Did the Wyoming Boys’ School abuse youth? The first of six trials to determine that is underway.

After more than two years of litigation, the first trial concerning allegations of abuse at the Wyoming Boys’ School began Monday in Casper with two decidedly different views of the case.

Attorneys for the boy who says he suffered abuse at the state-run facility argue the case is about a child who needed help, but who was instead mistreated. Attorneys for the state contend the proceeding is “about difficult decisions made in difficult circumstances.”

The trial in U.S. District Court concerns the case of Blaise Chivers-King, one of six former boys’ school residents who lodged complaints against the facility in 2024. The school, which detains delinquent boys ages 12 to 21, is a 38-acre residential facility near Worland that’s overseen by the Wyoming Department of Family Services.

Chivers-King, who spent time at the boys’ school between 2020 and 2022, alleged school staff violated his 14th Amendment rights by placing him in isolation, using excessive force and infringing on due process. The defendants in this particular case are Wyoming Boys’ School staffers Thad Shaffer, Mike Nelson and Dale Weber, the school’s superintendent. The three sat in the courtroom Monday.

Facing eight jurors, Ciara Boerman, one of the attorneys representing Chivers-King, described him as a child who struggled with anxiety, anger and other emotions that he didn’t always know how to handle. She acknowledged that he was “a difficult child, but still a child.”

“Instead of helping him manage his emotions, they locked him away,” Boerman said of defendants Nelson and Weber. At some points, Chivers-King no longer wanted to live, she said.

Meanwhile, Catherine Young, an attorney for the defense, asserted her clients “responded to safety concerns, and did their best to keep everyone, including Blaise, safe.” Those decisions weren’t always easy, Young said. But the defendants didn’t violate Chivers-King’s constitutional rights.

Staffers isolated Chivers-King eight times, with one of those stints lasting 15 days. Boerman referred to Chivers-King’s isolation as “solitary confinement,” though defendants contest that label. Throughout her opening statements, Boerman showed images of the room where Chivers-King, who is expected to testify Tuesday, was isolated. The room contained one window in the door, which staffers sometimes covered with a magnet, according to Boerman. When Chivers-King attempted to look under the door, a staff member covered the crack with a mattress, Boerman said.

Staff members kept Chivers-King isolated even after he had calmed down, according to Boerman. At times, he hurt himself to get human interaction, Boerman said. She showed the jury photos of Chivers-King with an injury to his head after he had hit it against the wall in the room where he was isolated. Staff members’ reaction to this, according to Boerman, was to make Chivers-King clean his blood from the wall.

Young asserted that staffers attended to Chivers-King when he was isolated. “It was far more work when Blaise was on detention status,” she said. That’s because he required more individual attention, according to Young. “You’ll see that it was not solitary confinement,” the attorney said.

Boerman played a video for the jury of Shaffer, whom Chivers-King accused of using excessive force, holding a riot shield as he and several other staffers entered a room where Chivers-King was isolated. Chivers-King backed up as Shaffer pushed him against the wall and the group restrained him.

Young said the altercation followed repeated problematic behavior from Chivers-King that staffers tried to stop. Shaffer had to enter Chivers-King’s detention room with a riot shield to keep them both safe, and it was safer for multiple staff members to be involved in the encounter, according to Young. Nursing also got involved to check Chivers-King afterward. “And he was OK,” Young said. She noted that Chivers-King was over 6 feet tall and weighed about 270 pounds. “You’ll hear that he was capable of hurting people, and sometimes did,” she said.

Chivers-King continues to struggle with mental health issues related to his time at the boys’ school, Boerman concluded. “Blaise left the boys’ school, but the boys’ school has not left him.” Chivers-King is “more reclusive” and hardly leaves his room, according to Boerman. A doctor diagnosed Chivers-King with PTSD that, in the medical professional’s opinion, is directly related to his treatment at the boys’ school.

But Chivers-King’s mental health struggles, including PTSD, preceded his placements at the Wyoming Boys’ School, according to Young, who described his early childhood as marked by repeated abuse and neglect. “In short, for much of Blaise’s childhood, chaos was his normal experience,” Young said.

The school actually did good for Chivers-King, Young contended. He developed relationships with staffers, including the defendants, she said. Young showed a photo of Chivers-King outside walking a dog. Staff had arranged for him to visit an animal shelter off campus, she explained. Being with animals kept him calm and helped him deescalate.

The trial, which began after attorneys spent the morning choosing jurors, is expected to take five to seven days.

This story was originally published by WyoFile and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.