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Chilling Videotape to 'Star' in Rebirthing Trial
By Judith Crosson
DENVER (Reuters) - A 70-minute videotape of a psychotherapy session will be
the ``star'' witness at a trial of two therapists charged in the death of a
10-year-old girl who suffocated while wrapped in a blanket in a procedure
designed to mimic the womb.
``It's like a snuff film. It's going to be very difficult for everybody in
that courtroom to watch,'' Craig Silverman, a Denver attorney and former
prosecutor, said.
The videotape, which one therapist allegedly told police would ``hang us,''
has never been shown publicly.
Connell Watkins, 54, and Julie Ponder 40, have been charged with reckless
child abuse resulting in the death of Candace Newmaker after she underwent
``rebirthing'' therapy last year at Watkins' clinic in her home in Evergreen,
Colo. in April.
If convicted, the therapists face 16 to 48 years in prison.
Potential jurors on Thursday will be given a questionnaire at the Jefferson
County courthouse in suburban Denver and return Friday for further
questioning. Opening statements are expected around the middle of next week.
ADOPTIVE MOTHER PAID $7,000 FOR PROCEDURE
The controversial, new-age psychotherapy session was aimed at helping the
troubled child forge a relationship with her adoptive mother, Jeane Newmaker,
who allegedly paid Watkins $7,000.
According to court documents, Jeane Newmaker, who lived in Durham, North
Carolina, with the child, asked Watkins, a psychotherapist for 20 years, to
cure the girl's ``reactive attachment disorder,'' meaning she had trouble
bonding with her adoptive mother.
In the procedure the child was wrapped in a blanket to simulate the womb.
Large pillows were placed around her and counselors then pressed in on the
pillows to simulate a mother's contractions and to motive her to push out of
the blanket through a twisted end at the top of her head, allowing her to be
``reborn'' to her adoptive mother.
But something went terribly wrong. Instead of working her way out of the
blanket, the child begged for air, while the therapists allegedly berated her
and ignored her pleas, according to prosecutors who have viewed the tape.
The girl told therapists seven times she could not breathe and said six times
she was going to die. But instead of unwrapping her, the therapists said ``you
got to push hard if you want to be born, or do you want to stay in there and
die?''
The procedure on April 18 was taped with the adoptive mother watching on
closed-circuit television from another room.
According to an investigator who viewed the tape, there was a 20-minute lapse
between the time the girl's last breath could be heard on the tape to the time
she was unwrapped. She was rushed to a local hospital where she died the next
day.
Amid this terrifying tale, defense attorneys will paint a portrait of
therapists who do what they do because they care about children, Silverman
said.
``The problem in Colorado is that the title 'therapist' can be used by anyone
who wants to hang up a shield,'' Rhea Farberman, spokeswoman for the American
Psychological Association, said. She said parents must ask therapists whether
they are licensed. Watkins was not.
The defense will be walking a fine line when it comes to convincing the jury
that the child needed the so-called rebirthing therapy because of her
difficult behavior. Details of her behavior have not been disclosed, but
children with attachment disorder can be unruly and unresponsive to their
adoptive parents.
Victim On Trial
``To some extent the victim will be put on trial. The defense will first have
to convince the jury that the child had problems. They'll have to tread
lightly,'' Silverman said.
But rebirthing will also be put on trial. ``This is not something that is
within the mainstream of valid and acceptable psychotherapeutic
interventions,'' Farberman said.
Treatments must be effective and safe, she said, and this ''meets neither''
qualification.
Candace Newmaker's short life was not a happy one.
She was born to Angela Elmore, but became a ward of the state at age 5 after
twice being taken away, according to an account in the Rocky Mountain News.
She was adopted in 1996 by Jeane Newmaker, a nurse who became a single mom.
Therapists say that children having trouble bonding with their parents can be
very difficult to deal with and parents like Jeane Newmaker find themselves at
the end of their rope. ``Family therapy is probably called for in these
cases,'' Farberman said.
``If this case raises the consumer's level of awareness of what is appropriate
and what is not appropriate treatment then that will be the silver lining in
this very tragic case,'' Farberman said.
Two other helpers at the clinic, as well as the child's adoptive mother, have
also been charged and are scheduled to go on trial later this year.
