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wdtony:
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/52502 ... s.html.csp


Troubled teens abused at Utah-based schools, lawsuit claims

By Roxana Orellana

The Salt Lake Tribune

First published Sep 02 2011 01:25PM
Updated Sep 2, 2011 11:26PM

After their case was dismissed last month in federal court, a group of about 500 parents and students have gone to state court with allegations of abuse by the operators of a Utah-based school for troubled teens.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in 3rd District Court, claims that from the mid-1990s to mid-2000s, students attending schools owned and operated by World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools Inc., (WWASPS) — founded by La Verkin entrepreneur Robert Lichfield — were physically, emotionally and sexually abused at the facilities.

WWASPS is accused of a lengthy list of abuses, including that students were beaten, chained, locked in dog cages, forced to eat vomit and made to lie in urine and feces as punishment. The complaint also alleges students were forced into sexual acts.

"At all times relevant, defendants did not disclose to the parents the physical, emotional, mental, and/or sexual abuse to which their children were subjected at their facilities and conspired, even to this day, to prevent them from discovering such abuse," the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit lists a total of 59 defendants, including Cross Creek Center for Boys LLC., Cross Creek Manor LLC., Teen Help LLC and Brightway Adolescent Hospital. The facilities mentioned in the lawsuit — a number of which are now closed — are located throughout the United States, as well as Mexico, Costa Rica and the Czech Republic.

The defendants are also accused of defrauding parents of tuition and other monies paid.

The lawsuit was first filed in U.S. District Court in 2006, but Judge Clark Waddoups dismissed it in August, citing a lack of jurisdiction in August.

Windle Turley, a Dallas attorney representing the plaintiffs, said Waddoups dismissed the case on jurisdictional grounds because of the way the case was structured, not on the merits of the case.

"We had hoped we could continue to move forward in the federal court. But we’re just glad were going to be able to move forward now," Turley said.

Asked about criminal charges, Turley had details only in connection with a case filed in Costa Rica against school director Narvin Lichfield, who is Robert Lichfield’s brother, for alleged sexual abuse. Turley said those charges were ultimately dismissed.

The plaintiffs are seeking an unspecified amount of damages, including punitive damages, to be determined at trial. A racketeering claim was dropped from the lawsuit filed federal court but may be added to the state lawsuit, Turley said.

Attorney Stewart Harman, who represented Lichfield and Ken Kay, WWASPS’ president, in the federal lawsuit, said "the reasons for dismissal are clearly and adequately laid out and set forth in Judge Waddoups’ decision."

Kay has previously denied the lawsuit’s allegations as "ludicrous."

"We don’t condone any type of child abuse and it’s highly unlikely that any of the incidents ever happened," Kay said in 2007, noting that troubled teens often have a record of fabricating stories.

rorellana@sltrib.com

Xelebes:
Oh, hello.

Ursus:
It would appear that WWASPS and the Lichfields are not too popular with the Salt Lake Tribune readership.

Comments left for the above article, "Troubled teens abused at Utah-based schools, lawsuit claims" (by Roxana Orellana; Sep 2, 2011; The Salt Lake Tribune), #s 1-20:


