Cameras in common areas at Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center were supposed to make the troubled southern Illinois facility safer for the approximately 200 people with developmental disabilities who live there.
But a camera caught a mental health technician grab a patient by the shirt in mid-February, throw him to the floor and punch him in the stomach, according to court records.
The worker has since been indicted. But for 11 days after the incident, he continued to work on the same unit without restriction until an anonymous letter prompted an investigator to look for the video.
During that time, no one at the facility, including any witnesses, reported the abuse, records show.
In March, Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration announced plans to install cameras in the wake of an investigation by Capitol News Illinois and ProPublica that unearthed a culture of cruelty, abuse, neglect and cover-ups at Choate.
The administration also announced it would move 123 people from the facility. So far, 34 Choate residents have been moved, most to other state-run developmental centers.
The cameras were supposed to deter employees from mistreating patients and make it possible to quickly dispel false accusations.
But to protect worker rights and patient privacy, the videos aren’t monitored and can be reviewed only if there’s an accusation of abuse or neglect.
The anonymous letter that sparked the investigation accused mental health technician John Curtis “Curt” Spaulding of attacking a patient on Feb. 12. That led investigators to check the video.
But records show it took until Feb. 23 for Choate security to review the video. Then, within hours, Spaulding resigned.
In an interview, Spaulding said he didn’t abuse anyone and resigned because he was tired of poor working conditions and difficult schedules at Choate.
“I was better to those guys than 90% of the people who work there,” said Spaulding, who worked at Choate since 2015. “But I was never one to let them walk all over me.”
Another employee, Shushya Salley, was put on paid administrative leave. Though her involvement isn’t clear, the form referring the case to the Illinois State Police from the Illinois Department of Human Services’ inspector general’s office noted there were witnesses. Anyone who witnessed the abuse would have been required to report it within four hours. Salley didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The inspector general’s office has investigated Spaulding five times in the past three years, records show. None of the prior accusations was substantiated.
Tyler Tripp, the state’s attorney in Union County, didn’t respond to questions, though Illinois State Police records indicate the agency presented the case to him in March.
A grand jury has now indicted Spaulding on a felony charge of aggravated battery and also misdemeanor battery.
Of more than 20 employees identified as having been charged with felonies on suspicion of abusing patients at Choate or covering it up during the news organizations’ investigation, two have been convicted of a felony. One later was allowed to withdraw his plea and plead guilty to a reduced, misdemeanor charge. None of the workers has received prison time, even those who caused serious injuries.
The governor pushed for the cameras and credits them for bringing the incident involving Spaulding to light.
“Thanks to the addition of the cameras in the facility, the offenders were caught and promptly removed for their entirely unacceptable misconduct,” Pritzker spokesperson Alex Gough said.
The inspector general’s office urged at least 21 times in six years that cameras be installed. Those recommendations were rejected over budgetary and privacy concerns. Last year, Grace Hou, who was then secretary of the Department of Human Services, announced cameras would be installed at all state-run developmental centers, starting with Choate.
Barry Smoot, a longtime human services inspector general’s office employee who also was head of security at Chester Mental Health Center and Choate, said: “The only way the cameras can do their job is if someone reports it. And the staff that are identified as present and not stopping the abuse or reporting the abuse need to be severely dealt with.”
If staff members or residents fear speaking out, Smoot said they can report an accusation anonymously to the inspector general, with the time, date and location.