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PERTH---Two employees of the Tryon Residential Center where a teenager died last week after an altercation with a member of the facility's staff have been placed on paid leave pending an investigation into the teen's death.
A Tryon spokesman said that Robert Murphy and John P. Johnson, detention youth aides at the juvenile prison which is operated by the state's Office of Children and Family Services, are not accused of any wrongdoing.
The investigation into the boy's death centers around the method of restraint used on the youth when he became "physically aggressive". He died in St. Mary's Hospital in Amsterdam hours after he had been restrained, incurring difficulty breathing immediately after being restrained. Although it has not yet been revealed the method of restraint used, Fulton County district attorney Louise Sira has disclosed that the State Police are investigating if the proper procedure was followed and said at some point, he was placed in a face-down position known as the "prone restraint" method.
Both police and OCFS are trying to determine if the restraining hold contributed to his death and if Murphy and Johnson were responsible.
OCFS has confirmed that staff members are taught to place youths face down and to lie across their backs while immobilizing their arms, the same method of restraint used at adult facilities for adult inmate and the disabled.
Results of the autopsy have not yet been released. 11-27-06
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© 2006 North
Country Gazette
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