Author Topic: USA v Scott Bloch - Medical Whistleblower impact statement  (Read 6420 times)

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USA v Scott Bloch - Medical Whistleblower impact statement
« on: April 17, 2011, 04:54:41 AM »
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ))) ) ) Magistrate Case No: 10-215-M-0-DAR
v. )
SCOTT BLOCH )
)
DEFENDANT )


_________________________________________ )

VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENT OF JANET LOUISE PARKER

My name is Janet Louise Parker and I am the Executive Director of Medical Whistleblower, in Lawrence, Kansas. As a human rights defender, Medical Whistleblower steps forward to directly advocate for those who report medical fraud, abuse and neglect and human rights violations.1 Medical Whistleblower provides educational materials to enhance understanding of human rights issues especially those issues involving health care and the medical community. Medical Whistleblower also runs a non-profit human rights advocacy network, the Medical Whistleblower Advocacy Network. The Medical Whistleblower Advocacy Network works in collaboration and cooperation with other non-profit organizations and individuals, to publicly promote human rights advocacy and enforcement. The Medical Whistleblower Advocacy Network provides public petitions for purposes of encouraging legislation that will promote human rights and protect human rights defenders. In 2010 the Medical Whistleblower Advocacy Network provided the United Nations with a report for the USA’s Universal Periodic Review.
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I, Janet Louise Parker, come before this Court to file this victim impact statement, under Victims’ Rights Laws and Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure Rule 32,2 to advocate as a human rights defender for all persons who have been harmed because of Scott Bloch’s lack of enforcement of whistleblower protections, lack of enforcement of civil rights protections and refusal to enforce international human rights law. Scott Bloch in his role as counsel for the Office of Special Counsel did not do his duty to protect those who provided valid whistleblower complaints even those brought forward by human rights defenders and mandated reporters.

The United States of America has a primary responsibility for protecting the human rights of its citizens3 and for protecting human rights defenders. In this great nation, the United States of America, we have a blemish on our record of defending human rights, because high governmental officials turned a blind eye while children were neglected and abused in Teen Challenge and other residential treatment centers.4 Scott Bloch, former Deputy Director and counsel to the Department of Justice's Task Force for Faith-based and Community Initiatives (2001-03) was responsible for failing to protect the human rights of US citizens in the Teen Challenge programs and other non-governmental organizations funded by that office. We cannot stand as an example for other nations when we have not yet secured the protection of human rights for our own children on our own soil. When mandated reporters or human rights defenders come forward to report concerns to governmental authorities such as the Office of Special Counsel, we must provide them adequate, and meaningful protections and effective action on their complaints.

In order to protect our civil liberties and rights guaranteed under the US Constitution and all of its amendments and the Bill of Rights, we as a nation must ensure the protection of human rights defenders. The United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders A/RES/58/178 of
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22 December 2003 - Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms 5 is addressed not only to States and human rights defenders but to all individuals, groups and organs of society. Article 10 of the Declaration states that “No one shall participate, by act or by failure to act where required, in violating human rights and fundamental freedoms.” The United States of America has an obligation as a nation state to protect the rights of defenders against abuses by third parties.6 7 Many whistleblowers and human rights defenders reported human rights violations within programs funded by grants from the White House Office for Faith-based and Community Initiatives. It is important that our government publicly reaffirm the importance of the work carried out by human rights defenders. Human rights defenders helping victims to access justice for violations of human rights law or international humanitarian law, even attorneys, are regularly subjected to threats, violence and harassment. Human rights defenders can be prevented even from providing humanitarian aid to victims of human rights violations. It is a common tactic to put these courageous whistleblowers through hostile workplace evaluations meant to discredit them and remove classified security clearances, medical licenses, pilot’s licenses and other professional credentials from human rights defenders in order to halt their advocacy.

Scott Bloch as former Special Counsel at the United States Office of Special Counsel (OSC) failed to uphold anti-discrimination laws and whistleblower protections for federal employees and also failed in his duties at the Office of Special Counsel to protect human rights defenders as required under international human rights law. We need to see the Office of Special Counsel abide by its nondiscretionary statutory duties to enforce the laws within its jurisdiction, particularly 5 U.S.C. §1214(e), as well as ascertaining that the Merit Systems Protection Board

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(MSPB) studies whether federal employees are adequately protected from reprisal and other prohibited personnel practices (PPP’s), per 5 U.S.C. §1204(a)(3), and how agency heads have interpreted their nondiscretionary statutory duty to “prevent PPPs,” per 5 U.S.C. §2302(c).

