The restraint chair at the center of a lawsuit alleging abuse at the Wyoming Boys’ School “will be disposed of” when litigation is over, the Wyoming Department of Family Services said in a statement to WyoFile. 

According to department figures, the chair hasn’t been used on residents since 2022. It currently remains at the school, “but only for the purpose of preserving evidence per the lawsuit,” the department said. 

In 2024, six former boys’ school residents joined a lawsuit alleging abuse at the facility, including extended periods of solitary confinement and physical harm. The school, where judges can sentence delinquent boys ages 12 to 21, is a 38-acre facility near Worland overseen by the Wyoming Department of Family Services.

In June, the former residents filed a court document that included an image — which sparked outrage on social media — of one of the plaintiffs in a restraint chair with a bag over his head. The family services department says staff put these “spit masks” on residents to protect workers from bodily fluids and biting. Images included in the filing show that the chair bears a warning label that states: “Warning: Use of the safety restraint chair without first reading and thoroughly understanding the instructions could cause injury or death. . . Do not leave detainees in this chair for more than TWO hours.”

Photos from a court filing show a resident alone in solitary confinement and another strapped to a restraint chair with hood over his head at Wyoming Boys’ School. (Court filing)

Despite the warning, some of the former residents allege that the school put them in the restraint chair for more than two hours. In 2021, Dale Weber, the school’s current superintendent, who at the time had yet to take over that role, approved restraining one of the plaintiffs in the chair from 11:50 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., according to the document. Another former resident was restrained in the chair for about five hours in 2019, the document states. 

The school purchased the high-back chair, which has shoulder, lap, wrist and ankle straps, in 2016. Use of the chair climbed from once in 2018 to 13 times in 2021, according to figures from the family services department. Allegations in the lawsuit stem from that time period.

The number of times the restraint chair was used dropped in 2022, the first decrease since the school started using the chair in 2018. The school hasn’t used the chair since then, according to the Department of Family Services. 

The department handles allegations of abuse or mistreatment at the boys’ school as Child Protective Services cases. Such cases are confidential under statute, according to Wyoming Department of Family Services Director Korin Schmidt. Child Protective Services is part of the family services department, meaning the agency itself investigates allegations against the boys’ school, which it oversees, without external oversight or transparency. 

The department said in a statement to Wyofile that it doesn’t work with third-party, independent investigators when looking into complaints at the boys’ school. 

Most of the defendants, including Weber, continue to work at the boys’ school, employee rosters show. Defendants Mark Nelson, Kevin McGinty and Darryl Coronado no longer work at the school. 

Since October, Weber has also served as the interim superintendent of the Wyoming Girls’ School after long-time superintendent Chris Jones retired, according to the Department of Family Services. 

WyoFile editor Tennessee Watson contributed to this story. 

Correction: This story has been updated to correct the number of times the restraint chair was used in 2021 and to clarify that Dale Weber had not yet become the boys’ school superintendent in 2021. Language was also added to describe what was over a former boys’ school resident’s head in a photo. —Ed.

Maya Shimizu Harris covers public safety for WyoFile. She was previously a freelance writer and the state politics reporter for the Casper Star-Tribune.

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  1. I’ve seen restraint chairs in use for adults while I was an S.O. employee. They serve a specific purpose and when used for that purpose are not a “torture device”! The removal of this option begs the question what will replace it? A “raging” person needs control to keep them from self harm or harm to others. How shall this now be done? Indeed there is little doubt the boys school used it inappropriately. Perhaps better enforcement of the rules of use of this device is an option! Indeed those using it inappropriately should not only be dismissed but should be appropriately charged and punished as directed. Laws against torture and child abuse certainly exist! Use them!

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  2. The fact that Prison Industrial Complex torture methods are used on children shows exactly how broken the American Just-us system is.

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