turbulator · Sep 2, 2011
They just wanted to turn the children into fine young WWASPSCosmo · Sep 2, 2011 in reply to turbulator
White Whimpy Anglo-Saxon Privileged Sh!theadsOosik · Sep 2, 2011 in reply to Cosmo
Their goal is to inculcate an unquestioning submission to authority.  "Yours is not to question why.  Yours is to do as your told and be thankful".Hail_to_the_chef · Sep 3, 2011 in reply to Oosik
This treatment only serves to confirm that adults are insane and vicious, increasing "rebellion" as a means of self preservation.[/list][/list][/list]
DaleAGraves · Sep 2, 2011
"World Wide ..." but based in the hinterlands of backside of Utah....
Sounds like more people trying to exercise their godhood early. Not that they will ever get there,grannisue · Sep 2, 2011
500 parents and children filed suit and "it's highly unlikely that any of the incidents ever happened".  500 - not 5 - give me a break!  Yes, troubled teens fabricate stories and so do other teens but the magnitude of those in this lawsuit makes it more likely that some if not all of the abuse took place.  (I won't be serving on that jury).Shelama · Sep 2, 2011
Is Bishop Buttars involved with these, too?Cosmo · Sep 2, 2011 in reply to Shelama
Exactly.  My first question too.[/list]
BigBM · Sep 2, 2011
Bunch of darn Mormons.Hail_to_the_chef · Sep 3, 2011 in reply to BigBM
I'm sure many Mormons are appalled by all this as well.[/list]
Cosmo · Sep 2, 2011
"...LaVerkin entrepreneur Robert Lichfield..."

(snicker)laytonian · Sep 2, 2011 in reply to Cosmo
LaVerkin Republican operative, for sure.  

Big big donor.
http://www.campaignmoney.com/p...

Used to be affiliated as a fund raiser for Mitt Romney, now Lichfield just makes big contributions to his cronies -- to make sure that he does "business" in an unregulated manner.[/list][/list]
DaleAGraves · Sep 2, 2011
"The lawsuit was first filed in U.S. District Court in 2006, but Judge
Clark Waddoups dismissed it in August citing a lack of jurisdiction."

Hmm. Related to the OTHER Wad-oops perhaps???Hail_to_the_chef · Sep 3, 2011 in reply to DaleAGraves
Yes he is, and he has a long history of dismissing any and all charges against the well connected in Utah.Oosik · Sep 3, 2011 in reply to DaleAGraves
Whoops!   ;)

When clans insinuate themselves into the various branches of govt.  in a state, even in the Fed. Judiciary  eg. Justices Waddoups and Matheson.  Hell even Dee Benson in a favorite son.

When it comes to clans  I believe UT rivals the south eastern quadrant of the US.    The UT statehouse where everyone is probably a cousin.  Hence the obsession with genealogyDaleAGraves · Sep 3, 2011 in reply to Oosik
lol! You maybe right.[/list][/list]
Oosik · Sep 2, 2011
When I first read the headline I thought it was going to be about  Buttars' and his Mormon Gulag - aka Utah Boys Ranch, - aka West Ridge Academy.

It really doesn't matter though as the goal is to instill unquestioning submission to 'Authority'  and not to question why.    I'm appalled that such places are allowed to exist.Oosik · Sep 2, 2011 in reply to Oosik
Now that I think about it maybe it isn't the Mormon Gulag.   Considering the geographical reach reported in the article suggests a - Mormon Gulag Archipelago.   Shades of Solzhenitsyn!  

Wait a minute here.  Souls who nip sin?   hmmChester4 · Sep 6, 2011 in reply to Oosik
That is why Buttars wanted school vouchers and underfunded the public school system.[/list]
1stedition · Sep 2, 2011
We can thank the Utah Legislature in part for this situation.  The State used to regulate these programs, but the program owners complained, and the ever-helpful Legislature severely restricted the State's oversight authority, with predictable results.

If this mystifies you, just remember that most kids don't make political contributions.

Copyright 2011 The Salt Lake Tribune.

Ursus:
Comments left for the above article, "Troubled teens abused at Utah-based schools, lawsuit claims" (by Roxana Orellana; Sep 2, 2011; The Salt Lake Tribune), #s 21-36:


Hail_to_the_chef · Sep 3, 2010 in reply to 1stedition
Beating and torturing "bad" kids is seen as a valid means to reform them by many who fancy themselves to be "good" in Utah, unfortunately.Chester4 · Sep 6, 2010 in reply to 1stedition
The Utah State Legislature is to blame, I agree.  After former Senator Chris Buttars was accused of abusing his charges at the Utah Boy's Ranch, he was elected to the Senate and allowed to sit on the Judaical committee.  The anti-child, hate group, Utah Eagle Forum and Gayle Ruzicka actually campaigned for him and promoted him.[/list]
hankt27 · Sep 2, 2011
I don't know what I'd do if I had a "troubled teen", but I know what I would NOT do - and that's send them to one of these programs.Hail_to_the_chef · Sep 3, 2011 in reply to hankt27
Troubled teens make ideal targets for sadists and for sexual abuse because no one will believe them, just as the lawyer for the people running the "schools" implies.Chester4 · Sep 6, 2011 in reply to hankt27
There have been youth who have died in Utah from "Wilderness Camps" and other abusive private schools and programs.  Any parent who would send a children to a school like this or to Utah Boy's Ranch is an UNFIT parent and should have all parental right's terminated.

There are license, well-run and well regulated mental hospitals for teens.  These facilities always allow parents to visit, observe and inspect their children living conditions.  Children and teens are released as soon as they are stable.  Not so with gulags such as Utah Boy's Ranch.[/list]
laytonian · Sep 2, 2011
They were sad that Letterman beat them to "World Wide Pants"4EZlife · Sep 3, 2011
The 2 proven craziest towns in Utah are without a doubt LaVerkin and Kanab.  And that's puts them right at the top of the worldwide crazy scale, given the high ranking on the worldwide crazy scale of ANY and ALL small towns in Utah.

Both aspire to instigate a theocracy...and breed crazy Ba$tards...............Chester4 · Sep 6, 2011 in reply to 4EZlife
You are correct.  LaVerkin declared itself a United Nations free zone because the U.N. works with human rights and equal rights.[/list]
login49 · Sep 3, 2011
No different from Warren Jeffs and his molestation of all those kids, Utah legislatures knew about and allowed the child molestation to happen all those years. But don't you dare drink that beer in the open! I wonder how many of the good ole boys visited those places? Just to inspect, of course!Scott Smith · Sep 3, 2011 in reply to login49
Don't forget the tens of thousands of other mormon polygamist felons  within Utah's borders. They're also immune to prosecution in this state. AG Mark Shurtleff must be a child molester himself.[/list]
Hail_to_the_chef · Sep 3, 2011
Waddoups seems to dismiss any and all charges against his cronies.10027 · Sep 4, 2011
I am one of the now adult survivors that filed to be in this lawsuit, I had been pre-accepted to Bible college at the time when i was sent to a wwasps program. I was sent in 93 to be able to work on some of the issues of my earlier childhood abuse. I was beaten, kept in isolation, suffocated, drugged, denied the privacy to use the restroom alone without someone making inappropriate comments, essentially I was tortured, and yet I know for a fact that the only record these kids had of fabricating stories, was the one where they tried to act like everything was OK, and didn't affect them. These people knew what they were doing. They would talk about the oversea programs being even more abusive and they would create rumours about possibly being sent there and about kids that had escaped being raped just so we would feel like we could never get away. We literally could not because they cut off our communication and watched our every move. I was allowed out of an isolation room and joined a dorm room at Seattle Pacific U. after nearly five months of this abuse. Now as a parent of three, having overcome many symptons of PTSD, with a real therapist in recent years, and having researched what they did to these kids I realize how sick and completely corrupted this situation was. To learn more you can see my story post on reddit, we are truely surprised that people in Utah care, while I have met some that have created programs like Strengthening Families and I know I have distant Mormon relatives there, survivors have been wondering if they could ever come there again and not be afraid, many of these kids were abused prior to being sent there, and apparently there parents didn't understand simply didn't care that there isn't oversight, thanks for covering this issue. For more info, see http://redd.it/jvcen  Also for whatever reason I didn't make the turley cut they couldn't keep up with the number of plaintiffs coming in maybe it's because of how far back I went there, or maybe it was because other people suffered much severe abuse, I went to Cross Creek Manor, (CCM) now CC Academy, it was at a different location, but the new location opened when I was there and abuse took place there, and even survivors in the last couple years that have gotten out report similar things you can read there stories on this site too, thanks.[/list]
Chester4 · Sep 6, 2011 in reply to 10027
How absolutely awful for you.  We have the same type of thing reported at the Utah Boy's Ranch and no one would believe the young men.  I heard so many stories that I just sat down and cried.

