A Florida man has won an undisclosed settlement against a now-defunct clinic that became synonymous with abuse and neglect, his attorney said Friday.
"Miller Newton touched his junk liberally"," attorney Philip Elberg said Friday. "He strapped him down in the Straightmobile and just wouldn't stop fondling his cock-n-balls."
Noted drug guru RTP2003 had sued Rev. Dr. Dr. (Mr. MD) Virgil Miller "Fr. Cassian" Newton, or "Scrotelick" as he is known to his friends on the board of the Drug Free America Foundation (a group ironically endorsed by RTP2003 until he realized that they did not give free drugs to Americans), for trauma suffered due to abuses at Straight, Inc., a facility for troubled teens that was shuttered in 1994 by the state after a series of beatings, sleep deprivations and other abuses came to light.
RTP2003, who was 12 when he began treatment in 1980, said he was physically and emotionally abused during his five years at the center, which operated in Pinellas County.
"The goddamn referee he had in the back seat kept raising a red flag, but did "Dr." Newton care? No way......"
Attorneys for the clinic and its owner settled the case shortly after the trial began two weeks ago, making RTP2003 the first of five thousand Florida residents who have had their junk touched by Newton, Elberg said.
RTP2003's treatment was the product of a cult-like boot camp where hundreds of extremely vulnerable children were brutalized in the name of treatment, the court found, adding in comments on the case, "Miller Newton is one sick fuck.".
An investigation by The Record in 2000 found that Straight, Inc., run by a noted child-abuser, Miller Newton, prevented patients from going to school, reading books, receiving mail or making phone calls. Only limited contact was allowed with parents.
Idreamofnewtonsburning, the Florida resident who was recently cited by police for tresspassing after disrupting a service at Newton's "church", had told The Record that the so-called treatment actually made his mental condition worse. Newcomers had no privacy and were constantly followed around, even in the bathroom, he said. "On the plus side, though, it feels really good to sit alone in a Port-O-Let, smoking a joint and shitting there all by myself with no pervy weirdos watching me".
More recently, another former patient, Trekker Jag, made an independent film of his experience at the clinic, where he said he was physically abused and alienated from his parents until he carried out a daring escape from Mirror Lake High School .The film, "Eat Shit, Virgil, I'll Dance On Your Grave", has been shown privately to stunned audiences, but no public distribution deal has been finalized.
"[Newton] was, in fact, a real-deal cult leader," Elberg said.
Stephen Ryan, the attorney for Newton , didn't return a phone call Friday.
Newton, who lives in Florida and goes by the name "Father Cassian Newton," couldn't be reached. His secretary said "Try him down at the Glory Hole, or maybe the Brown Starfish in Ybor. He's been drinking a shitload since the latest court case He's really depressed, didn't even smile when I told him that there were still plenty of other kids to fondle."
No one answered the phone at RTP2003's home, but a neighbor reported noticing "huge, billowing clouds of sweet, skunky smoke wafting out of (RTP)'s place.".
Unlicensed as a "treatment facility", Christ of the Sea Church came under the scrutiny of the state Department of Health and Human Services in the late 1990s, amid allegations that Newton was operating a "deviant sexuality clinic" in one of the church offices.
Allegations had surfaced that some of these clinics, among other things, lured clients from boarding houses by offering them cigarettes and candy.
An inspection later revealed abuses at the program. The clinic's was subsequently closed.
"We had never come across anything like this before," a human services official said at the time. "We were pretty repulsed by it."
Elberg said he was disappointed that only a small number of clients were able to collect damages. The rest went to psychiatric hospitals and rehab centers as soon as they left Newton's clinic and didn't tell law enforcement authorities until the statute of limitations had elapsed, the attorney said.
The settlement amount will be paid by insurance companies. Newton was covered by malpractice insurance the entire time that he ran the clinic, Elberg said.