When Scott Bloch was appointed as Deputy Director and counsel to the Department of Justice's Task Force for Faith-based and Community Initiatives, Teen Challenge centers already had a well known public reputation for child abuse. Their tactics were known to be remarkably similar to documented abuse within Straight, Inc. which was the most abusive "behavior modification" clinical trials8 and insurance fraud ever documented in the U.S.A. (50,000 children and adults were in Straight Inc.).9 Melvin Sembler, former head of Straight, Inc., now operates the Drug Free America Foundation,10 which endorsed and made direct referrals to Teen Challenge. Thus Teen Challenge may be acting as the de facto inheritor of Straight, Inc.'s legacy of child abuse and neglect as well as their business model using troubled teens for profit. The abuse of children in residential centers has not stopped but has gotten even more governmental power to hide its true nature from law enforcement and regulators. Abusive teen rehabilitation centers are now even more numerous and the industry is still not regulated by the US federal government. There is no adequate means to monitor these facilities for human rights abuses.

Teens who ended up in the Teen Challenge programs did not really “volunteer.” Teen Challenge gets the vast majority of its residents either directly from the jails or from courts which sentence them to a live-in program in lieu of jail. This usually happens after the judge gives the individual a choice to go to a correctional facility or Teen Challenge for year.11 Any student leaving Teen Challenge without completion of the 12 month program can be court ordered to a correctional facility for non-completion of the courts requirements. Teen Challenge also actively recruits right from the jails. Law Enforcement Assistance Agency (LEAA)12 grants
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were responsible for the rapid growth of teen rehabilitation centers which did not need to meet the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) standards for clinical research using human subjects.

Teen Challenge in Texas was the first facility exempted from licensing and inspection regulation.13 The arrangement between governmental financial support and Teen Challenge raises questions about the constitutional separation of church and state. As exempt faith-based drug treatment centers, Teen Challenge facilities are not required to have licensed chemical dependency counselors, conduct staff training or criminal background checks, protect client confidentiality rights, adhere to state health and safety standards, or report abuse, neglect, emergencies and medication errors.14 Amid continuing complaints of physical, emotional, psychological and sexual abuse, 15 Teen Challenge programs are reported to foster a deliberate atmosphere that was both anti-gay 16 and anti-Semitic.17 Several former students of Teen Challenge say that staff 1) use physical punishment 18 2) ridicule intimidate and/or verbally abuse children 19 3) use chemical restraints 20 4) employ cruel or humiliating treatment or other emotionally abusive behavior 21 5) abuse sexually 22 6) assign excessive exercise or work duties 7) deny food, clothing, shelter, medical care 23 and/or prescribed therapeutic activities 24   8) deny contacts with family, counselors, or legal representatives as a form of punishment 25 9) force them to do missionary activity 26 which may be also a violation of child labor laws 27 and 10) force them to sign over paychecks to Teen Challenge.28 Teens confined to Teen Challenge have also been victims of forced labor scams 29 such as an unlicensed telemarketing scam in Florida that paid workers only 33 cents a day for a 40 hour work week while at the same time swindling the public with a fraud scheme.30 There are cases where teens have been subjected to cruel and degrading treatment and even what could be considered torture 31 with no possibility to escape
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from their abusers as they are court ordered into the facility and refused contact with the outside world even their families.
Teen Challenge facilities were cited for abuse as early as 1998.32 As a US Attorney, Scott Bloch demonstrated a lack of proper due diligence in his work and clear bias, as he awarded start up grant money (2001-03) to Teen Challenge programs even though the facilities were not required to meet regulatory health and safety standards, and were not inspected. Amidst all the media coverage over Teen Challenge child abuse and without this influx of federal funding, the centers would surely have lost clients and probably closed. But the combination of jail recruitment strategies and extensive funding supplied by the Faith-based and Community Initiative grants along with an exemption from having to demonstrate compliance with existing standards, faith based facilities were flourishing. In Florida and Texas, Teen Challenge centers were being accredited by the Texas Association of Christian Child Care Agencies (TACCCA) and the Florida Association of Christian Child Care Agencies (FACCCA). The programs have no medical component and center instead of around prayer, Bible study and religious conversion. With no regulatory control over the quality of the staffing, Teen Challenge in Winthrop Maine hired registered sex offenders for staff.33 Teen Challenge facilities did not uphold First Amendment rights and also did not enforce workplace anti-bias laws.34 There was also lack of proper oversight over the educational standards of the program.35

