Local News - September 2003

Ruling a victory for Candace

Published September 8, 2003

Rebirthing conviction upheld by appeals court

By ALICE SMITH, Staff Writer

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Less than three months after the state of North Carolina banned a controversial technique that killed a Lincoln County girl in 2000, her grandparents are celebrating another victory.

The Colorado State Court of Appeals upheld the conviction and sentence of one of the therapists sent to prison for her role in the “rebirthing” therapy that killed 10-year-old Candace Newmaker, born in Lincoln County as Candace Tiara Elmore.

“We’re just happy that they saw fit to see through her and see that she should stay in,” Mary Davis, Candace’s grandmother, said.

Candace died in April 2000 in Colorado during a “rebirthing” session designed to treat her for reactive attachment disorder, in which a child resists forming loving relationships.

Connell Watkins was convicted of child abuse and sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2001.

During her trial, Jefferson County District Judge Jane Tidball refused to allow testimony by parents whose children have behavior problems.

Watkins’ defense team argued the jury needed to see therapy wasn’t as “far out” as the prosecution made it seem, and that some parents believed it helped their children.

The state Attorney General’s Office argued that the jury heard sufficient testimony from Watkins’ clients and others.

Mary Davis and her husband, David, followed the original trial from beginning to end.

“We were in that courtroom, and they did everything, I felt, by the book,” Mary Davis said.

The Davises have dedicated their lives to making sure no other children die like Candace had to.

They lobbied officials in North Carolina and succeeded in getting a bill banning rebirthing passed, and now they’ll move onto the federal level.

Candace ended up in Colorado because her adoptive mother, Jeane Newmaker, took her there to receive the treatment.

The treatment involved the therapists and assistants wrapping Candace in a flannel sheet and forcefully pressing large pillows against her. The act was supposed to recreate birth and cause Candace to emerge reborn and ready to bond with her adoptive mother.

The four adults pressed on Candace for almost 70 minutes.

During the process, Candace repeatedly begged them to stop and said she couldn’t breathe.

When the blanket was unwrapped, the 10-year-old was not breathing and had no pulse.

She died in a Denver hospital the next day.

The other therapist convicted in Candace’s case, Julie Ponder, will have an appeal this month, the Davises said.

They hope that hearing will end the same way Watkins’ did.

“Candace got the death sentence,” Mary Davis said. “I think theirs is pretty mild.”

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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