Assault by Iowa Juvenile Home employee to be wiped clean

TAMA, Ia. --A former Iowa Juvenile Home employee who state officials say was caught on video slamming a 17-year-old girl's head into a concrete wall will pay a $315 penalty and his record will be wiped clean after a year of self-supervised probation under an agreement made Monday.

Robert McFatridge, 48, was convicted Monday of assault causing bodily injury after entering what is commonly known as an Alford plea.

Under such a plea, a defendant does not admit guilt, but acknowledges that enough evidence exists to support a criminal conviction.

McFatridge was charged after a Nov. 4, 2012, incident at the now-closed juvenile home in Toledo. The facility was the subject of a Des Moines Register investigation into its treatment of youths — including its use of isolation cells to house teens for months at a time. Gov. Terry Branstad ordered the home shuttered last year.

INVESTIGATION: Iowa Juvenile Home

Juvenile home security cameras captured McFatridge and another worker dragging a female resident in a hallway as her pants slipped down her legs, according to testimony from Karen Connell, the home's business manager.

The girl was then placed in an isolation cell where she slammed her head into a wall 95 times, state records indicate. The security video then shows McFatridge re-entering the room and kicking her. He improperly restrained her for several minutes and at one point slammed her forehead against a cement wall, Connell testified at an unemployment hearing.

McFatridge, who is diabetic, admitted using improper restraint techniques but has blamed his actions on blood-sugar levels, state records indicate. He has denied kicking the 17-year-old girl, saying he was merely using his leg to block the girl's attacks.

McFatridge had worked at the facility since 1999.

Assistant Tama County Attorney Patrick McMullen told Sixth Judicial District Judge Ian Thornhill that he believes the plea agreement is appropriate, partly based on McFatridge's previously clean criminal record. The juvenile's guardian agreed that the punishment was appropriate, as well, he said.

McFatridge, dressed in jeans and work boots, declined to make a statement in court Monday and declined to speak with the Register after his plea and sentencing.

The Register had previously sought to obtain a copy of the video with the image of the girl's face blurred to protect her identity while allowing the public to see the actions of the state employee.

Officials from the Iowa Department of Human Services officials and the Iowa attorney general's office denied the Register's public records request — saying the video involves information about treatment of a specific individual and therefore is confidential — and prevailed in a court challenge regarding the matter.

McFatridge was charged almost two years ago. The trial was delayed multiple times, partly because of his physical health. He had pneumonia and was in a coma for two or three months, his attorney Melissa Nine said Monday.

Records obtained last year by the Register show that McFatridge had prior work issues. He was first fired in 2007 after he admitted drawing male sex organs on staff photos and urinating in front of a co-worker and a client, records show.

McFatridge appealed that firing, assisted by his union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. An arbitrator ultimately ruled that the state had failed to use "progressive discipline" in the case, and McFatridge returned to his job as a youth services worker, the records show.

That ruling resulted in McFatridge being awarded nearly $70,000 in back wages.

McFatridge indicated Monday to state officials that he now is employed by a Tama County business.