Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform > The Ridge Creek School / Hidden Lake Academy
Communications Between Concerned Citizen and Ed Con
Anonymous:
From: John Cornell <drjohntheshrink@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Jan 28, 2009 at 12:36 PM
Subject: Re: correction and adddendum RE: De. Buccellato and Hidden Lake Academy
To: adam@edconsult.org, alice@alicejackson.com, arcommit@sbcglobal.net, athompson@cpcmemphis.net, brownellenv@aol.com, bmason@masonconsult.com, bozak@mail.usa.com, burklittle@aol.com, caledcon@aol.com, ckocurek@academic-answers.com, cmbertram@cmbertramconsultants.com, consultrm@aol.com, darnold64@aol.com, dga84@aol.com, dana@childfamily.net, ddunbar@dunbarconsultants.com, drfred@drdred.net, edufax@edufax.com, ecg5@cornell.edu, eduoptions@aol.com, ejaheard@verizon.net, glasspn@optonline.net, gghales@earthlink.net, harrietbay@aol.com, hodakievicc@gao.gov, info@drburdick.com, isps-rsl@att.net, judirobin@aol.com, jekwfk@aol.com, jill@portered.com, jones.yvonne@comcast.net, jrclarke@cmbertramconsultants.com, kdavisonca@earthlink.net, kirkeducan@aol.com, linda.mcmullen@gmail.com, l.hamilton@cox.net, leslie@edconsult.org, lkahn@educationalconsulting.com, lmp317@msn.com, lon@woodbury.com, lynnluck@aol.com, mbodin@bodinassociates.com, mmoses@gate.net, margaritadonnelly@gmail.com, maryjanef@aol.com, mengeman@educationaldirections.com, nikeedcon@aol.com, nancy@nancymasland.com, padamsec@verizon.net, pam@gkirvin.com, peter@schoolcounseling.com, rwolframsis@airmail.net, rhyken@ed-psy.com, rob@schoolsthafit.com, sbdarling@aol.com, susanbedwards@att.net, schools2kn@aol.com, susan@educational-options.com, tancona@tagcounseling.com, tlee@ahpnet.com, vreiss2@earthlink.net, william.v.rapp@verizon.net, adam@edconsult.org; alice@alicejackson.com; arcommit@sbcglobal.net; athompson@cpcmemphis.net; brownellenv@aol.com; bmason@masonconsult.com; bozak@mail.usa.com; burklittle@aol.com; caledcon@aol.com; ckocurek@academic-answers.com; cmbertram@cmbertramconsultants.com; consultrm@aol.com; darnold64@aol.com; dga84@aol.com; dana@childfamily.net; ddunbar@dunbarconsultants.com; drfred@drdred.net; edufax@edufax.com; ecg5@cornell.edu; eduoptions@aol.com; ejaheard@verizon.net; glasspn@optonline.net; gghales@earthlink.net; harrietbay@aol.com; hodakievicc@gao.gov; info@drburdick.com; isps-rsl@att.net; judirobin@aol.com; jekwfk@aol.com; jill@portered.com; jones.yvonne@comcast.net; jrclarke@cmbertramconsultants.com; kdavisonca@earthlink.net; kirkeducan@aol.com; linda.mcmullen@gmail.com; l.hamilton@cox.net; leslie@edconsult.org; lkahn@educationalconsulting.com; lmp317@msn.com; lon@woodbury.com; lynnluck@aol.com; mbodin@bodinassociates.com; mmoses@gate.net; margaritadonnelly@gmail.com; maryjanef@aol.com; mengeman@educationaldirections.com; nikeedcon@aol.com; nancy@nancymasland.com; padamsec@verizon.net; pam@gkirvin.com; peter@schoolcounseling.com; rwolframsis@airmail.net; rhyken@ed-psy.com; rob@schoolsthafit.com; sbdarling@aol.com; susanbedwards@att.net; schools2kn@aol.com; susan@educational-options.com; tancona@tagcounseling.com; tlee@ahpnet.com; vreiss2@earthlink.net; william.v.rapp@verizon.net; wsdingle@educdir.com
Subject: correction and adddendumRE: De. Buccellato and Hidden Lake Academy
It has come to my attention that the assets of the Hidden Lake Foundation, a defendant in the class action suit were dissipated in legal expense in defense of the Foundation. Having no further assets, the foundation was dissolved. No secrets there.
