pinkie

Parents of teen sue boot camp

By STEVE ROCK The Kansas City Star

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansas...0822151.htm?1c

The parents of a 15-year-old California boy who died while under the care of a northwest Missouri boot camp filed a wrongful-death lawsuit Friday.

The family alleged that their son — Roberto Reyes, who died in November while a resident at Thayer Learning Center, a military-type home for troubled teens — was subjected to physical exertion and abuse that caused or contributed to his death.

Among other things, the lawsuit alleges that he would have lived had he gotten competent medical care in a timely manner and that he was dragged, hit, placed into solitary confinement and “forced to lay in his own excrement for extended periods of time.” The parents, who placed Roberto at the center less than two weeks before his death, also accused Thayer and an affiliated referral service of fraudulent misrepresentation.

An employee at the center, located about 50 miles north of Kansas City in Kidder, referred calls to attorney Ed Proctor. Reached by phone Friday evening, Proctor said he had not seen a copy of the lawsuit and therefore could not comment.

Proctor had previously told The Kansas City Star that “every child at Thayer has immediate access to medical care at any time.”

The lawsuit names Thayer Learning Center, Parent Help and three Thayer employees as defendants.

The employees named are Richard Sperry of Chillicothe, Robert Carter of Kidder and Dave Swymeler of St. Joseph. The lawsuit filed in Buchanan County Circuit Court claims they failed to take reasonable steps to contact emergency personnel once it was known that Roberto was gravely ill.

Sperry declined to comment Friday night. Neither Carter nor Swymeler could be reached.

The plaintiffs, Gracia and Victor Reyes, through their attorney declined to comment.

“Their reaction is shock,” said attorney James Thompson. “As more and more information comes to light, they cannot even comprehend it.”

According to the lawsuit:

Roberto's parents contacted a referral service called Parent Help in October 2004 to seek help with Roberto. Parent Help recommended that the Reyeses send their child to Thayer but did not disclose its connection to Thayer.

Thayer and Parent Help are owned by John and Willa Bundy, and the lawsuit says the two businesses are “inextricably intertwined for common schemes and goals.” The lawsuit alleges that Parent Help and Thayer misrepresented the type of discipline and care that children get.

The lawsuit says that between Oct. 25 and Nov. 3, Victor and Gracia Reyes received periodic contact from Thayer representatives. The parents were told that Roberto was not being cooperative, that he had sore muscles from exercising but that he was otherwise fine.

On the morning of Nov. 3, a Thayer representative contacted the Reyeses to ask whether Roberto had any breathing problems in his medical history. Roberto died that afternoon. According to the lawsuit, symptoms of Roberto's failing health “would have been present for a significant period of time prior to his death.”

“Had Roberto Reyes received competent medical intervention in a timely manner,” the lawsuit states, “he would have survived.”

Previously a doctor with the Jackson County medical examiner's office identified the probable cause of death as a spider or an insect bite. What caused Roberto's health to fail, Thompson said, has not been definitively determined.

“What he died from, regardless of the cause, would not have led to a deterioration of his condition in an immediate sense,” Thompson said Friday. “It's a process that would have taken time.”

The lawsuit alleges that Roberto “was subjected to sadistic, cruel and harmful acts.”

“Defendants' agents, servants and employees forced other students to wake up and drag and attempt to carry Roberto Reyes to the shower in his filthy clothes to be hosed down in a crude attempt to wash off human excrement and filth,” according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit says the defendants treated Roberto's physical complaints as “games and ploys, despite an inability to walk, deteriorating respiratory status and diminishing mental and cognitive function.” The lawsuit says Roberto was left “to die alone … with a feeling of utter hopelessness.”

It also states that Thayer “engages in a pattern and practice of inflicting physical and emotional harm to children under its care” and that it fails to provide them with adequate medical care.

The lawsuit says the family is seeking in excess of $25,000.

No charges have been filed in connection with Roberto's death. A division of the Missouri Department of Social Services is conducting an investigation.

