LAKE DELTON, Wis. -- A 33-year-old Lake Delton man was charged on Wednesday in connection with an amusement park accident last month in which a 12-year-old girl fell about 100 feet.

The Sauk County district attorney said Wednesday that ride operator Charles Carnell, 33, was charged with first-degree reckless injury. Carnell was taken into custody at about 4:40 p.m. on Tuesday at Extreme World.

He was taken to the Sauk County Jail.

Carnell's cash bail was set at $1,000. He was ordered not to have any contact with the victim's family and is barred from managing or operating the two remaining thrill rides open at Extreme World, WISC-TV reported.

The girl who was injured, Teagan Marti, of Parkland, Fla., was hurt after being dropped to the ground in a thrill ride accident. She was released from a platform 100 feet in the air on the Terminal Velocity ride, but the net that was supposed to catch her didn't.

"Charles is devastated -- he's just devastated. He feels absolutely horrible about what happened here. He made a mistake. He fully cooperated in the investigation. He's never done anything like this before," said Chris Van Wagner, Carnell's attorney.

Marti suffered numerous fractures in her back, neck and her skull, but her father said she doesn't seem to have any brain injuries and her spinal cord remains intact.

"Charlie's only concern, and I mean this, is for the poor young lady who was hurt because of the mistake he made. He can't get it off his mind," Van Wagner said.

Reports by Lake Delton police and the Wisconsin Department of Commerce said that protocol wasn't followed and operator error was the cause of the accident. The documents signed by Extreme World's owner acknowledge that the fall is the fault of a park employee.

Carnell's attorney said that while tragic and negligent, the act was not criminal and he will fight the charge in court.

"We respectfully disagree that the facts make out a criminal charge, and we will challenge that in the proper form. But that's going to be for the judge to decide -- not for me," Van Wagner said.

According to the criminal complaint, on the Terminal Velocity ride, patrons are lifted in a cage/platform to about 165 feet in the air. The cage is always taken to the top of the structure but hangs about 15 feet below the top.

Patrons are individually lowered through a trap door in the floor of the cage. When the all clear signal is given, the patron is released in order to drop 110 feet into a net and airbag located below. The airbag would be inflated to about 50 feet above the ground; when the patron is released and hits the airbag, it deflates by about half.

Police said Carnell was the "dive master" of the Terminal Velocity ride the day of the incident and was responsible for taking patrons to the top of the ride.

The complaint said that on July 30, the ride platform began to ascend but the cage stopped before it got to the top of the ride and was lowered slightly. Carnell looked over the side of the cage and saw that his co-worker was blowing up the airbags at the bottom of the ride, the complaint said.

After the cage began its ascent for the second time, Carnell make small talk with the patrons until the cage stopped again, and Carnell thought the cage was at the top of the ride, according to the complaint.

According to the complaint, Carnell told investigators that when the ride gets to the top, the first thing the dive master is to do is look over the side of the cage and give the all clear signal by putting his or her arms straight out to the side, away from the body. The dive master is then to wait for the same all clear signal form the ground operator.

"Carnell said he didn't look for or get the signal. He stated that he totally blanked out. He said he didn't know why. Carnell said he knew he should do it and that he had no reason not to. He said that when you get the signal, it means it's all clear; it means the bags are inflated," the complaint states.

The complaint said Carnell told investigators that when he looked through the trap door in the bottom of the cage to place Marti for the jump, he thought the airbags were inflated.

Carnell said the ride frequently stops during its ascent as air is added to the bags. He said if the ground operator sees a crease in an airbag, he or she will stop the cage and add more air, according to the complaint.

The complaint said that after Marti was released in a free fall, Carnell heard a thud and saw her land on her back. It said Carnell estimated the cage was approximately 100 feet in the air, rather than 165 feet, when he dropped her to the ground. When the girl hit the ground, that's when Carnell realized the cage was not at the proper height, according to the complaint.

"He has answered every question. He has appeared whenever asked to; he was told them everything he could remember. He has told them the mistake he made -- and a mistake is not a crime," Van Wagner said.

Marti remains at American Family Children's Hospital with serious injuries.

Doctors said the girl's injuries include, but are not limited to, swelling of the brain, several severe fractures of the cervical and lumbar segments of her spine, multiple fractures of her pelvis and lacerations to her liver, spleen, intestines and duodenum. At the time of her initial hospitalization, she was unconscious and unresponsive to any stimuli.

Doctors told investigators that fractures to the vertebrae had entered the spinal column, which might result in paralysis, according to the complaint. At the time of her initial hospitalization, the girl was not stable enough to undergo necessary surgeries.

Her father said Wednesday afternoon that Teagan is doing well but declined to elaborate. He said he could have an update on her condition for the media later this week.

The felony first-degree reckless injury charge carries a maximum sentence of up to 25 years in prison.

Carnell is due back in court on Sept. 20.