First line of second paragraph should say " I do not take lightly" instead of "I take lightly." Correction has been made below.
Tom Croke
www.familylight.com
724-216-6843
212-537-6386
304-881-0252
412-203-3177
44.2033.717401
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Thomas J. Croke
Sent: Saturday, January 24, 2009 2:45 PM
To: John Cornell; Nancy Edwards; ahsmrs@yahoo.com; andyerkis@hotmail.com; atargan@earthlink.net; bfdudley@sbcglobal.net; bhopper719@aol.com; bonny@musinsky.com; btposner@aol.com; cadwallader@att.net; ceel@ceelkennygroup.com; claire@eduave.com; consuegraeducati@bellsouth.net; cwoodfin@bestschoolforyou.com; david@altshulerfamily.com; dwdingle@educdir.com; davidson@educationalconnections.com; dortorteri@aol.com; drockholz@aol.com; egordon@therightschool.com; echdas@aol.com; eduplanners@comcast.net; georgia@gkirvin.com; guidance@schoolcounseling.com; gjp3@cornell.edu; hgershman@academiccounseling.org; imywax@aol.com; info@marshalshumsky.com; jeanhague@aol.com; jeanne-hughes@sbcglobal.net; jgreenwd@greenwdassoc.com; john@johnhuie.com; jpd@dobconsult.com; judge@judgemason.org; kim@rubinedu.com; kreinercon@aol.com; Paula L. Rudy; lmay@campusselection.com; lauraseese@edadvancement.com; leslie@teenproblem.com; lmeberle@yahoo.com; loi@woodbury.com; lstednitz@aol.com; mbconsoli@aol.com; mengelman@educagtionaldirections.com; magormaneducon@concast.net; marjorie.schaffel@childrens.harvard.edu; mbaron@mmbedu.com; mlipkin@schoolsearch.com; nancy@creative-ed-options.com; pattimconsultant@aol.com; pam@ejobin.com; paulaedcon@sbcglobal.net; pkozokoff@aol.com; renee@optionsined.com; rkantar@aol.com; rsmansfie@aol.com; schoolbuff@comcast.net; schoolfinder@bellsouth.net; scottaas@comcast.net; susanedcon@sbcglobal.net; timeodave@aol.com; tom@thomascallahan.com; wbyeats@sbcglobal.net; worldedu2@aol.com; http://www.familylight.com/link3/3.05/3.052/index.htm. You will note that I am an equal opportunity irritant. There is enough in those guidelines to offend just about everyone. But we would have a better profession if everyone followed them. I point this out so no one would think I am simply defending Dr. Buccellato out of misplaced loyalty or a belief that we don't need improvements in our profession. Dr. Buccellato has his faults and our profession needs to improve. For that reason I write this. I have no loyalty to Dr. Buccellato. I do have a loyalty to his current students, none of whom were referred by me, and I do have a loyalty to a profession that must survive in the in the interests of the young people "Dr. Cornell" disingenuously purports to care about.
I am devoting part of my Saturday to write this because I care about the young people this industry serves and I do not take lightly threats to the ability of conscientious people to continue to serve their interests. I read with interest the financial papers in the link. There is no doubt that the vendetta that, you, "Dr. Cornell," have been instrumental in conducting has cost Dr. Buccellato millions of dollars in legal expense and lost revenue, so it is not surprising that he might come up short on payment of some obligations, such as the settlement to which you refer. However, without any guarantees, I am personally satisfied that he will not allow the school to fold as you suggest sending his students scattering without any kind of safety net. Again, I don't know for sure, but I would strongly suspect that a particular source that is not part of the litigation you refer to and is not legally obligated to pay any of the school's or Dr. Buccellato's debts would step in to finance an orderly completion process for students enrolled at the school if conditions were to require a cessation of new enrollments.
