Boot Camp Official Pleads Guilty

Associated Press/February 21, 2002

Phoenix -- A man who pleaded guilty in the death of a 14-year-old boy at a boot camp has agreed to help prosecutors in their case against the camp's director.

The teen-age boy, Anthony Haynes, died of complications of dehydration and near-drowning last summer after he collapsed in triple-digit heat and two counselors put him in a bathtub to cool down.

Prosecutors will recommend that one of the counselors, Troy A. Hutty, be sentenced to probation on a negligent homicide charge, as part of a plea agreement announced Wednesday. Hutty was originally indicted for manslaughter, which carries a maximum penalty of 12 1/2 years in jail.

Under the plea deal, Hutty will tell prosecutors what he knows about camp director Charles Long II, who was charged with second-degree murder last week in Haynes' death.

"We want the truth,'' said Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley. Hutty's cooperation "allows us to get not just a clearer understanding but things we not might otherwise get without him.''

Hutty's attorney, Gary Beren, did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Haynes died July 1 after being made to stand in the sun for up to five hours, then being left in the bathtub with the shower running, the medical examiner's office said.

Hutty called Long twice to say he was concerned about Haynes' condition and that the boy wasn't responding, according to sheriff's department documents. Long told Hutty to bring Haynes back to the camp because he thought the teen-ager was faking.

Haynes wasn't breathing when they returned to the camp. Camp supervisors called 911, but Haynes never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead later that night.

Haynes was attending a five-week boot camp near Phoenix operated by the America's Buffalo Soldiers Re-enactors Association. The camp was shut down after the teen's death, although the group still operates other programs.

Long planned to plead innocent at his arraignment Friday, said his attorney, David Smith. He is being held on $100,000 bail.

Two other camp officials also were arrested last week.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio has called the camp "organized torture towards children.'' It included forced marches, wearing black uniforms in the desert, harsh discipline and a daily diet of an apple, a carrot and a bowl of beans.

Lawsuits have been filed by Haynes' parents and a woman who claimed her son was beaten, forced to eat mud and deprived of sleep.

There have been at least five other deaths at youth boot camps in the past decade and numerous abuse allegations across the country.