Torture is the calculated physical and psychological assault on the individual, a practice used to instill fear, punish or degrade, to dehumanize, or to obliterate the self. The true goal of torture is soul murder. It is often said that anyone who has been tortured remains tortured, long after the physical wounds have healed. Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain by one human being against another, thus it leaves particular kinds of mental and psychological scars.
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This soul wrenching trauma is different from other traumas because torture is a violation committed in secret and in spite of official denial. Many believe that torture only occurs in the most repressive regimes, but the reality is that torture is widespread in all parts of the world. Although it is often perpetuated by police or security forces, it can also be carried out by detaining authorities such as immigration officials, prison staff, hospital staff, and in Teen Challenge it is done by peer mentors and staff. Torture can be physical or psychological. Many can understand severe physical abuse as being torture. But psychological torture like that practiced by the staff at Teen Challenge or any of the Straight Inc. derivative centers can be just as traumatic. The psychological wounds of both physical and psychological torture last a lifetime. The coercive and abusive methods of Straight Inc. which were mimicked by Teen Challenge staff were designed to obliterate the sense of self and instill fear and obedience to authority in young teens. These abusive methods included sleep deprivation, beatings, sexual humiliation, sexual assault, prolonged sitting or standing in forced positions, isolation and detention for prolonged and indefinite periods of time, forcing one teen to abuse another and prolonged denial of rest, sleep, food, water, and adequate hygiene.

Many victims continue to suffer in silence and torture victims commonly report feelings of fear, guilt, shame, anger, disillusionment, insecurity and humiliation. For victims of torture coming forward to speak about what happened to them is very difficult. This is true for the tens of thousands of US children who were physically and psychologically abused and even sometimes sexually abused in the program called Straight Inc. and its legacy program Teen Challenge. What happened behind the closed doors of Teen Challenge is very deeply personal and highly traumatizing and so speaking about it can evoke for survivors a range of emotions.
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Survivors are afraid to speak publicly and may not have fully revealed their experiences to families and friends, in some instances they may not have come to terms with it themselves.

Survivors of torture find it very difficult and challenging to try to move forward with their lives. Many who had spent time in Straight Inc. and other abusive teen rehabilitative centers such as Teen Challenge speak with frustration that the fact, that their torture actually occurred, has never been publicly acknowledged. This denial wounds the soul. Teen Challenge survivors have individual and often different conceptions of justice, some speak of the importance of criminal prosecutions, and others speak about civil compensation, rehabilitation or prevention of recurrence. But for everyone there is a need to restore that sense of dignity and control that was taken from them when they were tortured.

The United States of America which has signed the UN Convention Against Torture and therefore has an obligation to investigate, prosecute and punish those who do torture. But the reality is that society has a deep seated prejudice toward the weak or powerless and there is a special stigma in the cases of persons who claim to be psychologically injured and who need to seek compensation or support. Governments are a reflection of the pervasive reactions to the horror of torture and so therefore denial, indifference, avoidance and repression are common. Impunity of the perpetrators will prolong, or in some cases deepen, the mental scars borne by the victim or by members of their families, as denial of the wrong makes psychological healing difficult. To obtain any justice through the court system, the torture victim is expected to testify to and provide a recounting of the violation suffered in order to create a public record of the event, and while this truth– telling may have a reparative value for many victims, it may also be deeply traumatic bringing to the surface old emotional wounds. In addition those suffering from the mental anguish of torture do not always show physical scars and thus it is easier to deny the
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extent of their trauma and suffering. The right to reparation for victims of a wrongful act is a well-established principle of international law.36 I believe that we can no longer afford to endorse the kinds of political compromises that give rise to de jure or de facto amnesties for perpetrators or enablers of torture within the teen residential treatment industry.

The Special Counsel at the United States Office of Special Counsel should scrupulously comply with the law in discharging his/her duty and that includes communicating with Congress and cooperating with the US Department of Justice. The US Congress has just newly enacted Public Law 111-122 The Human Rights Enforcement Act of 2009 passed on Dec. 22, 2009. Participating for the first time in the Universal Periodic Review Process, President Barack Obama has publicly announced our nation’s renewed commitment to the principles embodied in international human rights law. So now is the time to enforce the protection of human rights here in the U.S.A.

I believe that the highest officials of Department of Justice should keep faith and human solidarity with victims, survivors and future human generations, and reaffirm the international legal principles of accountability, justice and the rule of law, by demanding accountability for those who did not take action to stop the abuse of children and adults in Teen Challenge.