Whatever opinions I may hold about the quality or lack thereof at Hidden Lake Academy are derived by a comparison of that institution to the Guidelines you can read at http://www.familylight.com/link3/3.05/3.052/index.htm . I don't plan to discuss that further in this venue, except to say that one thing I am not personally worried about is that the school will suddenly shut down leaving its students in the lurch. The papers you refer to do not cause me or anyone else who really knows the situation alarm on that particular point. I would be very surprised if, despite your best efforts the school will stop taking new enrollments.
Out of concern for the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of students in schools comparable to Hidden Lake Academy I want to respond to the email itself and its author.
First, if your motivation is to get the defendants in this case paid, you might consider cutting back on your efforts to undermine the defendants financially. You seem to be acting against the interests of the plaintiffs here, trying to provoke a situation which would result in them never getting paid. If your motivation is to prevent kids from being harmed, you might want to check out the improvements in the school in the past year (not meaning to imply confirmation that there ever was abuse there -- for purposes of this communication, I'm not discussing the what may or may not have happened some years ago. You might also reconsider your affiliation with those attempting to shut down the entire range of specialty schools and programs, identifying (in some cases, perhaps correctly) past abuses but ignoring the benefits to thousands of young people able to have normal lives because of these schools. With the enormous amount of time I am putting into my website, I am paying my dues on a serious effort to improve our profession, but unlike you and your associates, I am not attempting to throw out the baby with the bathwater. Unlike you, I care about these young people and I am not using them as pawns in a personal vendetta.
Next, there is the matter of "Dr. John the Shrink" AKA "John Cornell." The email address suggests that you, "Dr. Cornell," are a clinician at the doctoral level. I have run your name on the web and the only John Cornell who comes up who fits that description is a research psychologist who is probably not you. If you are a credentialed person in any capacity, lets have your true name, your place of business, and your license number. In any case, no matter who you are, if you have something constructive to say, out of concern for the young people you disingenuously purport to care about, tell us who you really are instead of simply trying to cloak yourself in camouflage. If you are to have any credibility identify yourself. From what I see from the way you try to lead us to believe you are a practicing psychiatrist, from the same information I can only draw the conclusion that you are a mentally unbalanced liar obsessed with a vendetta that controls your life the way heroin controls the life of an addict.
I know very little about the Chapel issue. I do know that it is irrelevant to the point you appear to be trying to make. Where did the money go? I don't know for sure, but I would strongly suspect that the resources of the entire foundation would not come close to making a significant dent in the $400,000 judgment you claim you want paid. Not-for-profit foundations with significant assets must file a 990 form annually with the IRS. I have searched the relevant data base for a 990 from the Hidden Lake Foundation, Inc. for 2005, 2006 and 2007, and I find nothing. The conclusion I draw is that there are not and never were significant assets. If there were enough to build a chapel, there would be a 990. If there were enough to pay a significant portion of the judgment, there would be a 990. I don't see evidence of mishandling of funds. However an examination of the 990 for HLA, Inc. shows the substantial personal expense -- well over $1,000,000 -- that Dr. Buccellato has put into the operation of this not-for-profit school to compensate for losses this situation has created. He gains nothing and is pouring his own resources into keeping it going. You are probably pleased that this is hitting him in the bank account. But the evidence is that he cares enough about the students in the school to do that and you care about nothing but doing damage.
I am not evaluating either Hidden Lake Academy or Dr. Buccellato in this communication. I am asserting that this kind of attack is transparently without regard for the best interests of the students at Hidden Lake Academy and the plaintiffs in the settled lawsuit. It is about destruction for the sake of destruction. It is about a totally irresponsible vendetta, seeking only to do damage. It comes from a source whose integrity and bona fides are seriously in question by the dubious implication that the source is a practicing psychiatrist.
