. "This was supposed to be the place that would turn his life around. Instead, they finished him off. And they turned my life and my daughter's life upside down."
It happened March 2.
Since then, ranch officials acknowledged the terrible treatment of Contreraz, dismissed personnel and closed the Oracle campus where Nick died. They admitted that "staff actions totally disregarded established disciplinary policies."
But the rest of the ranch is still open. Last week, Arizona extended the facility's temporary license until Sept. 1 while as many as 25 other complaints of mistreatment are being investigated.
Ranch President Thomas doesn't put much stock in the word of delinquents.
"They've lied before, they've cheated, they've stolen, they've done violent acts," he told the Bee. "They come to Boys Ranch and they have instant credibility, more so than staff. I've always been amazed by that."
As amazed as some are that a boy suffering from pneumonia, bronchitis and other infections would wind up frightened, humiliated and dead?
As amazed that no one's in jail?
E.J. Montini can be reached at 444-8978 or at [email protected] via e-mail.
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One hundred twenty days