Many victims of Teen Challenge feel that a public apology including acknowledgment of the facts and acceptance of responsibility is particularly pertinent. Officials such as Scott Bloch, former Special Counsel at the United States Office of Special Counsel (OSC), were supposed to uphold whistleblower protections for federal employees and act on their complaints, especially complaints regarding the abuse of children.
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I submit this victim statement not just for myself as a human rights defender but also for all who have had their human rights violated because of the lack of enforcement of whistleblower rights, civil rights, and human rights. I hope the Court will consider that there have been grave violations of human rights due to the lack of proper enforcement of both federal law and international human rights law by Scott Bloch. Scott Bloch plead guilty to criminal contempt of Congress for withholding from the US Congress and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee "pertinent" evidence concerning his misconduct in office. Scott Bloch’s actions could be construed as intent to hide these human rights violations from the US Congress, the US President and the Supreme Court of the United States. I believe this should be considered when determining his sentence in this criminal case and the range of time he could be incarcerated. Sentencing Scott Bloch to incarceration would send a clear message that US public officials need to properly discharge their duties prior to giving out federal grant moneys to unlicensed, uninspected and unregulated residential facilities.


Respectfully Submitted,




___________________________
Janet Louise Parker
Dr. Janet Louise Parker DVM
Executive Director, Medical Whistleblower
Medical Whistleblower Advocacy Network
P.O. Box C,
Lawrence, KS 66044
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1 The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has supported this right of every individual to form and freely participate in organizations and non-governmental groups for the purpose of observing, denouncing/reporting, and promoting human rights, Kawas Fernández v. Honduras
2 Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure Rule 32 “Before imposing sentence, the court must address any victim of the crime who is present at sentencing and must permit the victim to be reasonably heard.” “In Camera proceedings, Upon a party’s motion and for good cause, the court may hear in camera any statement made under Rule 32(i)(4).”
3 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights
4 The US House under the leadership of Congressman George Miller conducted investigations by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) during the 110th Congress uncovered thousands of cases and allegations of child abuse and neglect since the early 1990’s at teen residential programs. Currently, these programs are governed only by a weak patchwork of state and federal standards. A separate GAO report, also conducted by at the committee’s request, found major gaps in the licensing and oversight of residential programs – some of which are not covered by any state licensing standards at all. GAO concluded that without adequate oversight “the well-being and civil rights of youth in some facilities will remain at risk.” State reported data to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System in 2005 found that 34 states reported 1503 incidents of youth maltreatment by residential facility staff. Of the states surveyed by GAO, 28 reported at least one youth fatality in a residential facility in 2006. GAO concluded both of these statistics understate the incidents of maltreatment and death.

5 The United Nations Charter and The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the General Assembly resolution 53/144 of 8 March 1999, adopted the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, known as the Declaration on human rights defenders and subsequent resolutions. See resolution A/RES/58/178 of 22 December 2003.
6 United States has a responsibility in relation to actions and omissions of non-State actors Article 12, paragraph 3, of the Declaration, also reiterated by numerous human rights bodies, the Human Rights Committee and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
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7 The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, including the right to life and freedom of association and expression, should be protected from violations not only by State agents, but also private persons or entities. Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 31 on article 2 of the Covenant on the nature of the general legal obligation imposed on States parties to the Covenant, 26 May 2004.

8 In 1971 the United States Senate's Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights under the directorship of Senator Sam Ervin began an investigation of the US government's role in behavior modification. Senator Ervin's 650 page report was published in November 1974 under the title "Individual Rights and the Federal Role in Behavior Modification."

9 The Seed, a network of teen drug rehabilitation centers was closed after a US Congressional Investigation into child abuse at their facilities. Melvin Sembler, Betty Sembler and some other Seed parents formed their own Seed-like program which they called Straight, Inc. Straight was quickly accused of criminal child abuse by Florida's licensing and investigating agency the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services (HRS) with Bob Marshall as the principal investigator. But Straight Inc. still went on to become the largest juvenile drug rehabilitation program in the world and one of the most destructive. There were many lawsuits by victims of abuse with large jury awards of damages. Other suits were settled out of court. In 1985 the Semblers fearing civil suits by the victims of the abuse and fearing possible criminal prosecution, changed the mission of Straight, Inc. from "treatment" to "education" and its name from "Straight, Inc." to "Straight Foundation, Inc."

