WEST JORDAN, Utah, May 12, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — An employee of West Ridge Academy, a school with a website that states its goal as “to restore your troubled teen,” has been charged with child abuse — inflicting serious physical injury on a child/criminal negligence.
Tyler Haung Feinga, 21, was charged with the class A misdemeanor on May 4, says a probable cause statement filed in the case.
The charge was filed after a teenage boy living at the school had his wrist broken while being restrained, the affidavit says.
“The statement of 15-year-old (victim is) that he is a resident of West Ridge Academy in Salt Lake County,” the statement says. He “stated that on Jan. 4, 2021, he was place in a wrist restraint (gooseneck hold) at the facility, due to a behavioral issue, by Tyler Haung Feinga.
“(The victim) stated that during the hold, he heard a pop, resulting in his wrist being fractured. (The teen) stated he was in significant pain and he could not move his wriest. His wrist was very swollen, and he was in a great deal of pain for several days before he was taken to a doctor.”
Post Miranda, Fienga told officers the teen was being disruptive in class, so he put the teen in the “escort hold,” which is a non-bent hold, the statement said.
“Feinga stated that (the teen) “started to resist out of the escort hold, and Feinga applied the ‘bent wrist procedure.’
“(The teen) resisted when he was put in the wrist procedure, so Fienga applied a little more pressure. Feinga stated that the wrist bent is used for when residents are harming staff, harming peers, running risk, or causing damage to West Ridge property.”
A summons was issued earlier this month for Feinga. No initial court date is shown in online records. It is unknown whether Feinga is still employed by West Ridge Academy.
