- It's impossible to count unreported cases, but Benchmark Behavioral Health in Woods Cross has had at least 61 reports of assault, 36 reports of sex assault since 2019. That's the most of any psychiatric hospital in Utah.
- The facility had its license temporarily revoked in 2022 due to lack of supervision. State regulators chose not to follow through with similar punishment in 2023 despite findings of more children being hurt.
- Our investigation found more than a dozen cases where the Woods Cross Police Department declined to forward cases to prosecutors because the child suspects "are already receiving treatment."
- In response to our investigation, police worked with the Davis County Attorney's Office to reach a new "joint policy" on how to best handle these types of cases in the future.
WOODS CROSS — For the past two years, FOX 13 News has revealed what happens inside Highland Ridge Hospital in Midvale. Employees there spoke up about a culture they say required them to break the law; not reporting all cases of patients being raped or assaulted.
Some investigators and employees referred to Highland Ridge as "The Rape Hospital" because of how frequently patients reported sex assault and how infrequently the staff called 911 or sent those cases to police.
- PREVIOUS COVERAGE:
That story prompted me to look at police reports for every psychiatric hospital in Utah.
Benchmark Behavioral Health in Woods Cross was the only facility to have more reported cases than Highland Ridge.
97 REPORTS
Each of the cases you will read about in this story involve children.
Benchmark Behavioral Health is a boys-only psychiatric facility in Woods Cross. The building is mostly nondescript, nestled between an apartment complex and Chinese restaurant off 500 West.
The hospital is owned by Universal Health Services, which is based in Pennsylvania. The company also owns several other facilities in Utah.
- Aspen Grove Behavioral Health, formerly Provo Canyon Hospital
- Center for Change
- Copper Hills Youth Center
- Salt Lake Behavioral Health
- Provo Canyon School
The Woods Cross Police Department (WXPD) has responded to Benchmark Behavioral Health hundreds of times since 2019.
"I don’t find that they are any kind of a drain on our resources," said Scott Buchanan, the department's interim chief of police.
Some details surrounding the cases are graphic — too graphic to publish.
In total, we read 61 assault cases and 35 sex assault cases. An additional report of sexual assault was withheld due to an active investigation.
FOX 13 is not identifying any of the victims or juvenile suspects.
"If there is any question as to whether a child has been harmed in some way, I would certainly encourage them to report that," Buchanan said.
WXPD has not responded to our requests for body camera video.
MANDATORY REPORTING
I interviewed Buchanan in early November, when he was approximately three months into his role as interim chief.
"I have no reason to believe that they are not reporting cases," he said of Benchmark.
Despite that statement, department records tell a different story.
Officer Gavin Hanselman wrote on November 14, 2022 he was "concerned" with late reporting after encountering a child victim who was assaulted.
"I could see that his left eye near the end of his eyebrow was bulging and appeared to be bruised," Hanselman wrote. "In speaking to (the victim), he said that this had been going on since his arrival at Benchmark... in late July."
The child victim was reportedly head butt, kicked, and punched in the face because "they say he has a 'punchable face.'"
Hanselman documented the following incidents, as reported by the child victim:
- 9/2/2022 - (suspect) threw juice and punched me
- 11/7/2022 - (suspect) assaulted/ punched me
- 11/9/2022 - (suspect) punched me
- 11/13/2022 - (suspect) assaulted me
- 11/14/2022 - (suspect) and (suspect) assaulted me
"I explained my concern with the late reporting with the assaults reporting going back months... and a week of frequent assaults with no reporting to police."
The case ended without the screening of charges.
"Since (the child victim) feels safe in the unit he is in now, is separated from the other boys, and all the children are in Benchmark, which is a residential treatment facility for this type of behavior, no further action will be taken unless additional information is received."
WXPD says the child was likely bullied, not assaulted.
LICENSE REVOKED
The Utah Department of Health had similar concerns in 2022, temporarily revoking Benchmark's license because of a sexual assault that was never reported to police. Benchmark was issued a "conditional license" as it worked to resolve each of the cited deficiencies.
The inspection listed the following:
- According to a parent, a child was "assaulted" approximately "40 times."
- "(Suspect) reached and grabbed (victim's) testicles 3-4 times within 45 seconds."
- Benchmark employee stated it was not reported, they were "short staffed that day."
- A suicide attempt involving a child was not reported.
- Benchmark's risk manager stated, "That is my bad."
- No incident report, no investigation when a child “sprayed cleaner on staff and was taken to timeout... attacked a peer unprovoked, spraying him in the eyes with bleach.”
- Parent was not notified after patient was “bullied and touched inappropriately by peers.”
- No documentation that parent was notified after patient got into a fight with another patient and needed to be placed in a restraint.
Benchmark disputed that its license was revoked despite state paperwork explicitly using that terminology.
EVEN WHEN THE CASES ARE REPORTED...
Criminal cases involving children are difficult to track through the juvenile court system due to privacy concerns.
But according to WXPD reports, even when officers had the opportunity to respond, more than a dozen cases were not charged or even forwarded to prosecutors for consideration.
Officers wrote the same explanation over and over again. Here are a few examples.
What happened when a child reported another patient punched his face and grabbed his genitals?
- “I am declining to file as the minor is already receiving treatment and there are no additional services juvenile court could provide.”
What happened when two juvenile patients told police they had consensual sex in the bathroom?
- "Since the contact was consensual, and the children are in a residential treatment facility for this type of behavior, no further investigation will be conducted."
What happened when a child reported being "coerced" into pleasuring another patient because he was "scared of all the fights that happen" in the unit?
