MOLLY PARKER
Lee Enterprises Midwest
and BETH HUNDSDORFER
Capitol News Illinois
ANNA, Ill. — The disturbing 911 call began with sounds of a struggle, then a voice that sounded like a child’s cried out, “Let me go.” When the police dispatcher in the rural southern Illinois community announced herself, no one responded.
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The transcript is from Illinois investigators.
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During an unrelated news conference, Gov. J.B. Pritzker responded to questions about conditions at Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center in Anna.
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Alijah Luellen as a child.
Courtesy of Benita Hunter
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The page that Alijah Luellen gave to state police when they asked him to write down the initials of the people who hurt him.
Illinois State Police case file
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Windows are covered with paper at Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center.
Whitney Curtis for ProPublica
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Timeline of Choate employees' arrests and outcomes
2014: Mark Allen, Curt Ellis, Justin Butler and Eric Bittle
Accusation: A resident was brutally assaulted by one or more mental health techs in December 2014 who sought to cover up the abuse and interfere in a state police investigation.
Charged employees, clockwise from left: Mark Allen, Curt Ellis, Justin Butler and Eric Bittle
Charges: In 2016, Allen was charged with aggravated battery and intimidation, and Ellis, Butler and Bittle were charged with obstruction of justice.
Outcome: A few months after they were charged, Ellis, Butler and Bittle pleaded guilty to misdemeanors for failing to report the abuse; in 2021, Allen pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice for concealing evidence.
2016: Chayla Brown
Accusation: In 2016, a mental health tech slapped a patient with an open hand while the individual was eating breakfast.
Charged employee: Chayla Brown
Charge: In 2017, Brown was charged with felony aggravated battery.
Outcome: In 2018, she pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery.
2017: Cheryl Muckley
Accusation: A facility administrator took home patient injury reports and other private medical records that ended up stashed in a personal storage shed in 2017.
Charged employee: Cheryl Muckley
Charge: That same year, Muckley was charged with felony altering/destroying public records.
Outcome: Later that year, she pleaded guilty to misdemeanor criminal damage to property.
2017: Victor Metzger
Accusation: A mental health tech punched a patient, breaking two of his ribs, in 2017.
Charged employee: Victor Metzger
Charge: In 2017, Metzger was charged with felony aggravated battery.
Outcome: In 2021, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery.
2017-2018: John Lingle, Cody Barger
Accusation: Two mental health techs failed to report harm to a patient that resulted in a broken arm sometime between September 2017 and March 2018; during that same time frame, one of them also failed to report that he’d witnessed another employee force a patient to drink a cup of hot sauce.
Charged employees, from left: John Lingle, Cody Barger
Charge: In 2020, Lingle and Barger were charged with official misconduct/obstruction of justice.
Outcome: In 2021, Lingle and Barger received a “second chance” probation sentence in lieu of pleading guilty to reduced felony charges of obstruction of justice for destroying evidence.
2018: Stacy Thomas
Accusation: In May 2018, a nurse stole Clonazepam, a prescription drug used to treat seizures and anxiety disorders, from Choate.
Charged employee: Stacy Thomas
Charge: In 2019, Thomas was charged with felony possession of a controlled substance and theft under $500.
Outcome: In 2019, Thomas pleaded guilty to misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance.
Whitney Curtis, for ProPublica
2019: Greg Johnson, Ruth Massie and Paris Ferguson
Accusation: In 2019, two mental health techs held down a patient while a third assaulted the individual.
Charged employees: Greg Johnson, Ruth Massie and Paris Ferguson
Charge: In 2021, Johnson was charged with felony aggravated battery, and Massie and Ferguson were charged with unlawful restraint.
Outcome: In 2021, the charges against Johnson and Massie were dismissed; the charge against Ferguson was dismissed in August.
File art
2020: Kevin Jackson, three others
Accusation: A mental health tech struck a patient multiple times with a belt in January 2020, and three administrators took actions that interfered with the Illinois State Police’s investigation into the incident.
Charged employees: Kevin Jackson (pictured), a mental health tech; facility director Bryant Davis; and assistant directors Gary Goins and Teresa Smith
Charges: Jackson was charged with aggravated battery; Davis, Goins and Smith were charged with official misconduct, and Smith additionally with obstructing justice.
Outcome: Jackson pleaded not guilty and his case is pending; charges were dismissed against Davis, Goins and Smith.
2020: Charles Mills
Accusation: In March 2020, a mental health tech sexually assaulted a developmentally disabled resident.
Charged employee: Charles Mills
Charge: In 2022, Mills was charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault.
Outcome: Mills has pleaded not guilty, and his case is pending.
2020: Dalton Anderson, Bobby Lee, Johnny Brimm, Mat Wiseman
Accusation: Four mental health techs choked and punched a resident in May 2020.
Charged employees, clockwise from left: Dalton Anderson, Bobby Lee, Johnny Brimm, Mat Wiseman
Charges: All four were charged with felony aggravated battery; Wiseman and Brimm were also charged with felony obstruction of justice.
Outcome: Earlier this year, Wiseman and Brimm pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery; the charges against Lee and Anderson, who both pleaded not guilty, are pending in court.
2021: Brad Cross
Accusation: In April 2021, a mental health tech grabbed a patient by the hair and punched him in the back of the head; the patient has the mental functioning of an infant and is nonverbal, court records show.
Charged employee: Brad Cross
Charge: In 2022, Cross was charged with felony aggravated battery.
Outcome: Cross has pleaded not guilty, and his case is pending.
In this Series
Updated
Jan 13, 2026
Updated
Jan 13, 2026
Updated
Jan 13, 2026
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