Gus Kolilis, deputy director of the department's legal division, said a state investigator had spoken with many people connected to Thayer.

“There are just a lot of pieces here, ” he said.

Kolilis said he hoped to conclude the investigation this month.

Caldwell County Prosecutor Jason Kanoy said he was awaiting results from the state investigation before deciding whether his office would take any action.

After Roberto died, a panel of county and state officials charged with reviewing child deaths said earlier medical treatment might have prevented the death. That review, coupled with police reports and allegations made by former students and employees, painted a disturbing picture of life at Thayer, which houses about 100 teens.

A Dec. 19 story in The Star cited police reports and interviews with seven former Thayer employees and students alleging physical and emotional abuse of students, such as one being forced to eat her vomit and another being forced to sit in a tub of urine.

One parents quote:
everything they are saying about thayer is true. i just "rescued" my son from there yesterday after only having been there a week. in talking to the family rep every day (which you arent supposed to do) i knew something wasnt right. they give you this long list of things to bring, but dont give it any of it to the kids. i.e, three tubes of toothpaste....you know what my son used? baking soda and water. their so called "healthy balanced diet", his breakfast yesterday....wheat seeds and water....why? because wheat expands and gives the illusion that you are full, so they dont have to feed them more..lunch was ONE peanut butter and jelly sandwich...dinner was some kind of slop that he wasnt even sure what was in it.

how do they call that healthy?

he was soooo hungry when i picked him up yesterday he ate the following: chicken nuggets, french fries, two fruit salads, chicken strips, burritos, candy bar, potatoe chips and two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches..and was STILL hungry, but i wouldnt let him eat more for fear of getting sick from over doing it.

he has bruises and cuts all on his body, and he was only there a week. his left ankle is swollen up like a baseball, but yet they kept working him to death...his chest hurts so bad that he has difficulty breathing (probably from the repeated slams to the floor for looking someone in the face). i was so worried about his breathing, especially after the reyes incident, i spent half the night just watching his chest last night.

this is ridiculous and needs to be stopped! thank goodness i came to my senses (call it mother's intuition) and went and got him after only a week.

he was crying so hysterically when he saw me yesterday that he couldnt even talk and was literally choking himself on his tears!

pitifull!

http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php...um=9&start=250

martinguerre

there are few things more despicable than to abuse power held over a child. screw the civil suit...this needs to be criminally prosecuted.

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pinkie

They're trying... You have no idea how many times this type of thing has happened in the past 30+ years without criminal prosecution.

ironmaiden7o7

wow, so sad, I don't even like to accept that these things occur, so sad.

Hardknock

You'd think that in this day and age, places like this wouldn't exist. I hope the fuckers get what they deserve.

yabobo

It all starts out right.With people trying to help kids. Then
there own insecurities pop up and a snowball effect of power triping
takes place. The kids don't heal they just become more irrate.
So what is the answer????? Not everyone is savable?
The question of the ages. Who's fault is it anyway?

I'm not a good example but I'm sure broken homes,alcohol and drug abuse
and lack of God have greatly effected our kids.

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pinkie

They exist all over the US, and out of the country, but still owned by the US.

yabobo, No, this is a money making industry with the label of “helping kids” attached to it. This boy's parents were paying $4000 a month for this "treatment" and an 18 months minimum stay. This kind of forced treatment has been proven ineffective years ago, but clueless parents who are up-in-arms fall for their brochures of lies hook, line, and sinker. These are private schools with no government regulations, and they’ve been torturing and/or killing kids for many years.

Chamaeleontidae

Isn't it a sign of today's society though, that family's search out others to straighten out their "troubled" teens. It's sad that he died, but why was he there in the first place.

__________________
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Robin Williams.

raveneye

When I was 12 years old, I went to a 2-week art and music summer camp, run by Methodist nuns. It wasn't a military school or for troubled kids, just a fun camp for anybody.

These nuns would routinely paddle kids with a wooden spoon, in front of everbody else. You'd be required to bend over, then she'd hit you as hard as she could with it at least 3 times for various misbehavior, including being too loud at night (it's a 10 acre facility with cabins).

