Physical and mental abuse of juveniles was rampant at the Arizona Boys Ranch camp where 16-year-old Nicholaus Contreraz died, and the staff's "combination of medical neglect and abusive treatment caused Nicholaus' death," a state investigation has concluded.

The 600-page report, released Wednesday by the California Department of Social Services, contains scathing criticisms of the way staff at the Oracle, Ariz., camp treated Contreraz and other youths and found serious failings in the program's hiring practices and training.

The report also cited delays in Arizona's investigations of the death, which are still pending.

California's probe resulted in the state deciding to cut off funding for placements in the facility effective Aug. 1.

Several counties said they will start bringing back youths as soon as possible.

The conclusions in the report closely mirror what The Bee found in a recent three-month probe of California's use of out-of-state placement agencies.

"These findings also raise questions regarding all other placements of California children in out-of-state facilities," the report said. "No more is known about other out-of-state facilities or their licensing programs than was known about (Arizona Boys Ranch) and the state of Arizona at the beginning of this investigation."

Arizona Boys Ranch President Bob Thomas said he had not yet seen the report, but he added that he believed California officials were predisposed to find problems in his program because of a political agenda against out-of-state facilities.

"I didn't expect anything positive," Thomas said, "and this thing was put together for an agenda and they have used it. It's unfortunate because in my opinion the only losers are the kids."

Thomas acknowledged that "we made major mistakes" with Contreraz and that "we should have had him in the hospital" or removed him from the program.

Several workers have since been fired, suspended or reassigned since the death and the camp has been closed.

The state's report describes in graphic detail a hellish existence the Sacramento youth endured at the camp, including punishments for infractions such as dressing too slowly, suffering from flatulence, talking without permission and asking to use the restroom.

All the while, the report found, Contreraz's pleas that he was too sick to work or exercise were ignored or ridiculed, and he was forced to exercise until he died in the sand of a volleyball court on March 2.

"They instructed him to exercise," the report's descriptions of his last hours read. "He stated that he couldn't and laid down. Staff then instructed him to get to his feet.

"Nicholaus did not respond and staff ordered him to do 'barrel rolls.' Nicholaus laid down in the dirt, but made no effort to roll over. Three staff members 'began to roll him across the volleyball court.' "

After more forced exercise, during which staffers "grabbed him by his belt and shoulders and physically assisted him with more push-ups," Contreraz died, the report found.

The descriptions match earlier accounts of what transpired at the mountainside Oracle camp, although in much greater detail than previously known.

"We knew it was true," Contreraz's grandmother, Connie Woodward, said. "A lot of things you can't imagine them doing, but we knew from looking at his body how he had been tortured."

Revelations about the two months Contreraz spent at Camp Mary Mullaney have spawned numerous investigations that could threaten the future of the 49-year-old program.

From his second day there, Contreraz was being subjected to punishment referred to as being "isolated," which in ranch terminology means a youth is taken to a quiet area and addressed by two staff members.

However, investigators said in the report that they were given a different definition.

"Residents explained that oftentimes during 'isolation' they were beaten, placed in headlocks, thrown around the room and into walls," the report said. "They added that they did not witness what happened to other residents during isolation. However, on numerous occasions they would return to the group crying, with bruises and torn clothing."

Contreraz was "isolated" the first time on Jan. 7 for using profanity, the report said, and was either "isolated" or otherwise disciplined at least 18 times over the next two months.

He saw the camp nurse, sought medical treatment or was observed as ill at least a dozen times but was never hospitalized and had his temperature taken only one time during his stay, according to the report.

The day before he died, Contreraz "laid down on a road while marching" and his appearance was so bad one staff member placed him in a wheelbarrow and took him to a supervisor, the report said.

"The supervisor informed the staff member that Nicholaus was not to be transported in the wheelbarrow. In addition, he stated Nicholaus 'will walk, crawl or roll, but he will make it on his own.' "

On the day he died, Contreraz received a call from his Sacramento County probation officer, who told Contreraz that his efforts to have his placement at the ranch ended "were not going to be effective," the state report said.

Contreraz's probation officer, Don Berg, did not respond to a call seeking comment, but one of his supervisors, Michael Elorduy, said Wednesday that Berg had gone out of his way to ensure that Contreraz was all right.

"The conversation was, 'Hey, stick out the program, work it out,' " Elorduy said. "He asked the kid, 'What is going on there?' And the kid's response was, 'Really, there's nothing,' and he asked, 'Can you hang in there?' and the kid's answer was yes."

Berg also asked staff members if Contreraz was sick because he heard him coughing, Elorduy said, and staffers said he had been seeing the camp nurse.

An autopsy found Contreraz had suffered from a severe chest infection, and the investigation concluded that the illness should have been spotted by Arizona Boys Ranch staff.

"Recognition of the fact that Nicholaus was sick (especially during his last few days) would not have been a challenging medical task," Dr. David Chadwick of La Mesa wrote in the report after reviewing Contreraz's autopsy records. "The condition certainly could have been successfully treated if recognized early, and probably if recognized prior to the time of cardiac arrest."

Chadwick wrote that "the forced exercise of the last few days probably hastened his death."

The report also noted that most residents interviewed by investigators said that they had been abused or treated improperly and that all the residents who knew Contreraz thought he was sick.

California officials said Tuesday that they would no longer allow state funds to be used to help pay for the $3,600 monthly fees the ranch charges counties to house its troubled juveniles.

That announcement, which follows an order that prevents counties from placing new youths in the Arizona Boys Ranch, appeared certain to force many of the remaining 223 California youths to be pulled from the program, which houses 400 juveniles, because counties say they cannot afford it without state subsidies.

Sacramento County has eight youths there, with four due to graduate in August and four others scheduled to stay until December.

The new report had Sacramento probation officials in meetings Wednesday trying to determine how to handle the situation.

The same was true in most of the 11 counties with youths at the ranch, where probation officers must negotiate with Juvenile Court judges to decide how to respond.

California traditionally provides two-thirds of the juvenile offenders the program treats, with $18.6 million of the ranch's $26 million budget generated by payments for youths from this state.

The controversy over the use of out-of-state programs has sparked calls for reform or for doing away with the concept entirely.

U.S. Rep. George Miller, D-Pleasant Hill, who earlier had called for federal and state probes of why California allows the use of such programs, on Wednesday sent letters to California counties asking them to stop using the Arizona Boys Ranch.

"If the state will not fund the placements because it cannot guarantee the safety of the children, certainly the counties have no business leaving any of their kids there," Miller wrote.

Meanwhile, officials in Arizona were continuing their own probes of the Arizona Boys Ranch and the Contreraz case, but there were differing opinions Wednesday about how intense one of those probes is.

The California report on the Contreraz death was critical of how the Pinal County Attorney's Office in Arizona was handling its criminal probe of the case, which began months ago with the assignment of a deputy county attorney.

"However, the matter has now been placed on hold and the attorney has been taken off the case," the report said. "The Pinal County Attorney's Office has requested special funds to investigate the matter. Any investigation is contingent on the receipt of these funds."

A spokesman for the county Attorney's Office denied that, saying the probe is continuing.

The California report also criticized Arizona's Department of Economic Security for its oversight of the program and said the hiring and training practices at the Boys Ranch were faulty.

That agency, which licenses the ranch, has extended its operating license until Sept. 1 while it conducts its own probe, and a spokesman said the California report will be considered by Arizona officials.

"We're going to take that report very seriously," spokesman Fernando Vender said.