A North Carolina district attorney will not file charges in the case of a 12-year-old boy who died after being forced to sleep in an enclosed, tent-like sack by wilderness camp staff.
Clark Harman, 12, died on February 3 at Trails Carolina, a wilderness camp for disturbed adolescents and one of numerous programs that comprise the “troubled teen” sector in the United States. Activists have long accused the industry of abusing and endangering participants, many of whom are coerced into attending programs.
“The investigation revealed that Clark Harman’s death was the result of suffocation, which, while tragic, did not involve criminal intent or recklessness sufficient to warrant criminal charges for involuntary manslaughter under the law,” said Andrew Murray, district attorney for Henderson, Polk, and Transylvania counties, in a press release on Wednesday.
“While we are deeply saddened by this tragedy, we must follow the law and make decisions based on the evidence and our legal standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt,” the attorney general said.
Harman died earlier this year after being made to sleep in a bivy, or small nylon tent, according to the Charlotte Observer. The watertight entrance was entirely closed, and staff installed an alarm that would sound if he attempted to leave.
The autopsy report found that the bivy may have limited his breathing, causing him to suffocate, according to the Observer.
“He was placed into this compromised sleeping area by other(s) and did not have the ability to reasonably remove himself from the situation,” according to the postmortem findings.
“It should be noted that a common warning on commercially available bivy products indicates that the outer, weather resistant opening should not be fully secured as it may lead to condensation and breathing restriction,” according to the research.
According to CNN, investigators discovered that personnel were aware that Harman was “agitated and distraught” about having to sleep in the bivy. They discovered he was “thrashing about and uttering incoherent gibberish,” but none of them suspected he was in “any type of medical distress.”
Harman arrived in Trails Carolina just one day before his death, after his parents had sent him from their home in New York. The 12-year-old suffered from ADHD, anxiety, and headaches, and his parents took him to Trails Carolina for “ongoing behavioral issues,” according to the Observer.
Just days after his death, the camp issued a statement saying, “We are shattered by the tragic loss of a young life, and our deepest sympathies are with the student’s family and loved ones.”
The camp additionally said that “investigations have concluded that there is no evidence that Trails failed to properly supervise, no evidence that Trails caused harm, and no evidence that conditions at Trails were unsafe or unhealthy,” according to Fox News.
Trails Carolina closed after the Department of Health and Human Services ordered it to close admissions in March, citing “conditions in the facility that are found to be detrimental to the health and safety of the clients,” CNN reported.
The camp’s license was officially revoked last month.
Several previous camp attendees reported feeling distressed and disoriented.
Caroline Svarre told NBC News that when she was 14 years old, her parents had her brought to Trails Carolina without her will by two strangers in the middle of the night. Svarre stated that she was “in shock” on her first day.
“I’ve never cried so hard,” Svarre told the publication. “I cried because I felt betrayed.”
Rebecca Burney, who also underwent the program at 14, said NBC News that Harman “does not deserve” what happened to him. “I know if I had died on my first night, I would have died believing that I was unloved and unwanted.”
Trails Carolina spokesman Wendy D’Alessandro responded to NBC News, saying that staff members show “compassion and patience” to the campers.