One day, apparently a boy pulled a girl's dress up to embarrass her. The nuns responded (1) by paddling the boy 10 times, and (2) by forcing him and all 14 of the boys in his cabin to strip down to their underwear and parade through the entire camp for 15 minutes, while all the other kids from the other cabins, both boys and girls, were lined up fully dressed watching. During the parade they had to perform various chores like pick up litter, and weren't allowed to cover themselves in any way.

And these were all self-conscious adolescents. This is the kind of thing that goes on in just run-of-the-mill summer camps. You can imagine how much worse military-style discipline camps must be.

I hope they shut down Thayer "learning center" and win a several million dollar settlement. It sounds like the camp has deep pockets.

warrrreagl

Pinkie, I know you've posted before that you were sent to a place similar to this. Tell us about it, and tell us how this news article hits you.

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pinkie

He was there because his parents were mislead into thinking they were doing something that would help!

warrrreagl, I was sent to two of these places. I wrote about it in my journal. How does it hit me? What bothers me even more than reading about ANOTHER death is the attitude of the person above. “That’s sad but what did he do to get there…?” What? NOTHING!! Since he was a difficult 14 yo he deserved to be tortured, starved, and worked like he was in a Nazi work camp??? We’re talking about children receiving worse treatment than inmates receive in most of the US prison systems!

Not only do kids receive severe abuse in these places, they are not treated by professionals. All of these places I speak of are run by counselors with the lowest level of degrees or not even out of school yet. Many (if not all of them) hire “recovering addicts with no education to “counsel” (torture, abuse, punish, break) these children.

How does it hit? With 20 years retrospect, and a 14 year old child myself, I'd have to say that it will be my permanent life's work to educate the general public about these pricey private child prison camps and warehouses until they are all closed and made illegal.

pinkie

Humiliation tactics as punishment... Yep, sounds very familiar.

kutulu

holy shit. that's just fucked up.

ironman

Been guatemalan, i had 3 friends at school that were sent to military schools at the US. These guys were pure scum bags, they were all bullies, terrible students, fat and had the worst attitude, the kind of people you know will do nothing but waste their lives. You should see them after they returned from military school, they were well disciplined, well behaved, excellent students and ended doing very well in live.

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pinkie

How old were they? Was it their choice to go in?

kurtisj

of the times that this did happen in the past how many of the officials at the school got fired or lawfully punished...dont get your hopes up on him getting much trouble

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ironman

they were 14, the three of them. Obviously, it wasn't their decision but their parent's. In Guatemala is a common practice to send trouble kids to US military schools.

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If I agreed with you we´d both be wrong

raveneye

My only direct experience with someone who went to one of these schools was in 5th grade, when a serious problem student (bully, out of control temper, fought with everybody incl. teachers) was sent to military school for a year.

He came back to 6th grade into my class. Very polite, friendly, seemingly in control. For awhile anyway. All it took was a little provocation, as I recall somebody cut in front of him in a line about a month into school, and he lost it and was wrestling on the floor again.

Then he was out again and I never saw him again.

Bill O'Rights

Just realize that there is a huge difference between military schools, and these so called "bootcamps".

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pinkie

This is usually the case. For a short period of time these "places" seem to work. However, in the long run they are just a short-term solution to a problem that should have been handled with long term therapy, consequences for negative behavior, and family support.

A friend of mine who I went through Straight, Inc. with in Dallas, who is a lawyer now, was lucky enough to find a counselor that realized she needed to be "deprogrammed" through "exit counseling" after her experience. Another one of the girls I was in with went to a cult specialist/deprogrammer also but still to this day, almost 20 years later, has a severe personal image disorder. The degradation, humiliation, and torture methods are enough to scar anyone for life, but especially a child.

The long term effects that these places cause due to this type of childhood trauma stays with these kid’s in the form of PTSD, and other disorders long after their experience is far from over. That's why the suicide rate of former students is so high. There were 3 suicides and 1 murder that came out of the 18-month program I went to.