May you find some peace and healing in this life and yes, I hope you sue the hell out of those schools.[/list]
Wayne Kernochan · Sep 5, 2011
I know plenty of WWASP survivors, and any denial that these things happened is a lie. WWASP needs to be closed downChester4 · Sep 6, 2011
They owners of private schools where sexual abuse has been alleged are some of the very same people who are fighting so hard for School Vouchers.  They know that the public school system is not a safe place for sexual predators because of  the open classroom doors, regulations, freedom of information, parent-teacher association etc.turbulator · Sep 6, 2011
A lawsuit filed in 2007 against WWASPS and its founder, Robert Lichfield, on behalf of 133 plaintiffs alleging physical and sexual abuse and fraudulent concealment of abuse brought negative publicity to Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, because Lichfield was one of six co-chairs of the Utah state fundraising committee for Romney's campaign.

Copyright 2011 The Salt Lake Tribune.

Oscar:
Utah-based troubled-teen schools subject of lawsuit

By Amy Joi O'Donoghue,
Deseret News,
Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2011


--- Quote ---SALT LAKE CITY — Attorneys representing 350 former students and 150 of their parents have renewed their claims of fraud, breach of contract and allegations of abuse against a Utah-based organization running schools for troubled children.

The lawsuit filed last week in 3rd District Court against the World Wide Association of Specialty Schools jump starts claims of damages filed back in 2006 in federal court — a case dismissed at that level because of jurisdictional issues.

Tenets of the case, however, remain the same, alleging the umbrella of schools charged thousands of dollars a month in tuition but failed to deliver on educational promises and psychological treatment plans.

In addition, the suit outlines of host of abuses students say were perpetuated on them while in the care of the schools, including:

• Unsanitary living conditions
• Being kicked, beaten, thrown and slammed to the ground
• Sexual abuse
• Chained and locked in dog cages
• Forced to lie in urine and feces as a method of punishment

WWASPS, owned by Utahns Robert Lichfield, Brent M. Facer and Ken Kay, has been the subject of multiple lawsuits and investigations over the years resulting from allegations always flatly denied and rejected by its attorneys.

Multiple ancillary programs and services are alleged to be part of a network that supported schools operating in Mexico, Jamaica and throughout the United States, including Utah.

Some of the schools have been criminally investigated by state or local authorities, including an expansive probe by the New York Attorney General's Office of Ivy Ridge Academy near the border of Canada and the United States.

At the time of a 2005 settlement reached in that case, New York state attorneys said Ivy Ridge was behind one of the largest educational fraud cases in the history of the state. The school was ordered to partially reimburse tuition costs of parents and to refrain from advertising that it offered educational diplomas because it was not an accredited institution recognized by state officials.

Casa by the Sea, another specialty school, was shut down after a raid by Mexican officials in 2004.

Ivy Ridge was operated by a Jason Finlinson, said to be Robert Lichfield's, son-in-law, and Casa by the Sea was operated by Narvin Lichfield, Robert Lichfield's brother.

Such relationships also go to the heart of this latest lawsuit that alleges a network of related, or closely related individuals, operating in a single enterprise that "skimmed such large amounts of money off the amounts paid by parents that little was left to provide services and care for the children at the boarding facilities."

Attorney Windle Turley, of Dallas, Texas, said he is hopeful that the restructured lawsuit will move forward in state district court and give his clients a forum to air their complaints.

The plaintiffs seek a court order a jury trial and unspecified damages.

--- End quote ---

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