Angellika Arndt died May 26, 2006 after being physically restrained. Earlier in the day, Angellika was put in a "control hold" for gargling with her milk.

A Barron County Circuit judge levied the maximum fine against a Wisconsin company that owned a counseling center found responsible in the death of a 7-year-old girl last year.

The judge fined the operators of Rice Lake's Northwest Counseling Center $100,000 during a hearing this afternoon. The judge also sentenced the man accused of restraining the girl until her body went listless to 60 days in the county jail.

It was 10 months ago that 7-year-old Angellika "Angie" Arndt — a brown-eyed, 56-pound girl — was held down at the Rice Lake facility for as long as 30 minutes. She never recovered from the May 25 incident and died the next day in the hospital.

After her death, the Rice Lake clinic was cited by the state, had its license suspended and ultimately shut down. And it was learned that Angie, who had attended the clinic's day treatment center five days a week for a month for behavioral problems, had been restrained on at least nine occasions, according to a state investigative report.

Staff member Bradley A. Ridout, a 29-year-old from Rice Lake, is the staff member who covered the girl's body with his own, had pleaded "no contest" to a misdemeanor charge of negligent abuse of a patient causing bodily harm. The Sunday school teacher had faced up to nine months in jail.

The Frederic, Wis.-based corporation that owned and operated the center and still operates 11 others pleaded no contest to one felony count of negligent abuse of a resident.

Angie's case has prompted complaints from advocates of children and those with disabilities, who are seeking tougher laws on the use of restraints and accountability.

"The punishment doesn't fit the crime," Rick Pelishek, the Rice Lake-based regional director of Disability Rights Wisconsin, said last week. "Usually a felony results in jail time, but you can't put a corporation in jail."

Angie, an active girl who liked dolls, dresses and country music, was born in Milwaukee. Her parents relinquished their rights to her as a toddler and she became a ward of the state. She had been in and out of foster care before Donna and Daniel Pavlik took her in to their Ladysmith home in early 2005.

The girl had been diagnosed with a reactive attachment disorder, a mood disorder and an attention deficit with hyperactivity disorder, according to a state report. The couple said they were making progress with the girl, and they certainly never restrained her.

On May 25, Ridout was called to help a coworker restrain Angie. He covered the crying girl's upper body with his own, according to court records, and held her head for about 30 minutes. Her body became listless.

Believing she had fallen asleep, staff rolled Angie over, only to notice has had turned blue and was not responding.

The Hennepin County medical examiner ruled her death a homicide caused by "complications of chest compression asphyxiation" leading to "cardiopulmonary arrest while restrained by another person."

A number of problems were found with the center, among them, according to the charges:

— When the Rice Lake center admitted Angie, staff failed to review her medical and psychological records.

— Essential staff failed to consult a prepared treatment plan for Angie before treating her.

— Insufficient guidance was provided staff in the proper implementation of the facility's highly ambiguous written restraint policy.

— Inconsistent policy inadequately defined what circumstances required restraint.

— The "emergency" restraint policy became justification for almost daily physical restraint of Angie.

"From the time of her admission to the time of her death, there had been numerous acts and omissions by employees of the facility that had compromised Angie's safety," John Knappmiller, chief investigator for the Wisconsin Department of Justice, said of the center in charging papers.

The state continues to monitor Northwest Counseling and Guidance to ensure that it is following orders, including improving training to prevent conflict from escalating to the point of restraint, which is to be used only when a patient is a danger to him or herself or others.

Two clinics in Hudson and New Richmond that have a similar name — Northwest Counseling Services — are not affiliated with the company that ran the Rice Lake center.

Kevin Harter can be reached at kharter@pioneerpress.com or 800-950-9080, ext. 2149.