TM875

Okay, allowing the child to live in such terrible conditions as mentioned in the article is unacceptable. However, I disagree with the notion that these camps all deserve to be banned.

To me, raveneye's story sounds just like something that most children need. When I was growing up, I WISH they would have done something like that to the kids that misbehaved. I have absolutely no problem with corporal punishment - I even campaigned for the adoption of it (senior year in HS with a Forensics presentation). To add a quote in here:

Lawrence Diller, PhD, a studying pediatrician stated “Once paddled, most kids were not repeat offenders. In fact, it really wasn't the paddling that was the issue – principals didn't paddle to hurt, they paddled to embarrass. What the issue was about was respect – respect for the teacher, respect for the other students who are trying to learn something and even self-respect.”

Listen, I'm not advocating beating the hell out of the kids, but good, old-fashioned paddling and embarassment is what this pathetic, pussified generation needs. My generation is too soft, too lazy, and not nearly respectful enough of the rules.

__________________
"I've made only one mistake in my life. But I made it over and over and over. That was saying 'yes' when I meant 'no'. Forgive me."

pinkie

By their own parents, perhaps. By total strangers, non family members and/or peers? NEVER. No offence TM, but you obviously have no idea what you're talking about.

Humiliation is not therapy.

BTW - Spankings only work for young children, not teenagers.

Personally, I never used spankings as a form of disipline unless it was a life or death situation.

http://www.nospank.net/choices.htm

The_wall

I remember reading a book or short story about one of these camps, it was in Texas I believe and it was about a kid who died at the camp. These places are fucked up, I can imagine I'd come ouf of those placed more angered and violent then before if I ever went to one.

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pinkie

Could it have been the Brown school? I believe that's in Texas. There was a death due to unsafe restraint there a few years back of a teenage boy. He died because he was not getting enough air due to the weight on his chest. If I remember correctly, it was within his first week there.

The bootcamp I was sent to was in Texas also. Good ole Texas...

Grasshopper Green

There have been several deaths in similar "camps" here in Utah over the past ten years or so. There is no way I'd ever send my son to a camp like this if his behavior got out of control. I've heard way too many horror stories. I'm surprised they even exist anymore due to the number of deaths that have occured at them. It's disgusting.

pinkie

Utah is one of the worst states for these places. The organization, WWASP is responsible for many of these placements. Frequently the children are moved from one camp/compound/gulag to another with the help of WWASP placement agencies. They are currently petitions to close several WWASP related "private schools" and others that have been shut down due to allegations of severe abuse and neglect. These US owned schools often choose out of the country locations such as Jamaica and Mexico. Kids are literally kidnapped from their beds by total strangers in the night that are hired to "transport" them to these places.

Montel Willians recently had a show on the horrific events that take place in these places. A survivor of Tranquility Bay (a WWASP affiliate) was one of the guests, along with a Straight, Inc. survivor and family members, including parents. Another WWASP affiliate, Casa by the Sea in Mexico was recently shut down due to abuse and neglect.

Testimonies

Averett

pinkie, I'm wondering what you're doing yourself to get the word out (besides posting here obviously) about these places. Do you do advocacy work? You said earlier upthread that it would be your lifes work to get the word out about these places, which is cool, so I'm just wondering what you do to accomplish this?

__________________
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pinkie

I run a booth here on Earth Day passing out information, stories, and news articles. I am a devoted survivor, and telling my story is my way of not only dealing with my own experience, but helping others understand not only the choices they make, but perhaps come to terms with their own experience. Last year I spent 8 hours talking to all kinds of people with a friend of mine who is one of the heads for the University’s psychology department here.

I've made my own t-shirts. Hand made screen prints that have web URLs on them, and sayings that we as survivors have come up with; pictures and slogans. I even went to see Jello Biafra speak and gave him one for free. He regularly speaks out against child gulags.

I almost went on the Montel show. I spoke to the producer, and they decided to go with another girl's story, whom I knew they would, which was fine. I was more of a witness to severe abuse at the warehouse I was in, even though we were all abused, and we all had our rights as human beings violated. I speak publicly about my experiences and the experiences of others with their permission.

