An item of interest

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> ---------- Forwarded message ----------

> Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 16:53:40 -0700

> From: Advocates For Children In Therapy

<public@...>

> rosa@...

> Subject: AT NEWS: Utah's Killpack Trial

>

> *** AT NEWS ***

>

> Utah's Killpack Trial

>

> Mother Found Guilty in Death of Adopted Daughter

>

> Girl Killed During Attachment Therapy " Intensive "

>

> *************

>

> Over three years after Cassandra Killpack, age 4, of

Springville,

> Utah, was killed by having a gallon or more of water poured

down her

> throat, her adoptive parents, Jennete and Killpack,

were

> finally put on trial for child abuse-homicide. On October

11th, a

> jury convicted the mother, but reluctantly let the father

off the

> hook.

(http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,630152910,00.html)

>

> Cassandra was allegedly being treated for Reactive

Attachment

> Disorder (RAD) at a notorious Attachment Therapy (AT)

clinic in

> nearby Orem, Utah

> (http://www.childrenintherapy.org/victims/killpack.html).

She was

> killed at home over the weekend in the middle a " Two-Week

Intensive. "

> During Intensives, AT therapists typically put children

through a

> grueling round-the-clock cycle of Holding Therapy, bizarre

> psychodramas, and AT parenting methods. The latter often

include the

> use of aversives and AT " paradoxical " techniques, such as

requiring a

> child who sneaks food to gorge on such food (or eat nothing

but that

> food for days). During the two weeks, children typically

live with

> " therapeutic parents, " undergoing rigorous compliance

training when

> not in " therapy, " but Cassandra was allowed to return home

during her

> Intensive.

>

> Testimony at trial suggested that Cassandra had been forced

to drink

> a huge amount of water because she sneaked a sip from a

sibling's

> drink. Before trial, it had been publicly suggested by the

Killpacks

> and their attorneys that such punishment had been approved

by the

> Cascade Center for Family Growth where Cassandra was being

treated.

> The Cascade's principals denied the charge, claiming that

prosecutors

> had cleared them of any wrongful involvement in the case.

>

> Surprisingly, neither side called Cascade's therapists to

the witness

> stand during the trial, and the whole issue of Attachment

Therapy was

> largely ignored. Instead, the defense appeared to rely

ultimately on

> the usually ineffective blame-the-child strategy. After

trying to

> raise some doubt about the cause of death, the defendants

claimed, in

> effect, that Cassandra drove them to extremes with her

difficult

> behavior.

>

> The split verdict was agonized over in the jury room.

According to

> interviews given shortly afterwards by several members of

the jury

> (http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635153973,00.html),

jurors had

> little trouble determining the mother's guilt, but couldn't

find a

> way to convict the father. They were convinced of

's abuse of

> Cassandra, but didn't think he was involved in forcing

water on

> Cassandra, the direct cause of her death. They wished he

had been

> charged with child abuse separately from homicide. " If [he]

had been,

> the verdict would have been different. Killpack

would have

> been guilty of child abuse, " one declared.

>

> Pending sentencing, four other children continue to live

with

> and Jennete Killpack.

>

> The judge in the case will sentence Mrs Killpack on January

6th. She

> will receive a prison term of one to 15 years, though she

could

> receive probation for all or part of her prison sentence.

> Indications in the press

> (http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635154622,00.html)

are that

> her lawyer will argue at sentencing that Cassandra drove

her mother

> to extreme measures; he has faulted the probation

department for not

> considering the impact that Cassandra's diagnosis of RAD

had on

> Jennete's behavior. (Note that the official Reactive

Attachment

> Disorder diagnosis is characterized by a child's behavior

being

> either withdrawn, or inappropriately friendly with

strangers, hardly

> behaviors which could reasonably excuse homicide.)

>

> A strong penalty for Jennete Killpack can send a message to

many

> other adoptive and foster " Awesome Moms " in Utah and around

the

> country who, much like her, have failed to extricate

themselves from

> the AT cult. Today, many children continue to endure not

only

> Holding Therapy (aka Rage Reduction and Compression

Therapy), but

> AT's abusive parenting techniques based largely on

humiliation,

> deprivation, excessive exercise, and isolation. Cassandra

might

> still be alive if Jennete had rejected the harsh approach to

> parenting she found in the materials given to

her by a

> known supporter of Cascade.

>

> (For information about parenting methods, see:

> http://www.childrenintherapy.org/proponents/thomas.html)

>

> For *AT News* readers who want to voice their opinion about

this

> sentencing, they can send the judge a letter at: Judge

> Laycock, 125 North 100 West, Provo UT 84601.

>

> ===================

>

> *AT NEWS* sends the latest news/opinions to activists and

allied

> organizations about the many abusive, pseudoscientific, and

violent

> practices inflicted on children by the fringe psychotherapy

cult

> known as Attachment Therapy, aka " holding therapy "

and " therapeutic

> parenting. " Attachment Therapists claim to work with our

nation's

> most vulnerable of children, e.g. minority children,

children in

> foster care, and adoptees. AT NEWS is the publication of

*Advocates

> for Children in Therapy.* For more information on

Attachment Therapy

> and a film clip demonstrating AT, go to the Utah activists'

site at

> http://www.kidscomefirst.info and ACT's website:

> http://www.childrenintherapy.org.

>

> Contact: , RN

> Executive Director

> Loveland, CO

> rosa@...