Couple Pleads Guilty to Abuse in ‘Rebirthing’
GOLDEN, Colo. — A married couple pleaded guilty Friday to reduced charges for their roles in the death of a 10-year-old girl who begged for air after she was wrapped head to toe in a flannel sheet during a discredited “rebirthing” therapy session.
Jack McDaniel, 47, and Brita St. Clair, 41, entered their pleas to negligent child abuse before Jefferson County District Judge Jane Tidball and will be sentenced Oct. 4.
They could receive probation or be sent to prison for up to 16 years and be fined up to $750,000. The two were initially charged with reckless child abuse resulting in the death of Candace Newmaker, who died April 19, 2000, in a Denver hospital, a day after undergoing “rebirthing” therapy at the Evergreen, Colo., home of unlicensed therapist Connell Watkins.
Watkins, 54, and Julie Ponder, 40, a therapist who assisted in the procedure, were convicted in April of reckless child abuse and sentenced to 16 years in prison.
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