Candace Newmaker
| Candace Newmaker | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
Candace Tiara Elmore November 19, 1989 Lincolnton, North Carolina, US |
| Died | April 18, 2000 (aged 10) Evergreen, Colorado, US |
| Parent(s) | Angela and Todd Elmore |
Candace Elizabeth Newmaker (born Candace Tiara Elmore, November 19, 1989 – April 18, 2000) was a victim of child abuse, killed during a 70-minute attachment therapy session purported to treat reactive attachment disorder. The treatment used that day included a rebirthing script, during which Candace was suffocated. The story had international coverage.
Newmaker was born in Lincolnton, North Carolina, to Angela and Todd Elmore. She and her younger brother and sister were removed from the home for neglect and separated by social services. When she was five, her parents' parental rights were terminated. Two years later she was adopted by Jeane Elizabeth Newmaker, a single woman and pediatric nurse practitioner in Durham, North Carolina.
Within months of the adoption, Jeane began taking Candace to a psychiatrist, complaining about her behavior and attitude at home. Though Candace was treated with medications, Jeane reported that Candace's behaviors got worse during the ensuing two years, including supposedly playing with matches and killing goldfish.
Candace and Jeane Newmaker traveled to Evergreen, Colorado in April, 2000, for a $7,000 two-week "intensive" session of attachment therapy with Connell Watkins, upon a referral from a licensed psychologist in North Carolina.
Candace died during the second week of the intensive sessions with Watkins during what has been called a "rebirthing" session. Participating in the fatal session as therapists were Watkins and Julie Ponder, along with Candace's "therapeutic foster parents", Brita St Clair and Jack McDaniel, and Jeane Newmaker.
Following the script for that day's treatment, Candace was wrapped in a flannel sheet to simulate a womb and told to extricate herself from it, with the apparent expectation that the experience would help her "attach" to her adoptive mother. Four of the adults used their hands, feet, and large pillows to resist all her attempts to free herself, while she complained, pleaded, and even screamed for help and air. Candace stated several times during the session that she was dying, to which Ponder responded, "You want to die? OK, then die. Go ahead, die right now". Twenty minutes into the session, Candace had vomited and excreted inside of the sheet; she was nonetheless kept restrained.
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Wikipedia