10 After Straight Inc. had to be closed, the name of the educational foundation became the Drug Free America Foundation (DFAF). So today Straight has morphed into an organization called the Drug Free America Foundation, which specializes in helping small businesses set up Drug Free Workplaces, and in promoting national and international drug policy that allows coercive and abusive treatment methods.

11 UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhumane and Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Article 10.1
12 Straight Inc. managed to get two startup grants from the Law Enforcement Assistance Agency (LEAA) in 1976 and again in 1977 for $50,000 each. Unlike the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the Law Enforcement Assistance Agency (LEAA) had not been setup to fund programs involved in human experimentation and thus it had no policy for human consent forms.
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13 Lester Roloff, who founded Roloff Homes, had a showdown with the Texas Attorney General and left Texas in 1985. Wiley Cameron Sr., assumed control of the Roloff Holmes and strategically lobbied for the alternative accreditation law. Then Cameron was appointed to serve on the board of directors of Texas Association of Child Care Agencies (TACCCA). Roloff Homes moved back to Texas and was able to open 5 facilities accredited by the TACCCA. By 2000, reports of physical abuse, beatings and sadistic punishments resurfaced. Roloff Homes’ administrators were criminally convicted in 2001. Teen Challenge facilities were also cited for abuse as early as 1998. Other law suits involved the Texas InnerChange Prison Program. All these were faith-based programs.

14 Florida Association of Christian Child Caring Agencies is just the same as the Texas agency and Teen Challenge center in Florida are members of Florida Association of Christian Child Care Agencies or FACCCA. Not surprisingly, evidence of extensive abuse has turned up with the Florida facility of almost an identical manner to what was documented in Texas. http://www.heal-online.org/childtorture ... nchallenge West Florida Teen Challenge Boys’ Ranch in Bonifay, Florida is a confirmed abusive teen program. The contract parents must sign with Teen Challenge states that the Florida Association of Christian Child-Caring Agencies’ (FACCCA) "intent" is to "insure the physical and spiritual health, safety, and well being" of the children and therefore that the boy’s ranch must meet FACCCA’s "minimum standards." Parents have to agree to hold the ranch and its employees harmless from "any and all liability" for injury to the child "even injury resulting in death." Parents must agree "that God desires that they resolve their dispute with one another within the church and that they be reconciled in their relationships in accordance with the principles stated in I Corinthians 6:1-8, Matthew 5:23-24, and Matthew 18:15-20." If they cannot resolve their disagreement privately within the church, parents must accept resolution through "biblically based mediation" by rules of the Association of Christian Conciliation Services. There is no refund of tuition or deposits if the boy leaves the ranch before 15 months even if the ranch has expelled him. A detailed report provided by Children’s Healthcare Is a Legal Duty, Inc. Nov. 4th, 2004 newsletter. http://childrenshealthcare.org/

15 Dallas Teen Challenge Boys Ranch in Winnsboro in January 1996 was sued because a counselor and convicted drug trafficker sexually molested a young man there and two other boys, one of whom also was 16 or younger. The law suit alleged that "(The counselor) sexually molested (the plaintiff) on at least six different occasions at the ranch." The lawsuit further alleged that the church, ranch executive director Paul Ecker and the ranch's board knowingly employed men with criminal histories as counselors despite
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being informed by state regulators the practice was illegal. According to the lawsuit, most of the residents were there as a condition of probation or deferred adjudication and had psychological or substance abuse problems. During the day, they performed chores, including caring for livestock, and took part in religious education. At night, they were "locked down" and monitored by alarm systems, to prevent unauthorized departures. Many of them had substance abuse problems and were admitted to the program as part of their probation despite the repeated citations from state regulatory authorities, The Assemblies of God entities continued to send men who had criminal records involving narcotics and physical violence to the facility.

16 Minnesota Teen Challenge is run by the Assemblies of God, the world’s largest Pentecostal denomination and in their The Official Teen Challenge Student Handbook instructs students to “conduct themselves in a manner pleasing to God” and strictly forbids any “homosexual behavior”, as being gay, along with addiction, is a sin.

