THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 19, 1997 TAG: 9701190074
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: 83 lines
Heather Legacy and her friend knew something was wrong at The Pines Residential Treatment Center the night in October when the two residents saw police and heard what sounded like firecrackers.
During tense hours that stretched into the next day, police in black SWAT uniforms ringed the Crawford campus. In an administrative office upstairs, disgruntled former Pines counselor Timothy Gregory waved a gun, fired warning shots and made demands. For 7 1/2 hours, an administrator in a bulletproof vest negotiated with Gregory, who was the suspect in a fatal shooting nearby hours earlier.
Gregory freed his hostages. Shortly before dawn on Oct. 2, he took his life.
Even with the immediate threat over, the two girls were afraid. About 8:15 p.m., they slipped into the night during an outing to the Portsmouth Beauty School.
Legacy is a 15-year-old from Vermont who is part of the Phoenix Program, a program for emotionally disturbed youths who are aggressive and sometimes violent. She had a history of running away. She was molested by a relative from age 6 to age 12, her mother said.
Before they were returned to The Pines, both girls suffered physical and sexual assaults, according to a letter from The Pines to Heather's social worker in Vermont. A copy of the letter was obtained by The Virginian-Pilot. Heather was raped by four men in Lincoln Park, about three miles from The Pines campus, according to her mother Lisa.
According to a report from Portsmouth General Hospital, Legacy told doctors she was forced to drink alcohol, then stabbed with a needle in her left hand. She was sexually assaulted multiple times and punched in the face, the report said. Her case is being investigated as a rape by Portsmouth detectives. So far, no one has been charged.
``I'm holding The Pines responsible for her getting raped,'' Lisa Legacy said.
At The Pines, Heather Legacy was asked to make a poster that read: ``I was raped because I ran,'' her mother said.
(The Virginian-Pilot, which in most cases does not identify victims of sex crimes, is publishing Heather Legacy's name with permission of the girl and her mother.)
Heather mistakenly was allowed to go on the outing even though she was on restriction, Lisa Legacy said.
The Pines has a policy requiring that two staff members be present when a van is used for an outing. That policy was not followed, according to the letter.
Heather Legacy has been at The Pines since March at a cost to Vermont of $118 a day, or $43,000 a year, her mother said.
``They apparently therapeutically have good success, but they only have success if they can keep the kids there,'' said Stephen L. Fine, a Brattleboro, Vt., attorney who represents the Legacy family and another 15-year-old Vermont girl at The Pines.
``They may not want to be a prison, but kids get sent there because it's a secure facility,'' he said. ``But, if it's a secure facility, you don't send them on field trips until you know they're going to come back.''
Legacy said her daughter has left The Pines without permission between three and seven times since arriving in March.
``She is not safe,'' she said. ``I don't feel safe having her there. I have nightmares about her being there.''
Pines officials said they could not comment on specific cases.
As of October, Vermont had two boys and three girls at The Pines, according to a letter from the Vermont Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services obtained by The Virginian-Pilot.
The state's policy of sending youths to The Pines is expected to come under scrutiny in the Vermont legislature during the current session, which began Jan. 8, said the speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives.
``The mere fact that the situation occurred demands that the legislature ask some questions,'' said Rep. Michael J. Obuchowski, D-Rockingham. Action could take the form of a bill or a budget review ``to be sure the funds are being spent wisely for the results,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
ALAN SOLOMON
Lisa Legacy is the mother of Heather Legacy, 15, who is in the
Phoenix Program. Heather was asked to make a poster at The Pines
that read: ``I was raped because I ran,'' her mother said.
KEYWORDS: THE PINES RESIDENTIAL TREAMTENT CENTER
TEENAGERS RAPE SEX CRIME LAWSUIT