Tom Croke
www.familylight.com
724-216-6843
212-537-6386
304-881-0252
412-203-3177
44.2033.717401
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: John Cornell [drjohntheshrink@gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, January 23, 2009 10:48 PM
To: Nancy Edwards; ahsmrs@yahoo.com; andyerkis@hotmail.com; atargan@earthlink.net; bfdudley@sbcglobal.net; bhopper719@aol.com; bonny@musinsky.com; btposner@aol.com; cadwallader@att.net; ceel@ceelkennygroup.com; claire@eduave.com; consuegraeducati@bellsouth.net; cwoodfin@bestschoolforyou.com; david@altshulerfamily.com; dwdingle@educdir.com; davidson@educationalconnections.com; dortorteri@aol.com; drockholz@aol.com; egordon@therightschool.com; echdas@aol.com; eduplanners@comcast.net; georgia@gkirvin.com; guidance@schoolcounseling.com; gjp3@cornell.edu; hgershman@academiccounseling.org; imywax@aol.com; info@marshalshumsky.com; jeanhague@aol.com; jeanne-hughes@sbcglobal.net; jgreenwd@greenwdassoc.com; john@johnhuie.com; jpd@dobconsult.com; judge@judgemason.org; kim@rubinedu.com; kreinercon@aol.com; Paula L. Rudy; lmay@campusselection.com; lauraseese@edadvancement.com; leslie@teenproblem.com; lmeberle@yahoo.com; loi@woodbury.com; lstednitz@aol.com; mbconsoli@aol.com; mengelman@educagtionaldirections.com; magormaneducon@concast.net; marjorie.schaffel@childrens.harvard.edu; mbaron@mmbedu.com; mlipkin@schoolsearch.com; nancy@creative-ed-options.com; pattimconsultant@aol.com; pam@ejobin.com; paulaedcon@sbcglobal.net; pkozokoff@aol.com; renee@optionsined.com; rkantar@aol.com; rsmansfie@aol.com; schoolbuff@comcast.net; schoolfinder@bellsouth.net; scottaas@comcast.net; susanedcon@sbcglobal.net; timeodave@aol.com; tom@thomascallahan.com; wbyeats@sbcglobal.net; worldedu2@aol.com; http://fornits.com/hla/Buccellatto%27s_ ... motion.pdf
psy:
HAH. Tom Croke. My favorite ed-con.
I remember what happened last time I tried to write him a letter:
http://www.benchmarkyoungadultschool.co ... e-Decl.pdf
Anonymous:
--- Quote from: "psy" ---HAH. Tom Croke. My favorite ed-con.
I remember what happened last time I tried to write him a letter:
http://www.benchmarkyoungadultschool.co ... e-Decl.pdf
--- End quote ---
I don't understand what he's trying to convey in that deposition. All it basically says is that yes, he is an EdCon. That yes, you sent him an "unsolicited email" (that made me laugh). That yes, you made some accusations against Benchmark. And that no, he did not contact you in return despite your request for him to do so. That's it. WTF was that all about?
Anonymous:
So basically we need to call the IRS to find out where these funds have gone. 990's should have been filed. Why haven't they?
And you, Mr. Croke, can be called as a witness to testify on behalf of the IRS to find out how you received your information about the dissolution of the Chapel Funds (which later was renamed the Convocation Center Fund). Don't worry Mr. Croke, you'll be getting a call or letter from Len telling you to no longer post on this site.
Shortly after the fundraiser and the filing of the lawsuit poor Lou's job was eliminated. Could it be because he was trying to find out how to legally file taxes?
viewtopic.php?f=41&t=14800&p=186899&hilit=chapel+fund+midsummer#p186899
A Midsummer's Evening to Remember
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The Hidden Lake Academy Foundation Board is hosting a Midsummer Night's Art and Auction Party on Thursday, July 20, at Twinhouse Gallery at 2815 Peachtree Road in Atlanta to benefit the Chapel Fund. The Chapel will be HLA's convocation center where the community will come together for reflection, meetings, and services.
