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Show People Are Hurting On Both Sides Of North Star TROPIC Shattered lives on both sides of the North Star Expeditions Expe-ditions case are becoming increasingly increa-singly more evident as attorneys for the prosecution and the defense maneuver to make ready for the April trial for owners and employees employ-ees of the youth wilderness therapy program. The pain and grief of Bob and Sally Bacon whose 16-year-old son Aaron died from peritonitis from a perforated ulcer March 31, 1994 while enrolled in the program has been portrayed in print and television tele-vision media nationwide. By sel- m ling movie rights to Aaron's story to major media, the Bacons have assured that their son's story will reach even millions more. But few have heard of the impact young Aaron's death has brought to the lives of those charged with felonies in the wake of his death. One of those, former North Star counselor Brent Brewer, 33, whose fractured life is only beginning to mend, entered into a reluctant plea bargain with the state on Jan. 18 in a Panguitch courtroom. (See People Are Hurting On Both Sides Of North Star On Page 5A) People Are Hurting On Both Sides Of North Star Ctnm Dnrn 1 From Page 1 Brewer, who "came to Utah to help kids" almost choked on the guilty plea he offered the court. Nearly in tears, Brewer entered a guilty plea to reduced charges after having originally been charged with abuse and neglect of a disabled child, a third degree felony. Brewer had accepted the state's second plea bargain offer, only after he was unable to accept the first, the same one each defendant was offered early on in the case. The first agreement would have required him to give the state substantial evidence against the other defendants. defen-dants. "I couldn't do it;" Brewer said from his California home on Sunday, "I did not have any evidence evi-dence to give. All I could do is tell the truth; I had nothing to hide." Brewer said the only regret he has about entering a guilty plea is that he feels "all the defendants will be acquitted in the final outcome." He said he does not think the state will call him as a hostile witness, although the possibility is open. He was given nine months' probation proba-tion and 100 hours of community service. He had to get on with his life, he said. Brewer talked only briefly of the events of the past 22 months. Beyond the loss of Aaron, which seriously affected him emotionally, he suffered, along with all the North Star defendants, the loss of his livelihood, and, finally, the loss of his marriage. "No one feels worse, besides the Bacons, about what happened to Aaron than I do," said Brewer, "I loved Aaron; I loved every one of my kids in North Star. I still get phone calls from my kids." Most difficult for Brewer, who has recently found employment in California in the electronics field, is the court's order forever forbidding him from working in any youth treatment program. "I feel I had a gift for working with kids, and that has been taken away," he said. In court he said he turned his frustration upon prosecutors from the State Attorney General's office. "Closing North Star down was a criminal offense," he said told them, "because we could have helped so many more kids ... you didn't have all the facts." The native Californian is beginning a new life, living once again near his family where their love and support has helped to sustain him through his ordeal. He misses his Escalante friends, especially espe-cially his peers on the Emergency Medical Technician team. "They were all really there for me when I needed them," he said. "It's as though they the North Star defendants have been tried already, found guilty, and their punishment meted out," said one Escalante resident. While North Star employees found themselves without jobs in a county where jobs are few and far between, the company's owners found themselves them-selves immediately out of business. Forced to close when charges were filed because the law says anyone facing child abuse charges cannot work with youth, North Star's operations came to an abrupt halt and all remaining participants were sent home. Negative and distorted publicity painting the defendants as uncaring, predators of troubled young people and their desperatae parents found its way throughout the nation, profoundly affecting their ability to sustain their emotional and financial finan-cial stability. Only the loving support sup-port of family, friends and neighbors neigh-bors in the close-knit community and the accolades of the young people and their parents who were helped in the North Star program have kept the defendants and their families strong and confident of an ultimate positive outcome . Owners and employees alike were declared indigent by the court and assigned public defenders. Only recently have they been able to meet with their attorneys to begin to prepare for the upcoming trial. And no one among the group of North Star defendants seems angry with Brewer. They all seemed to understand. "He wouldn't have been able to take the long weeks of the trial," said defendant Georgette Costigan. "He is our friend and we love him." |