Fornits
Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform => The Troubled Teen Industry => Topic started by: Anonymous on July 17, 2003, 01:07:00 PM
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One day in 1992, under the relentless Nevada desert sun, Paul Choy was being hassled, harassed and taunted in order, purportedly, to build his character and straighten him out. Finally, in reckless desperation, he tried to defend himself. That was just the signal his tormentors, called "coaches," needed to put their "restraint techniques" to the test. They were ready, waiting and thorough.
... After all, you can't allow dangerous, uncontrollable young delinquents to be mouthing off and threatening people, can you? When they say they can't take it anymore--they all say that--they're faking it. They're mostly a pack of liars and manipulators who never had any discipline. And, if you know your business, you don't relax your hold until they calm down and start cooperating. They aren't in boot camp to be mollycoddled, ya know, but to learn discipline, right?...
That was the scene, more or less, at a place prophetically called Rite of Passage. The last I heard, Paul Choy had indeed become very cooperative and was celebrating his 16th birthday in a hospital bed, brain dead and on life support. His was the first such case to come to my attention.
I've lost count of the number of children killed by asphyxiation in custodial settings. Yes, I said "asphyxiation." I know the preferred euphemism here is "restraint." But out of respect for the victims and respect for the English language, I'll stick with the other word.
After the event, there was the predictable mad scramble to rationalize it. This explanation emerged: Paul was too frail a boy for that particular camp. He didn't have the "athletic ability." He should have been sent somewhere more suitable. His "accident" was the result of an unfortunate, but innocent, bureaucratic oversight. The authorities miscalculated when they sent a puny, little Asian kid to a camp designed for tough young thugs who are inured to being knocked around--ones who would benefit from being marched and exercised to exhaustion and could safely bounce back from almost any amount of mistreatment. The camp staff were only doing their job. The camp management was only following time-tested procedures. One boot camp apologist characterized Paul's demise as part of the "the window of loss," as though he were an egg in a large shipment of eggs to market. One must expect some breakage, particularly among the ones with prior defects. It's the price of doing business. Presumably, the "window of loss" is a small window, and the few who fall through it don't detract from the larger picture.
:cry: :cry: :cry: If one is prepared to accept such a rationalization, how then is one to integrate into this already sad picture the possibility that Paul had been raped not long before he was killed? Is sexual assault also covered by the window-of-loss theory? Those attending him in the hospital discovered recent trauma consistent with forced anal penetration. Granted, life at Rite of Passage was not intended to be a bed of roses, but at least it should have been safe in bed, considering that the boys' sleeping quarters were shared by their no-nonsense coaches.
Whenever the subject of youths dying violently in custodial settings breaks in the news, which is becoming more frequent as larger numbers of them are funneled into that industry, there is a call for better training of staff. One rarely hears the recommendation for more stringent vetting of applicants for staff positions. That would be unduly accusatory. The mere suggestion that there are people employed in such places who shouldn't be there, who are unfit to be entrusted with the power of life and death over the powerless, would shift the focus of attention onto politically dangerous territory. It could be the first step toward opening a debate over the very essence of youth boot camps and the like, their stated purpose and purported efficacy. It is far safer to leave an engine that is running -- and running well -- alone. Tinker with peripherals, if you must, such as better training for current staff, but don't challenge the fundamentals. Surely no one can reasonably object to better training. Every sensible employee welcomes additional training to help improve job skills. And just think of the exciting new employment :cry: opportunities for those who will be the trainers. Everybody wins. Hopefully, those who are unsuited to youth work will be weeded out, or will gracefully weed themselves out during the training process. This is wishful thinking. In fact, there is not a shred of evidence to suggest that sadists, bullies, molesters or would-be child-killers are that easily diverted or that they can benefit from in-service training, except, perhaps, to improve their ability to do their dirty work undetected. Also, having been duly trained and certified gives kid keepers an extra measure of deniability in the event of an "accident." And it's an extra measure of cheap good insurance for management. It is interesting to note that developers of so-called restraint procedures prescribe frequent periodic "refresher" courses for staff. Does the science of restraint change that often? Or is this a tacit recognition that its users are itching to restrain somebody, and then are prone to forgetfulness during the thralldom of execution?
Offshore facilities serving the "troubled youth" market typically operate in places where child abuse prevention laws are virtually nonexistent and recruit staff from among the locals. How thoroughly job applicants' qualifications to work in educational/therapeutic settings are assessed is anybody's guess. Employers are the sole arbiters of that standard. "Out of sight, out of mind," seems to be their unspoken motto. The financial balance sheets of these operations would change dramatically were they required to improve their criteria for hiring.