You will receive a formal invitation at the end of April, but we are writing to you now to ask for your help. We need items for the auction, and we are looking for sponsors. Space is limited at the gallery, and we want to have an auction that is fabulous and exciting. One parent has offered a vacation package at his resort, which is a wonderful item and representative of the type of item that we are looking for.
We want to offer spa packages, vacation packages, jewelry, antiques, fine wine, fine spirits, handmade women's accessories, sports memorabilia, tickets to sporting events, sports adventures, and other unique and memorable items.
We would very much appreciate your letting us know if you have something that you would contribute to help make this an "affair to remember." We also need sponsors. Sponsors will receive prominent mention in all auction email communications and literature and on the Auction Web page, which will reach a very large audience.
To donate an item please
click the "Donate an Item" button
at the right, or you may contact me, Lou Randall, at my email address or at 800.394.0640. Thank you, and I look forward to hearing from you.
Sponsors Needed
In addition to needing quality items for our auction catalog, we need sponsors to help make this evening a success. Sponsors will have clickable links on the Auction Home Page and will be mentioned in all Auction correspondence and literature. Sponsor logos and messages will reach a very large audience.
Please Patronize Our Sponsors
Twinhouse Gallery will donate 10% of the sale price of any piece of art purchased through the online and live event or directly from the gallery so click on their link and take a look at the extraordinary art offered at this unique gallery.
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Donate an Item to hla Sign % Org_Info.getAlias() %>'s Guestbook Refer Your Friends to hla
Special thanks to our sponsors...
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Ph: 800.394.0640
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I will offer a note of clarification regarding the Chapel Fund. Hundreds of people, including dozens of educational consultants, donated to the Chapel Fund, and some donated substantially, meaning thousands of dollars. Many of them appear on the list of names to whom this letter is being copied. They know how much they gave and that the expressed purpose for their giving was to build the Hidden Lake Chapel, not supplement Len's lifestyle. By Len's own account, as stated in a 2003 edition of Hidden Lake Reflections, the official school newsletter, he was getting "close to the goal" of one million dollars. When Patrick Kennedy, a former Hidden Lake student, died in October 2006 shortly after graduating from Hidden Lake, his obituary included the following quote: "Donations may be made to Chapel Fund - Patrick Kennedy, Hidden Lake Academy, 830 Hidden Lake Road, Dahlonega, Georgia 30533." That your search turned up nothing underscores the fact that the Chapel Fund and all the money it contained has disappeared. Pretending it never existed just won't cut it.
psy:
--- Quote from: "Guestarooni" ---
--- Quote from: "psy" ---HAH. Tom Croke. My favorite ed-con.
I remember what happened last time I tried to write him a letter:
http://www.benchmarkyoungadultschool.co ... e-Decl.pdf
--- End quote ---
I don't understand what he's trying to convey in that deposition. All it basically says is that yes, he is an EdCon. That yes, you sent him an "unsolicited email" (that made me laugh). That yes, you made some accusations against Benchmark. And that no, he did not contact you in return despite your request for him to do so. That's it. WTF was that all about?
--- End quote ---
More or less it's Benchmark trying to argue I contacted educational consultants to try to hurt their enrollments. They claimed the letter I sent Croke contained defamatory allegations. Yet, even if that were true (which it's not, since everything I said in that email was true), their argument would still fail since Croke continued (and continues) to refer to Benchmark (no harm, a necessary component). Their whole case was weak. It was a SLAPP suit, as the judge ruled.
In this context, what it demonstrates (and this is evaluative opinion) is that Croke is more than happy to take the side of a program (albeit purporting to be neutral) while simultaneously refusing to take allegations seriously, or even bother to further investigate them (in my case, he didn't bother to email me or call me back as requested). If I remember correctly, he was quite fond of referring to Samoa back in the day, if that tells you anything.
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