Honestly, telling my story is enough to me. Being a part of spreading the word, with the hope that one day these places are shut down is all I can do. I didn’t choose this to be a life’s work, it just is. There are big names attached to these places, and have been since the beginning - government names. I explained a lot of this in the lengthy PM I sent you that you said you never had time to read.

This isn't about me, it's about the kids that are still suffering right now.

pinkie

And I also gave my testimony to a movie producer who is doing a documentary on the Straights. I am but one of thousands of voices.

bacon_masta

My sentiments exactly. Or, maybe screw the criminal prosecution, too, just toss the abusive employees down a flight of stairs. No child deserves to be treated in that fashion, regardless of what wrongs they may have committed. That's worse than the federal prison system, and I'm sure those children couldn't have done anything as bad as the people in the pen did.

pinkie

An article relating to the topic, from this past week talking about state regulations for these places in Utah.

http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_2555286

Sweetpea

Some of these places are just downright dangerous and the "camp couselers" who sign up are often abusive in nature and enjoy being abusive towards others. These camps are sought out to "shock" the child into better behavior and at times DO actually USE shock therapy i have read . . . Now, not ALL are like this . . . but many . . . i mean god, WTF!!

The problem is:
They are not subject to an mandation or supervision by authorities
They are often in isolated areas (read: moutains)
They don't have proper health aid avaliable
the children are essensially 'cut off' from family for weeks
many children suffer sexual abuse at these camps
99 percent of them suffer emotional and/or phsyical abuse
This ISN"T the way to help someone!!!!!!!

My opinion is: who on earth would send their kid to these boot camps?

just horrible . . .
But thank you for sharing pinkie . . . thank you for bringing this to attention . . . it's an issue that needs to be addressed and FAST . . .

Sweetpea

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pinkie

Well it should make you happy to know that spreading awareness helps... 2 kids were rescued from Thayer since this article was written.

pinkie

Besides all the other things I listed above in my first responce to you, I forgot to mention that I also do volunteer work for this organization:

http://www.safetyintl.org/

pinkie

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansas...l/11085363.htm

Posted on Wed, Mar. 09, 2005

Allegations denied in teen's boot camp death

By STEVE ROCK The Kansas City Star


A 15-year-old boy who died in November while attending a Missouri boot camp for troubled teenagers was not abused or neglected, say officials at Thayer Learning Center.

In court documents filed late last week and Tuesday in Buchanan County Circuit Court in St. Joseph, attorneys for Thayer denied allegations of abuse and medical neglect made in a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the parents of Roberto Reyes.

The lawsuit, filed last month by Victor and Gracia Reyes of Santa Rosa, Calif., alleged that Roberto was subjected to physical exertion and abuse at the Kidder, Mo., facility that caused or contributed to his death. The lawsuit contended he was dragged, hit, placed into solitary confinement and “forced to lay in his own excrement for extended periods of time.”

In addition, the lawsuit alleged that Roberto would have lived had he received competent medical care in a timely manner.

The lawsuit named Thayer, a referral service and three Thayer employees as defendants.

“Thayer makes proper medical care, treatment and evaluation available to its students,” the defendants said in their response. “… Students have access to proper medical care, evaluation and treatment upon request.”

Thayer attorneys argued in the filings that if the plaintiffs sustained injury or damage, it was caused “through the sole fault and/or negligence of decedent Roberto Reyes and/or others whose fault must be compared with that of these defendants.” The “others” are not identified.

Benjamin Fadler, an attorney for Thayer and the three employees, declined comment Tuesday. Ed Proctor, an attorney for the Parent Help referral service, which steered Roberto to Thayer, couldn't be reached.

The three Thayer employees — Richard Sperry of Chillicothe, Dave Swymeler of St. Joseph, and Robert Carter of Kidder — denied in court filings all allegations against them, such as failing to take reasonable steps to dial 911 once it was clear Roberto was gravely ill. They asked to be dismissed from the lawsuit.