Stateside facilities typically set up in remote, inaccessible places where a laissez faire approach to child abuse prevention prevails and where they can easily isolate inmates from all outside contact, even from contact with their families. Isolation, they say, is essential to the success of the program. That's true, but not in the way they intend. It is hard to imagine a more favorable environment for custodial institutions staffed by people with few, if any, marketable peacetime skills. And one can easily anticipate how the owners would balk at having their operations opened to outside scrutiny or if they were required to meet minimum standards for the respect of their charges' human rights.
The purported benefits to those who pass through the camps remain entirely the stuff of myth and wishful thinking. Some studies have been done, and to date no one has been able to document that boot camp graduates fare better for the experience. As for the self-serving anecdotal "evidence" touted by the industry's enthusiasts and shareholders, it must set every skeptic's bullshit alarm bells ringing. My reading of the evidence suggests that the camps' clientele are nothing more than grist for a very profitable mill. The old-style reform school, but with "training" substituted for flogging, and phony "tough love" jargon substituted for the blunt (but more honest) cruelties of the original model, is enjoying a heady revival these days. It's a seller's market and business is booming. There's just one minor nuisance: the deaths.
IN MEMORIAM
Michelle Sutton, dead at age 15, Summit Quest
Kristen Chase, dead at age 16, Challenger
Paul Choy, dead at age 16, Rite of Passage
Aaron Bacon, dead at age 16, Northstar
Dawnne Takeuchi, dead at age 18, VisionQuest
Lorenzo Johnson, dead at age 17, Arizona Boys Ranch
Carlos Ruiz, dead at age 13, VisionQuest
Mario Cano, dead at age 16, VisionQuest
John Vincent Garrison, dead at age 18, VisionQuest
Bernard Reefer, dead, VisionQuest
Robert Zimmerman, dead, VisionQuest
Charles Lucas, dead, VisionQuest
James Lamb, dead, VisionQuest
Tammy Edmiston, dead, VisionQuest
Leon Anger, dead, VisionQuest
Charles Collins, Jr., dead at age 15, Crossroads for Youth
Jamie Young, dead at age 13, Ramsey Canyon
John Avila, dead, Rocky Mountain Academy
Danny Lewis, dead at age 16, VisionQuest
Nicholas Contreras, dead at age 16, Arizona Boys Ranch
Edith Campos, dead at age 15, Desert Hills
Matt Toppi, dead at age 17, Robert Land Academy
Chirs Brown, dead at age 16, Robert Land Academy
Eric David Schibley, dead at age 17, VisionQuest
Chad Andrew Frenza, dead at age 16, Polk County Boot Camp
Robert Doyle Erwin, dead at age 15, VisionQuest
Lyle Foodroy, dead, VisionQuest
Gina Score, dead at age 14, State Training School (South Dakota)
Bryan Dale Alexander, dead at age 18, Texas Correctional Services
Michael Wiltsie, dead at age 12, Eckert Youth Alternatives
Tristan Sovern, dead at age 16, Charter Behavioral Health System
Robert Rollins, dead at age 12, Devereaux School
Andrew McClain, dead at age 11, Elmcrest Psychiatric Hospital
Anthony Haynes, dead at age 14, American Buffalo Soldiers Boot Camp
Ian August, dead at age 14, Skyline Journey
Charles "Chase" Moody, dead at age 17, The Brown School (CEDU affiliated)
...and counting.
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"Is sexual assault also covered by the window-of-loss theory?"
It was covered by the "window of loss theory at Dundee". A student come staffer was assaulted and raped while at Dundee. The staff did not seek immediate medical attention for the girl. They did not want anyone to know what happened. They did not want there to be any proof out there. She almost died as a result of her injuries. She suffered severe trauma to the head leading to near death. I have had correspondence with the girl's mother and others who were with the girl while she healed from her terrifying experience.
The mother has chosen to remain silent about the incident...she works for WWASP as an aftercare coach.
This is one of the reasons why I know these places are so scary.
