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Controversy swirls around 'Golden Pond' proposal
The announcement of a proposal by a group called "Golden Pond Ltd." to put a boarding school on the Kemper property is drawing letters, emails, phone calls and documentation from other boarding school graduates and their parents.
Arriving from cities around the country, the letters include newspaper clippings, personal letters and copies of reports accusing Golden Pond partner Randall Hinton of physical abuse.
One document described an incident allegedly occurring at Tranquility Bay, a WWASPS school, where a 15-year-old boy returned home with "chemical burns and scars in his genital area and rectum." The report also accuses Hinton of "dragging the boy across cement, causing a deep scar on his chin and knocking his tooth out."
Other allegations in the report include the use of pepper spray on an "almost daily basis" and the "scrubbing of the boys genitals with a toilet brush."
Hinton emphatically denied the accusations saying, "There was no chance he was beaten."
Hinton said he did remember sleeping in the hallway one night with a kid who "was trying hard to get kicked out." He is fairly sure it is the same child, and said the accusations are "lies."
Hinton advised he called the mother of the boy on a daily basis, but said she told Hinton to "keep the kid there, I can't deal with him."
He also advised the Jamaica Bay facility is reserved for the very worst case kids, "the toughest of the tough."
"The other WWASPS schools have a zero tolerance policy. Kids who get kicked out of the other schools are transferred to Jamaica Bay," he said.
Randall Hinton and his brother, Russell, have been been accessible to the media for questions, but to date no formal resume has been provided that would detail their experience or credentials.
Hinton advised he is part owner of the White River Adventure, which he said is a non-WWASPS affiliated school.
According to his biography, formerly posted on the website for White River Adventure in Puerto Rico, where Hinton has been working and living for the last three years, Hinton assisted in establishing Spring Creek Lodge, Montana; Tranquility Bay, Jamaica; and Carolina Spring Academy, South Carolina, as the Assistant Director for each facility. He has worked in the Marketing Department (Teen Help) for three years, helping parents place their children into the WWASPS Programs. Randall, as the directory, organized the facility and staff of the Academy at Dundee Ranch in Costa Rica. Randall left Dundee Ranch and the WWASPS Organization June of 2002. He has worked with at risk youth for the past ten years. Randall studied psychology at Dixie State College. He has now dedicated his life to producing a better atmosphere for young men and serving families in need."
