The Sacramento Bee
July 28, 1998
Federal probe of Boys Ranch:
Capital teenager's death investigated
Capital teenager's death investigated
The U.S. Justice Department has launched a criminal probe into the death of 16-year-old Nicholaus Contreraz at the Arizona Boys Ranch in March, The Bee has learned.
The federal probe into the death of the troubled Sacramento youth is the latest in a series of investigations launched after the death, which occurred March 2 in a mountainside camp operated by the privately run rehabilitation program for juveniles.
"We do have an open investigation into the death of Nicholaus Contreraz," said Christine DiBartolo, a Justice Department spokeswoman in Washington.
DiBartolo said the probe "is to see if there are any criminal civil rights violations," but declined to give any other details.
The investigation comes as agencies in Arizona and California have focused their scrutiny on the Arizona Boys Ranch and its operations to determine if the death was an isolated incident or indicative of the program.
Boys Ranch president Bob Thomas has apologized for the death, which he said was caused by a management breakdown at the isolated camp but did not reflect the nearly 50-year-old program's emphasis on turning delinquents into productive adults.
He also has declined to comment on the criminal probes under way.
Word of the federal probe came as dozens of parents of Arizona Boys Ranch youth rallied in front of the state Capitol, The Bee and the California Department of Social Services to protest the state's decision to stop funding the rehabilitation program.
Carrying signs saying, "Boys Ranch saved our boys; we want to save Boys Ranch" and "Lift the freeze so he can return to Arizona Boys Ranch where he'll continue to succeed," the parents demanded that the state end its funding freeze at least until a similar facility is available in California.
"Our kids are out of control," said Georgetta Jemison, 32, of Los Angeles, whose 17-year-old has been returned to juvenile hall since the funding cutoff. "We need a boot camp-type system here."
The parents said they came from all over the state on behalf of their children, who want to return to Arizona to complete their program. Their children were just weeks and months shy of graduation, which is considered a turning point by some Boys Ranch graduates who also came to the demonstration.
"What (state officials) feel is too structured is what made me look at life in a whole new direction," said Sacramento resident Duke Vang, 18, who proudly displayed his honor roll pin on his vest front.
Vang said it was the strong discipline at the Boys Ranch that pushed him to get a high school diploma, and now enter college. His classes are to start Aug. 17, he said.
"I'm evidence the program works," Vang said.
Thomas, Boys Ranch president and chief executive officer, accompanied the parents, but said the demonstration was "a grass-roots effort" that the parents developed.
"They are livid the kids have been removed from the Boys Ranch," he said.
California's Department of Social Services cut off funding for such placements after a state investigation found that a "combination of medical neglect and abusive treatment caused Nicholaus' death."
Contreraz died while being forced to exercise at the camp despite complaints for weeks that he was ill.
California's probe led to the decision to cut off funding for the 223 state youths in the program, and the 600-page investigative report said the findings "also raise questions regarding all other placements of California children in out-of-state facilities."
The death has spawned a number of probes, including one by officials in Pinal County, Ariz., which is the home county of Camp Mary Mullaney, where Contreraz died on a volleyball court.
Officials there expect to be awarded a $100,000 grant next Friday to allow a single prosecutor to handle criminal elements of the case, a county spokesman said Monday.
The one-time grant comes from an Arizona prosecutors' fund that allots money for "extraordinary prosecutions," according to Charles Ratliff.
"Certainly the Boys Ranch case is extraordinary, which is one of the reasons it's been taking so long," Ratliff said.
There also is a separate probe by Arizona's Department of Economic Security, which licenses the Arizona Boys Ranch.
Investigators there "are moving very fast on it," DES spokesman Fernando Vender said Monday, but still must complete their probe of the death and numerous other allegations before a decision is made on whether to grant the ranch a new license. The operating license for the ranch expired June 30 and the program was given a temporary extension until Sept. 1 to allow completion of the probe.
Vender added that the probe and a decision on whether to allow the ranch to continue its operations would "absolutely not" be extended past Sept. 1.
In addition, U.S. Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, has asked for state and federal probes of the death and of California's practice of sending delinquent youths to out-of-state programs with little or no oversight from California officials.
The U.S. Health and Human Services Department has agreed to conduct such a probe in conjunction with a pending review of California's group-home system.
And legislators currently are considering a sweeping reform bill that could force out-of-state programs such as the Arizona Boys Ranch to comply with the same regulations that programs in California follow.
Bee staff writer Mareva Brown contributed to this report
Copyright 1998The Sacramento Bee
US Department of Justice opens criminal investigation
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