Criminal case against senior staff at state-run hospital dismissed
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[May 21, 2022] By
BETH HUNDSDORFER
Capitol News Illinois
bhundsdorfer@capitolnewsillinois.com
SPRINGFIELD – The official misconduct case
against a Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center senior staff
member was dismissed on Thursday.
Union County State’s Attorney Tyler Tripp dropped the charges, related
to a cover-up of abuse at the state-run facility, against Choate’s
quality assurance manager Gary Goins.
The dismissal allows for charges to be refiled.
“These cases continue to be under investigation,” Tripp said Friday.
He declined further comment.
The state-run Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center, located in
Anna, houses 225 people who have developmental disabilities or mental
illness. It is operated by the Department of Human Services.
Goins was charged with one count of official misconduct for obstructing
a criminal investigation.
The charge alleged that Goins breached DHS inspector general
investigative protocols by reviewing a file pertaining to an active
Illinois State Police investigation of criminal conduct in order to gain
a personal advantage.
The investigation involved an allegation of abuse of a patient by Choate
staff member Kevin Jackson, who faces an aggravated battery charge.
Jackson is accused of repeatedly striking a female patient with a belt
and is scheduled to go on trial on Sept. 13.
Goins intended to gain advantage in defense of his and other
administrators’ actions by gathering information from that file to
cover-up Jackson’s alleged criminal conduct, the charges alleged.
A court filing stated that one of the administrators directed a staff
member to interview the victim before ISP investigators spoke to her.
This was documented in a medical chart note that was later amended at
the direction of Choate administrative staff, according to court
records.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/May/21/images/ads/current/rbctowing_sda_PROM_2022.png)
In a motion to dismiss filed in January, Goins’ attorney Wesley Wilkins
stated that the grand jury that returned the indictment against Goins
heard inaccurate information.
Wilkins stated in the motion that his review of the grand jury
transcript showed that a witness testified that inspector general
investigative protocols were codified in statute and that violating
those protocols was illegal. That witness stated a review of the
investigative file by anyone other than a person designated as an
investigator was a violation of the protocols.
Wilkins contended that those statements were incorrect and that the
protocols are administrative in nature, not statutory.
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Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center is
pictured in Anna. (Capitol News Illinois photo by Beth Hundsdorfer)
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/May/21/images/ads/current/library_sda_PROM_2022.png)
Union County Circuit Judge Tyler Edmonds dismissed the case against
Teresa Smith, another Choate Administrator, based on similar legal
arguments and a review of the OIG investigative protocols.
The judge stated that the protocol does not prevent anyone from
reviewing documents, but instead only limits who can be designated as an
investigator.
Choate Director Bryant Davis and Goins were indicted last June. Davis’
charges were still pending on Friday.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/May/21/images/ads/current/skdavison_sda_PROM_2022.png)
Twelve Choate employees have been charged with felonies in the last two
and half years, including Smith, Bryant and Goins.
Former mental health technician Charles W. Mills is accused of the
sexual assault of a female Choate resident who has a diagnosis of severe
or profound intellectual disability. That case is pending.
Another mental health technician, Bradley Cross, was charged with
aggravated battery for allegedly punching a patient in the head and
pulling their hair.
In other pending cases, Choate workers Johnny Brimm, Bobby Lee, Matthew
Wiseman and Dalton Anderson all face aggravated battery charges in
connection with abuse of patients at Choate. Mark Allen, Cody Barger and
Jonathan Lingle pleaded guilty to lesser charges in connection with the
abuse of patients.
Allen faced three counts of aggravated battery for allegedly punching a
patient in the face and head, pushing him to the ground and kicking him
in the head. He also faced one count of felony intimidation. In
December, he pleaded guilty to one count of obstructing justice. The
other charges were dropped.
Allen was sentenced to two years of probation. As a condition of
probation, he must complete an anger management class.
Barger and Lingle were charged with lying to investigators and failing
to report instances of abuse that included witnessing a worker forcing a
patient to drink a cup of hot sauce and another incident that ended with
a patient sustaining a broken arm.
Lingle pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction of justice and was
sentenced to two years of probation and 30 hours of community service
with credit for four days in county jail he served before posting bail.
Barger also pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction of justice. He,
too, received a sentence of two years of probation and 30 hours of
community service.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news
service covering state government that is distributed to more than 400
newspapers statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press
Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation. |