Counselor accused of using 'choking game'

updated 5:46 p.m. ET April 18, 2008

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Authorities say a 17-year-old camp counselor has been arrested after teaching the "choking game" to two boys who passed out for several minutes.

Ronald Edward Riley was a counselor at a camp for children of deployed soldiers or those preparing to go overseas. Authorities say he put his hands around a boy's neck and choked him unconscious twice. A second boy also told authorities Riley choked him until he passed out.

Riley, of Saluda, was arrested at his high school this week on assault and unlawful conduct charges. He was being held Friday at a Clarendon County jail on $30,000 bail. Jail officials said they didn't know whether Riley had an attorney.

The choking game has killed 82 children from 1995 through 2007, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. The game is a fad among youth seeking the euphoric, dreamlike feeling that people get as blood rushes back to the brain.

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