Attorneys for Thayer also argued that if Roberto's parents sought punitive damages, they should be denied.

Thayer, a military-type home, houses about 100 students in Kidder, about 50 miles north of Kansas City in Caldwell County.

Roberto died Nov. 3, and the probable cause of death was identified as a spider or insect bite by the Jackson County medical examiner. According to the lawsuit, however, the condition that killed Roberto “would have been present for a significant period of time prior to his death.” What caused that condition, the Reyes' attorney has said, has not been determined.

The lawsuit “misstates” the conclusion of the medical examiner, the defendants said.

Some of the specific allegations in the wrongful-death lawsuit, all of which were denied in court filings, include:

• That Roberto “was subjected to sadistic, cruel and harmful acts,” and that he was dragged to the showers “in a crude attempt to wash off human excrement and filth.”

• That the defendants treated Roberto's physical complaints as “games and ploys,” and that he was left “to die alone … with a feeling of utter hopelessness.”

• That Thayer and Parent Help are “inextricably intertwined for common schemes and goals,” and that Parent Help misrepresented the type of discipline and care that children got.

No charges have been filed in connection with Roberto's death. A division of the Missouri Department of Social Services is conducting an investigation, and Caldwell County Prosecutor Jason Kanoy has said he is awaiting results from that state investigation before deciding whether his office would take any action.

After Roberto died, a panel of county and state officials charged with reviewing child deaths said earlier medical treatment “may have prevented this fatality.”

To reach Steve Rock, call

(816) 234-4338 or send e-mail to srock@kcstar.com

Irishsean

A lot of the allegations made in this thread are complete horse-shit. Yes, bad stuff does happen, but not every program is a gulag that beats children, and not all the people that work there are evil.

I swear to god, if this turns into Irish is satan because he works in a program like the last thread of this type, I'm gonna be so pissed. I work in a program to help kids, and I do help them, there is no beating, no torture, no brainwashing, the only time hands are put on a kid is to stop them from hurting themselves or others, and then you have to fill out pages and pages of paperwork. I have to be licensed by the DHS to even work there. The kids that leave, for the most part, are better than when they come in. I won't say it works for every kid, but the majority leave better than they came.

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minyn

did these parents not check into all of this before voluntarily shipping their kids off? that's like handing them off and not caring where they go. Sounds like some people need to do their own homework when dealing with their own flesh and blood.

im not siding onthe learning center's side, buti just get annoyed when parents place all the blame and im wondering, did they mess up and not look into everything?

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pinkie

How do you know that? Do you follow each individual case for years down the line? Do you know how these kids feel about themselves when they’re history? I don't care what you say, I'll never agree with you on this subject, and if you want to go to a site and flame in defense of your “program job” go do it here: www.fornits.com .They welcome staff for debate and you don't even have to log in, you can do in anonymously. I have no desire to debate with you on this subject. This topic was put up for a bigger reason to me, and that's what minyn just brought up; irresponsible parents that ship their kids away to begin with.

I don’t think you actually have a clue as to what you’re talking about. I’ve been following stories on these places for over twenty years. You have no idea the “accidental death” rate of these places. You have no clue (or are numb to it) the abuses that go on. Verbal, physical and emotional abuse, deprived of contact with anyone in the outside world, belittled, restrained, beaten, starved, sleep deprived, locked in solitary with out the use of the restroom! Staff failing to provide adequate medical care and/or treatment as is necessary or as is instructed by a physician. Being tortured, abused and even raped and molested! Do some homework but do me a favor and leave me alone.

Please go flame on www.fornits.com, not this thread, not here.

Thanks.

pinkie

http://www.teenadvocatesusa.homestea...sstherapy.html

Another link pertaining to the subject.

Cynthetiq

Please keep the discussion civilized. I don't think Irishsean is flaming anyone. I've seen his previous posts on his employment. His opinion on this is valid and a fair point of view, and entitled to rebut any allegations from his point of view.

you may not wish to debate, but he is entitled to express his opinion.

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