17 Proselytizing Report: "Teen Challenge" July 26, 1984, by Rick Ross to the Religious Advisory Committee to the Arizona Department of (ADOC) on May 10, 1984. Chaplains throughout the ADOC are expected to facilitate religious programming in a neutral, non-biased manner. Teen Challenge which openly admitted that its’ primary purpose is the promotion of a specific religious belief system through confrontational evangelism. Teen Challenge is run by the Assemblies of God. Any chaplain who engages in facilitating a program for Teen Challenge could easily be seen as assisting in proselytizing. The Teen Challenge program has often been equated to a drug rehabilitation theme however they do not do substance abuse treatment and do very little medical treatment at all due to a lack of medically qualified staff. However, in the organization's literature the "Teen Challenge Cure" is stated as follows: "The only cure for . . . drug abuse, is Jesus Christ." The connections between Teen Challenge and the penal system of the State of Arizona are numerous. Many full time jail and prison chaplains have dual positions as both volunteers and/or coordinators for Teen Challenge in addition to their staff position funded by the State of Arizona. Teen Challenge therefore presents an obvious problem. Teen Challenge also poses a serious problem regarding the abrogating of parental authority with minor children within ADOC juvenile facilities.

18Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 5 No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
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19 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 16.1 & 2
20 UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 7
21 UN CAT, Article 1. 1 “For the purposes of this Convention, the term "torture" means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.”
22 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 34
23 UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Article 12.1
24 UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 10
25 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 13.1
26 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 18
27 UN Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Article 7
28 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 4
29 UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 8
30 Former Sanford, Fla. Teen Challenge director Wayne Gray was forced to resign when his unlicensed telemarketing scam discovered that Teen Challenge only paid workers 33 cents a day for a 40 hour work week. They pretended to sell timeshare vacations form the “Disney Planning Center Resort”. Men convicted of financial crimes took the customer’s credit card information over the phone. The
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investigation revealed that this scam which had no relationship to Disney. Wayne Gray moved on to Oklahoma Teen Challenge as Executive Director. (Action 9 news)
31 UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhumane and Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Article 1.1

32 In 1998, a boy filed suit against Dallas Teen Challenge Boys Ranch and Assemblies of God, alleging that a counselor, who was a convicted drug trafficker, sexually molested him and two other boys. The lawsuit also claimed that the ranch’s Executive Director, the church and the ranch’s board knowingly hired people with criminal histories to serve as counselors." (Austin American-Statesman, 5/13/1998) More here: http://www.texnews.com/1998/texas/molest0513.html

33 Registered sex offender, Shondi Fabiano was director of Teen Challenge in Winthrop, Maine and was convicted of Second Degree Child Molestation in Rhode Island. She is listed on the National Sex Offender Public Registry http://www.nsopr.gov She is listed officially as a co-head of Teen Challenge New England by the website of the Northern New England District of the Assemblies of God, and who is officially listed as a lifetime-registered sex offender for second-degree child molestation and sexual assault in the third degree. An online check of sex offender registries, including the Florida sex-offender registry run by Florida Department of Law Enforcement, also shows Shondi Fabiano also has a history of 2nd degree sexual assault conviction in Kent, RI. 3rd degree sexual assault in Rhode Island is essentially statutory rape of a 14- to 16-year old minor by a person over the age of 18, 2nd degree sexual assault is sexual assault of an incapacitated person or sexual assault using force or coercion, and second degree child molestation is what is generally termed as frank pedophile rape--sexual assault of a minor under the age of 14. Fabiano would have been nearly 24 years old at the time of the offense. Fabiano apparently in Rhode Island committed the crimes 10 years ago under her maiden name Shondi Barbato; she was originally charged with 1st degree child abuse (which involves sexual penetration of a child under the age of 14). It also appears Fabiano (under her maiden name of Barbato) has additional criminal history for she has a conviction for fraud (specifically attempts to obtain money under false pretenses, insurance fraud, and conspiracy) and a dismissed charge of possession of a controlled substance. Fabiano is still head of Teen Challenge New England despite not only state laws that prohibit sex offenders and persons convicted of crimes against children from working in children's homes. In fact, technically Fabiano should not legally be able to work at Teen Challenge at all, much less have her residence listed as Teen Challenge in Maine's sex offender registry; Maine has some pretty strict laws regarding contact with
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minors by registered sex offenders. But Shondi Fabiano is not the only rapist employed by Teen Challenge in Winthrop, Maine. They also hired Dennis Knox who was convicted of gross sexual assault after raping an unconscious female. He is listed on the Maine Sex Offender Registry http://sor.informe.org
34 UN International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination Article 5
35 UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Article 13.1
36 The right of torture survivors to reparations as a matter of international law. Chorzow Factory Case (Germany v Poland), 1928, PCIJ, ser. A, no. 17, p. 47.
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