No criminal charges will be sought in the death of a 12-year-old boy from New York who was in the care of a camp designed for “troubled teens” in the woods of North Carolina, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Clark Harman was found dead on Feb. 3 at Trails Carolina near Lake Toxaway, a wilderness therapy camp that has since been shuttered.
Harman was dropped off only a day earlier by his family from New York. He had been at the camp for less than 24 hours when he died.
According to an autopsy report released in June, the boy suffocated to death after he was forced to stay in a plastic tent known as a bivy, which was sealed shut and alarmed to alert counselors if he tried to escape. The bivy had reportedly been sealed with a weather-resistant outer door because the inner mesh door was broken.
“A common warning on commercially available bivy products indicates that the outer, weather-resistant opening should not be fully secured as it may lead to condensation and breathing restriction,” the report read.
Multiple witnesses told police they heard Harman thrashing in his sleep that night, but none heard any obvious signs of distress. One counselor said the preteen was checked on at 3 a.m. and 6 a.m., but admitted they couldn’t actually see him because of the “outer, opaque layer” of the bivy.
When he was checked on again at 7:45 a.m., the boy was dead, his body stiff and cold to the touch. He was found turned away from the entrance of the tent, “oriented opposite to the intended use, which would have allowed the waterproof material to fall onto his head and face,” according to the autopsy.
The North Carolina medical examiner, who noted the boy had a history of anxiety and ADHD, ultimately ruled Harman’s death was homicide by asphyxiation due to smothering.
Despite the ruling, local district attorney Andrew Murray said Wednesday there was not enough evidence of malice or recklessness to prove a crime as committed.
“The law requires us to meet a high threshold when considering charges of involuntary manslaughter,” Murray said in a statement. “While we are deeply saddened by this tragedy, we must follow the law and make decisions based on the evidence and our legal standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.”
In a February news release, Trails Carolina described the death as an accident, stating they would “do everything we can to determine what happened.”
The camp’s therapy license was revoked after the incident, and the property where the camp used to operate is currently for sale, according to the Charlotte Observer.
The brutal conditions at similar programs for troubled youth have been the subject of controversy in recent years, and were highlighted in the 2023 Netflix documentary “Hell Camp: Teen Nightmare.”
In her 2020 documentary, Paris Hilton revealed her own traumatizing experience at a facility in Utah, during which she was allegedly sexually assaulted by employees of the program.
With News Wire Services