- "Since the children are in a residential treatment facility for this behavior, this case is closed”
What happened when a child suspect told police he "shoved a banana up a kid's ***," also calling him an "autistic piece of ****"?
- Officers determined it was a case of "bullying... that should be handled internally by the staff at Benchmark as they are in a residential treatment facility for this type of behavior."
Rabbi Avremi Zippel, chair of the Utah Crime Victims Council, agreed to speak with FOX 13 News after learning of the high number of cases at Benchmark.
He was exasperated.
"'Already in a facility' is not a justification for not screening cases!" Zippel said. "The fact that a kid is already 'off the streets' should make very very little difference to us... I guess my question is, how many times can we use (that excuse)?"
Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings agreed. He confirmed juvenile cases should never be closed simply because a child suspect is in a psychiatric facility. Rawlings also stated WXPD is not required to screen cases with a prosecutor if officers cannot establish probable cause.
"Thank you for calling this to our attention," Rawlings said. “There may be legitimate reasons why a case should be declined, but they should still be submitted."
Rawlings stated his office reached a "joint policy on the formal screening of certain cases arising out of Benchmark Hospital" with WXPD.
After we requested the reports, WXPD also stated it conducted an audit of all cases.
Buchanan defended officers' decisions to not screen cases with the Davis County Attorney's Office, citing lack of evidence.
While some reports cited lack of evidence, others did not. Buchanan stated that might be an error with the paperwork, which will be fixed moving forward.
He also addressed the idea of "consent" between juvenile psychiatric patients.
"We have to apply the law as we read it," Buchanan said. "Broadly, I would say we understand generally that children are not able to give 'consent' in the same way adults can, right?... I’m talking about the absence of evidence to indicate that it was in fact not ‘consensual’ in the traditional term that we would imagine."
"(Lack of evidence) will be the only justification we'll be accepting moving forward," Zippel said.
PREVENTION
Buchanan chose not to pass judgment when asked whether he felt Benchmark has done a good enough job to prevent assault cases.
"I do not expect them to come and tell the police department how we can do our job better, nor would I ever come to you and talk to you about how to do a better job as a reporter," Buchanan said.
Nevertheless, Buchanan acknowledged officers made a judgment call on behalf of victims by trusting the state's oversight of psychiatric facilities.
"The facility is regulated by a governmental entity whose job it is to allow them to exist," Buchanan said. "The children are there in the first place, and they're in a place that's authorized to do business."
The Utah Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has repeatedly cited the facility for safety concerns.
We've already told you about Benchmark's license being temporarily revoked and replaced with a conditional license in 2022.
In 2023, the facility was cited four times.
Carmen Richins, the director of licensing and background checks for DHHS, stated the 2023 deficiencies were not "as significant" and therefore did not warrant Benchmark being placed on a conditional license.
"No actual harm to clients and stuff," Richins said. "It was other types of deficiencies."
But a review of DHHS paperwork shows, actually, there was "harm to clients."
- Patient stole pills out of a teacher's bag, was taken to the emergency room
- Patient collapsed after taking Trazodone from other kids and Adderall from another peer
- Hospital did not provide safe, secure storage of cleaners and chemicals
- multiple reports of children huffing aerosol or drinking hand sanitizer
- multiple reports of children huffing aerosol or drinking hand sanitizer
- Lack of supervision, patient was taken to the hospital after swallowing two batteries
FOX 13 News has asked for clarification from DHHS via email, but we have not yet heard back.
"The goal is not to shut people down. The goal is to help them become better providers," Richins said. "We don't compare facilities, because facilities aren't apples to apples and oranges to oranges."
Richins stated she wants facilities to follow mandatory reporting requirements and that she appreciates our efforts to hold providers accountable.
"I appreciate you looking at those police records because there are times – things that we don’t see," Richins said. "So we’ve also requested those police records."
Buchanan stated Benchmark might still be the best place for patients accused of committing crimes there, indicating some children are already placed there after being convicted in the juvenile court system.
So, to arrest kids who commit crimes there? He says it could be a revolving door.
"Ultimately, this would be the destination for somebody that's challenged," Buchanan said. "There's not a lot that would be accomplished... other than to put the child in, perhaps, more danger than they are in right now."
THE SYSTEM
Nate Crippes, supervising attorney for Utah's Disability Law Center, criticized DHHS for poor oversight.
He believes the system as a whole is broken, arguing Utah needs to refocus its time and money on mental health services instead of psychiatric hospitals.
"I think revoking a license isn't going to solve the problem if we're just going to give it back to them," Crippes said. "Zero sexual assaults is the only acceptable number... Whatever we're doing is not working, so something needs to change."
RESPONSE FROM BENCHMARK
Craig Scholnick, the CEO of Benchmark Behavioral Health, declined an on-camera interview.
He stated the facility is currently in good standing and that it follows all reporting standards. He also pointed to high patient-satisfaction surveys.
"Benchmark Behavioral Health Systems has had the privilege of serving this community for almost 40 years, helping thousands of young men to heal and move on to lead productive lives... We appreciate the oversight of our regulators and see their review of our operations as opportunities for continuous improvement. In our industry, a finding during a survey is not unusual, as long as it is properly addressed. Benchmark has invested in additional employee training and process improvement. We value the collaborative relationship we have with Woods Cross Police Department. Benchmark has not been made aware of any concerns from the WXPD and has appreciated the strong working relationship with them over many years... Our Benchmark team is committed to helping our clients heal despite it being a lengthy and complicated road. This is our mission. We have an unwavering commitment to helping these youth."