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carrie, i heard about that girl, she had a brain hemorage from being beaten so badly by her attacker, if this is the same girl. one seriously wonders why a mother would be associated w/them after something like that happens :flame: x
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carrie, i heard about that girl, she had a brain hemorage from being beaten so badly by her attacker, if this is the same girl. one seriously wonders why a mother would be associated w/them after something like that happens :flame: x
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I heard about that too. Carey - from my own checking - it was Amberlee Knight, the former director that didn't want to get help, the other staff did and they won, saving that girl's life. So do you wonder why Amberlee is now badmouthing a school that made her accountable for that decision and asked her to resign? I would have fired her ass and brought her up on charges. WWASP was being way too nice to her. As for the mom, she knows much more than we do and if she has chosen not to press charges then let it go. It's not up to us to judge her motivations. On both issues, we weren't there and are only doing our judging on heresay. Amberlee is not a realiable ally. I'm reserving my judgment of Litchfield until the investigation is complete.
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Amberly was out of the country when the incident occured. That can be verified. So, Anon, who ever you are getting your info from is mistaken. Kenny is the one who took the staff out drinking and it was Kenny who did not seek the medical attention that was needed.
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Carey,
I wonder how much this incident cost the wwaspies?
I'd really be a proud parent, if my daughter was raped while being entertained by wwasp management. NOT!!! What does a wwasp support/coach get for supporting the "program"?
I guess the catch phrase here is "there are no accidents".
I'd like to think, "If you swim with sharks you get bitten by sharks".
Unbelievable, how people are so easily led to a cliff, kind of like the Indians & buffalos!!!
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Who hired Kenny? Surely Amberlea knew he wasn't capable of running the place when she left the campus in his hands and did it anyway?? No students were involved? So Kenny didn't want to get help because of his role in getting the staff drunk - but then again, the staff didn't have to drink did they? Kenny, Amberlee and those involved were gone immediately after it happened? It sounds like they had a pretty good staff when the government invaded them but weren't allowed to intervene in the chaos??
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"Surely Amberlea knew he wasn't capable of running the place when she left the campus in his hands and did it anyway?? No students were involved?"
You are making statements and then putting a question mark at the end. Are you asking a question or are you making a statement?
"It sounds like they had a pretty good staff when the government invaded them but weren't allowed to intervene in the chaos??"
Once again, you have ended another statement with a quesion mark. Well, if you are trying to say that they had a pretty good staff when the government invaded, could you please elaborate on that? I would like for you to explain why you feel as though they had "a pretty good staff."
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On 2003-07-17 17:35:00, Anonymous wrote:
"Kenny, Amberlee and those involved were gone immediately after it happened?"
Who is represented in your statement of "those involved" and how do you know they were gone? Because someone at Dundee told you? Did they remain gone or were they back as soon as the dust settled?
Mr. Grant was "gone" from Tranquility Bay for awhile due to an inappropriate conversation he had with one of the boys there but was rehired and allowed to abuse several boys.
I also find it to be typical wwasp crap that it was somehow up to the mother to determine whether or not to file charges. Why didn't the victim get to make that decision????
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hello anon, Indisputably, there was a girl who suffered massive physical injuries and sexual abuse. In his interviews after the shut down, Ken Kay essentially said that it wasn't really "rape" because no criminal case was filed.
Even if you want to stick your head in the sand under the pretense of "objectivity", I say the situation speaks for itself. Dundee was locked down facility. NOBODY got in or out without the OK of Lichfield et. al.; As such, there are ONLY two possibile explanations: staff or inmates.
Either way the bottom line is, at a minimum, negligent supervision; or, to the extent that the institution participated in protecting the guilty, you have a coverup along the lines of the Catholic archdiocese of Boston (and we can take note of the fact that, in that case, the determined coverup led the institution to Bankruptcy Court).
You like Lichfield's explanation better than Amberly Knight's? Good Grief, Amberly Knight was like, the SIXTH director of the school in EIGHTEEN MONTHS. Look, ANY organization with that kind of turmoil in management ranks smells to high heaven. If you still think there is any doubt believe Narvin is "blameless", please give me a call. I have several million shares of Enron stock I'm sure you'd be interested in.
Sincerely,
Jeff Skilling.
If it was perpetrated by staff,
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I was asked to post this message from a parent who was at Dundee when the assault and rape occured.
"To set the record straight, I am a parent that was at Dundee when this incident occurred. Amberly was off grounds for a few days. Mr. Kenny was in charge. He was hired by Mr. Narvin Litchfield. He worked at Carolina Springs for quite awhile before being transferred to Dundee. He was considered by both students and staff as someone that had experience with this program. He did go out with the students and party. The rape did occur. And he was the one who hid it from everyone so that he wouldn?t be exposed. When Amberly and Joe returned to Dundee, this girl was taken to the hospital and the male graduate/staffer was being searched for by the police. Mr. Kenny was fired. Amberly had already resigned, not because of this incident, but stayed a few more days to spend time at the hospital with the mother and daughter. Incidentally, Mr. Kenny was then rehired by Mr. Lichfield and returned to Carolina Springs, where he still works. I am an eye witness to all of the above. What Mr. Kay, or any others say, is a lie."
