Amundson bound over for trial

By Ted Pennekamp

Bluff View Intermediate School Principal Aaron Amundson has been bound over for trial following his preliminary hearing Thursday afternoon in Crawford County Circuit Court.
Amundson has been charged with one count of child abuse-recklessly causing harm. A 14-year-old boy, a student at Bluff View, sustained a burn to his hand when Amundson attempted to clean off a profanity, according to the criminal complaint.
Amundson, 43, faces up to 3.5 years of imprisonment and a $10,000 fine if convicted. He is accused of applying a chemical (gum remover) to the boy’s hand on March 21 in a janitor’s closet at Bluff View and scrubbing with a Scotch Brite pad. The chemical resulted in a burn to the boy’s hand.
An arraignment has been scheduled for June 12 at 3:30 p.m.
There has been huge interest about this case by community members, both for and against, Amundson. The preliminary hearing drew the biggest standing room only crowd yet. An estimated 160 filled the seating area of the courtroom and spilled into the area outside of the front door.
At the outset of the preliminary hearing, District Attorney Amy Forehand requested that Crawford County Circuit Court Judge Lynn Rider recuse herself from the case, saying that Rider has a personal connection to Amundson.
“We want a ruling based upon the law,” said Forehand, who noted that the court needs to have the appearance of being neutral and just.
Defense attorney Corey Chirafisi said he feels that Rider can be neutral and just.
Rider said she could find no reason to recuse herself from the case. She said she was involved in an unrelated case involving the victim 11 years ago, but because the case is unrelated to the current case, it is not grounds for recusal. Rider also said that she and Amundson attend the same church in Prairie du Chien but they are not personal friends. As acquaintances, they say, “Hello” to each other when they meet and that is about all, said Rider. Rider said she can be fair and she is appropriate for the case.
“I did a lot of soul searching and I believe I can be fair,” said Rider. “I have reviewed the Supreme Court rules and I can find nothing that is a conflict of interest.”
Next, the court heard a motion to dismiss the case filed by the defense. Chirafisi said Amundson was not aware that his conduct was causing any harm to the child, according to the criminal complaint. Chirafisi said the child didn’t complain to Amundson about any burning when the chemical was being applied. Charafisi said he concedes that there was probably criminal negligence, but that no reasonable person would find that there was any reckless disregard by Amundson. He said there is no probable cause for the offense charged.
Forehand argued that a jury very well could find Amundson guilty. She noted that he didn’t look at the back of the gum remover for label warnings about what would happen if the chemical came into contact with skin.
“He had complete disregard for the safety of the child,” said Forehand. “I do believe there are enough facts to go on and continue this case.” Forehand said that Amundson may not have had intent to harm the child but proof of intent is not required to proceed with the case.
Rider said it is a complicated issue as to whether Amundson had a conscious disregard for the safety of the child and whether there was an unreasonable risk of harm. Rider said harm was done and that the level of proof in the criminal complaint was sufficient to proceed with the preliminary hearing. She, therefore, denied the motion to dismiss the case.
Detective Ashley Erickson of the Prairie du Chien Police Department was then called as a witness. Erickson was an investigating officer in the case.
Forehand asked Erickson if she saw photos of the boy’s burned hand and Erickson said the photos showed a large dark circular area with a smaller pink circle in the center. She said the whole area looked like a burn and the pink area looked like a blister that had popped.
Erickson testified that the boy told her that the chemical foamed white when it was applied to his skin and he felt a burning sensation. He also said the scrubbing of his skin hurt.
The incident happened the afternoon of Wednesday, March 21. The boy went to the school nurse on Thursday and again on Friday to treat the burn on his hand, testified Erickson. She said the boy’s family reported the incident on Saturday and the boy was taken to the Crossing Rivers Health emergency room for treatment.
Erickson also testified that Amundson told her that he didn’t see any caustic sign on the bottle of gum remover, but he also didn’t read the back of the bottle. Erickson said she didn’t see any caustic sign on the bottle.
When questioned by Charafisi, Erickson said the child never told Amundson that he was in pain and kept that information to himself. So, Charafisi argued, Amundson did not know that he was causing harm. Charafisi also said water was running during the process of scrubbing the boy’s hand, so, whether he knew it or not, Amundson was following the recommended treatment if the chemical came into contact with skin, according to the label on the bottle.
Forehand argued there were not enough steps taken by Amundson, who went from using just water straight to applying an industrial chemical. She said Amundson never tried water with hand soap.
Forehand said there is enough evidence to lead a jury to believe a felony was committed by Amundson and his reckless behavior led to the burn. Forehand asked that the case proceed to trail.
Charafisi said there was never any conscious disregard by Amundson and that there needs to be something to make Amundson aware that he was hurting the child.
Forehand told Judge Rider that if the case were to be dismissed, that the whole procedure would have been a big waste of time and effort, given the fact that it most certainly would be refiled. Rider then declared a brief recess so that she could review case law.
Rider said she couldn’t find any evidence that a felony was committed, after having reviewed case law. Rider also said, however, that deference has to be given to the state with regard to the evidence. She then ruled that the proper procedure would be to bind the case over for future court proceedings and let the “fact finders” (jury) decide what the evidence means.
Amundson is still on non-disciplinary paid leave from the Prairie du Chien School District and it is not known when he will return to work.