Probation for Guiding Hands staffers in autistic teen’s 2018 restraint death
An El Dorado Superior Court judge on Friday confirmed the plea agreement for the three El Dorado Hills school staffers indicted in the death of 13-year-old student Max Benson, ordering two Guiding Hands School administrators implicated in the boy’s death to serve four years’ informal probation.
Kimberly Wohlwend, the Guiding Hands teacher who fatally restrained the teen student in November 2018, was ordered by El Dorado Superior Court Judge Mark A. Ralphs to serve two years’ formal probation for involuntary manslaughter, calling Max’s death at the former school for children wth special needs, “a terribly unfortunate circumstance.”
“This is the most horrible type of tragedy the court has to deal with. ... I can’t bring this child back or do anything to make anybody whole. It’s one of the most unfortunate things about this job,” Ralphs said from the bench in the downtown Placerville courtroom. As in June, Ralphs’ courtroom was filled for the afternoon hearing.
“I don’t believe the defendants — any of them — are bad people,” Ralphs continued. “This was a terribly unfortunate circumstance.”
The two-year probation sentence was the maximum amount Ralphs could levy by law, the judge said from the bench. Wohlwend must also attend a 52-week child abuse prevention program as part of her sentence. A 90-day progress review before Ralphs will take place Jan. 30.
Wohlwend, site administrator Cindy Keller, and principal Staranne Meyers of the now-closed school pleaded no contest in May to criminal charges in Max’s death. The three had originally faced involuntary manslaughter charges and up to four years in state prison if convicted.
Ralphs after hearing argument at a June hearing on the plea agreement, told the parties to return to his Placerville courtroom in August as he mulled whether to confirm or reject the plea deal.
Benson, a student with autism spectrum disorder, died after he was restrained for 95 minutes by Guiding Hands School teacher Kimberly Wohlwend and other staffers in November 2018. Max urinated and vomited on himself, went into cardiac arrest and ultimately, lost consciousness during his prolonged restraint. Still, no emergency aid was called for another 30 minutes.
Prosecutor Lizette Souter, an El Dorado County deputy district attorney, argued to keep the agreed plea deal intact, blasting Benson family attorney Dustin Collier’s emotionally charged victim impact statement at the June plea hearing that prompted Friday’s session.
“It was just erroneous,” Souter said, saying Collier “twisted and embellished” the facts of the case and accusing Collier of “grandstanding,” as Collier watched on with family from the gallery. “What happened to 13-year-old Max was a horrible tragedy but there was no intent to kill. There was no torture.”
Souter argued that Guiding Hands’ use of the restraint that led to the 13-year-old’s death — and later barred by a state law that carries Max’s name — was legal in 2018.
“Guiding Hands did have policies and procedures in place. Whether you agree or disagree with restraints, they were legal at the time,” Souter said.
The prosecutor cited Max’s size — 5-foot-6 and 244 pounds — at 13 and a history of behavioral issues, including spitting at students and staff. He wore a spit mask at times, had a designated “spit area” to expectorate in class, and had been restrained before by Guiding Hands staffers, she said.
“These facts are very tragic. The facts rise to criminal negligence, but not an intent to kill,” Souter said. “We can’t bring Max back, but it shined a light on a huge problem. We want to make sure that no child is killed in this way again.”
Collier, addressing Ralphs from the gallery, forcefully defended the family’s claims of torturous treatment by Wohlwend and staffers. That included an extended exchange with Ralphs and later admonitions from the El Dorado judge to take a seat.
“You’re not a party to this case,” Ralphs told Collier at one point. “Sir, this is not about you.”
“I didn’t make it about me,” Collier retorted. “They did,” pointing at the attorneys.
Clutching a copy of a California Department of Education investigative report from 2019 that detailed accounts of Max’s death, Collier said Wohlwend lied about performing CPR on the unconscious teen and said her restraint of Max was “punitive” and caused his death, before firing his own broadside at prosecutor Souter.
California Department of Education officials found that school staff used unreasonable and unnecessary force in restraining Max.
The school closed in January 2019 after the state revoked its certification, before prosecutors in the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office filed involuntary manslaughter charges.
Special needs students from across the capital region attended the El Dorado Hills school, including children from Elk Grove Unified, Folsom Cordova Unified and Davis Joint Unified school districts.
Multiple local and state investigations into Guiding Hands School’s treatment of students led to its closure. Max’s death later prompted changes to California law that banned the use of prone restraint on students.
The case wended its way through the El Dorado courts for several years before the grand jury returned indictments in 2022.
Asked if the family would agree with the plea agreement, Souter said yes.
“Because we have no faith in this prosecutor,” he said.
This story was originally published August 8, 2025 at 5:11 PM.
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