The top physician at VA Loma Linda Health Care System was called out by a federal judge for failing to obtain treatment for his mentally ill son, allowing him to amass a small arsenal before he allegedly torched a Texas synagogue in 2021.
The arson fire at Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Austin garnered national headlines and rocked the local Jewish community, leading to the arrest of Franklin Barrett Sechriest, a 20-year-old former Rancho Cucamonga resident scheduled to go on trial next month in Texas.
Sechriest’s parents — Dr. V. Franklin Sechriest II, an orthopedic surgeon and chief of staff at VA Loma Linda, and his wife, Nicole — allegedly ignored warnings in a 2016 mental health evaluation of their son, according to U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Lane of the Western District of Texas.
The evaluation — completed by a physician at The Menninger Clinic in Houston, one of the nation’s leading psychiatric hospitals — noted Franklin Barrett Sechriest suffers from several escalating mental health issues centered on hatred for other people, criminal behavior, and a passion for firearms and weapons, Lane said in a detention order last year.
Specifically, Sechriest and his wife allegedly failed to heed a warning from the physician to keep firearms away from their son. Instead, they “allowed” him to obtain a shotgun, three rifles and three handguns.
No ‘sustained’ treatment
“There is no doubt that the defendant’s parents love, care for, and want the very best for their troubled son,” the judge said. “Yet rather than implement a sustained mental health treatment plan, nothing consistent was ever done.
“Instead, based on the current state of the record, the defendant was simply monitored by a parent at home without the benefit of any counseling or medication. That effort failed,” said Judge Lane, who refused to grant Franklin Barrett Sechriest bail.
Richard Cofer, an attorney for Franklin Barrett Sechriest, argued in a court motion last year that his client should be released on bail because he did not pose a danger to the community, wasn’t a flight risk and had no previous criminal record.
“Mr. Sechriest has been provisionally accepted to a treatment facility that is enthusiastic to assist him,” the motion says. “Ordering the continued detention of a (then) 18-year-old who did not cause physical harm to anyone, has verified mental health diagnoses that are amendable to treatment, and is open and willing to engage in the necessary treatment does not serve the ends of justice.”
Sechriest and his wife were told by some of the most renowned medical institutions in the country, including Johns Hopkins and the Mayo Clinic, that their son suffered from a variety of disorders, including Tourette syndrome, autism spectrum disorder, sensory processing disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and anxiety disorder.
Neither Sechriest nor officials with VA Loma Linda responded to repeated emails and phone calls seeking comment.
Hired in Loma Linda in 2021
Sechriest was named VA Loma Linda’s chief of staff on Nov. 21, 2021, less than a week after his son was arrested for torching Congregation Beth Israel synagogue, which sustained more than $200,000 in damage.
As chief of staff, Sechriest is responsible for health care resources, improving hospital performance, ensuring patient and employee satisfaction and strategic planning. According to federal records, his salary in 2021, the most recent year for which figures are available, was $375,000.
By comparison, Dr. Steven R. Simon, chief of staff of the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, was paid $319,932 last year.
The average salary for a Veterans Health Administration medical officer such as Sechriest was $269,580 in 2021. VA Loma Linda officials could not be reached to explain why Dr. Sechriest is paid far more than the national average.
Sechriest’s son is charged with one count each of damage to religious property, use of fire to commit a federal crime and arson. No one was injured in the Congregation Beth Israel blaze.
Seen carrying gas can
Franklin Barrett Sechriest, who at the time was enrolled at Texas State University in San Marcos, was seen on security video carrying a 5-gallon container and toilet paper toward Congregation Beth Israel’s sanctuary on Halloween in 2021, according to prosecutors.
Moments later, multiple videos captured the distinct glow of a fire that appeared to come from the synagogue. A security camera captured Franklin Barrett Sechriest jogging away from Congregation Beth Israel and toward the open driver’s side door of a dark-colored Jeep Cherokee, the criminal complaint states.
During a search of Franklin Barrett Sechriest’s residence, FBI agents found a receipt for a 5-gallon container similar to the one seen in the video, according to prosecutors.
Also allegedly recovered were various handwritten journals with statements demonstrating hatred for the Jewish faith, including one that read, “I set a synagogue on fire.” If convicted, Franklin Barrett Sechriest faces 10 to 60 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Source: Orange County Register
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