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Anon, you said "As for the mom, she knows much more than we do and if she has chosen not to press charges then let it go. It's not up to us to judge her motivation."
I totally disagree with you. You are missing a big part of the problem with these programs. The assault and rape are bad enough, but then to withhold medical treatment in order to try and keep a lid on what happened. My boys were there. My boys were in the hands of people who were more concerned about protecting the "program" than they were about protecting the teens who were incarcerated there.
This mother, and aftercare coach for WWASP, has let a rapist and his accomplice go free. Both of these individuals are walking the streets here in the US today. Neither one of them have been held accountable for their actions. This mother will also be to blame for the next incident that occurs as a result of her own greed.
[ This Message was edited by: Carey on 2003-07-18 13:13 ]
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Again what ?wicked webs we weave as we seek to deceive " Amberly Knight brought the adult ex- students onto the campus in direct defiance of our directive that she had no ability to fire or hire after she went and "hired" a "personal assistant" named hiner with no discussion or agreement with the ownership.. which action showed how out of touch she had became and was spiraling more and more out of control?. as a result we (Joe Atkins, Conrad and Narvin) held a meeting with her and made sure amberly knew she had no hire or fire ability as part of her job description. Narvin was in Texas at the time of this incident and had no knowledge of her insubordinate actions...Joe later informed him that he specifically told her to "get those people off the campus" to which she retorted she was the "director" and would do as she pleased (she was in fact by the way one of 5 directors specifically over communications and Joe was the overall director and chief of operations.) she then took the company car without permission and went on a mini vacation to Manuel Antonio leaving these 2 questionable young adults with out any training or supervision to fend for themselves ?when these kids did as kids typically do in a totally new environment when there is no supervision and got into some type of physical dispute wherein the girl fell or was pushed back and hit her head after coming back onto the campus after getting drunk. ? the FBI of costa Rica OJJ, later concluded in their extensive investigation of the matter that the 2 ex students were adults and involved sexually and their incident wasn?t in any form a rape with the girl student being injured as the result of the boy simply defending himself as she physically attacked him in some jealous lovers rage?the boy had met some other person and was involved when the girl attacked them both?the situation was entirely unfortunate and entirely done without the owner Mr. lichfield s consent or knowledge and would have never happened but for the inappropriate actions of Amberly. the simple fact was amberly had left them after saying Hi having brought them down to her employers facility in direct opposition to the instructions of the ownership and then later claims to the press and in her letter to the pani that this was somehow the creation of the program or Mr. Lichfield that in fact told her she wasn?t to do any such thing?then after she did Joe asked her to remove them to which she refused?then to add insult to injury Mr. Lichfield upon returning from Texas and learning of the fiasco paid over $15000 to the hospital for the care of the girl that he never met or knew in any way out of simple compassion for the girl and also to do damage control created by the Dishonest and irresponsible actions of Amberly Knight. By the way Mr. Lichfield didn?t ever see or talk to amberly again she had disappeared and never came back and the program and ownership thought they happily had finally seen the last of this person. The talk of her quitting in ?disgust? is a lie she left because she knew that she was about to be fired for her Machiavellian ways and in fact she was sent a letter notifying her of her firing post facto in which these issues where mentioned? the amazing thing is how many times she has changed her stories since and the people on this site still buy it?.As carey Brock said so well Amberly lies and continues to do so.
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Wow, you were up late last night. Did the seminar run into overtime?
Who are you that you would have access to this info? Not asking for your given name or anything. Just want to know your affiliation w/ WWASP.
(my guess? thoroughly brainwashed parent, probably living off of bounty and seminar fees)Excepting drug activity for personal use or free
distribution from the sweep of the CSA would discourage the consumption of
lawful controlled substances.
acting US Solicitor General, Paul Clement; Ashcroft v. Raich
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They must not teach grammar at these seminars. Paragraphs and sentences would be a good start.
Wow, you were up late last night. Did the seminar run into overtime?
:rofl:
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My guess is that the Anonymous poster must be Conrad, since at one point he says "we (Joe Atkins, Conrad, and Narvin)." Joe would not misspell his last name. Narvin would probably not refer to himself repeatedly in the third person (although he's been known to do stranger things). Therefore, that leaves Conrad to be the Anonymous poster with incredibly bad grammar and an even worse memory of what actually happened.