Four staff members at a Jamaican school for American “troubled teens” have been charged with child abuse days after Paris Hilton flew out to support her “fellow survivors.”
Eight American children, ages 14 to 18, were removed from Atlantis Leadership Academy in February after an unannounced inspection of the school uncovered allegations that staff starved, beat and strangled children.
Employees Eddison Morris, 39, Courtney Wiggan, 51, Carson Cox, 33, and Odane Maswell, 31, have since been charged with assault causing bodily injury, cruelty to a child and assault on the right. customary.
The victims were detained in Jamaica and are being held in group homes while their families campaign for their release.
Paris Hilton, who has fought against the problematic teen industry since she experienced it herself, flew to Jamaica to support the children and said: “There is no place on Earth that I am not willing to travel to support and defend the children. young people who have experienced the institutional childhood experience”. Abuse and neglect.’
Paris Hilton, who has fought against the problematic teen industry since she experienced it herself, flew to Jamaica to support the kids.
The Atlantis Leadership Academy is located in Treasure Beach, located along the southern coast of the island.
The eight children were students at Atlantis Leadership Academy located in Treasure Beach, located along the southern coast of the island.
The religious school claims to specialize in helping teenagers overcome anger, depression and substance abuse.
According to its website, it prides itself on being a ‘a structured and affordable boarding academy catering for young men who possess strong leadership skills, although they have taken some wrong turns in their lives.’
But critics say it is part of the controversial teen industry that has been plagued by allegations of abuse and neglect.
On February 8, after an unannounced inspection revealed concerns, Jamaica’s Child Protection and Family Services Agency removed the children and placed them in protective custody until they could safely return to their families.
Their worried parents have been trying to bring their children home, but so far only two have been returned to the US and a third is expected to be sent this week. The rest will face trial later this week.
Paris Hilton flew to Jamaica last week to campaign for her release and the closure of the school.
She said: “When I learned what eight American children had endured at the hands of a center for troubled teens in Jamaica, I knew I had to drop everything to show my support for their testimony.”
He said the children had reported being “violently beaten, whipped, waterboarded and starved to death.”
He added: ‘There is nowhere a facility can hide where we can’t find them. We will not allow children to bear the shame and stigma of abuse alone, that belongs solely to the abusers.’
“I am outraged that it is taking months to bring these children back to the United States and mere moments to send them away in the first place.”
‘While we wait for the government to take action, survivors will continue to uncover this broken system and expose those who put profits before the well-being of our most vulnerable young people. We ourselves will protect the powerless.”
Tarah Fleischman, the mother of 16-year-old Cody Fleischman, sent her son to the academy last May in hopes that it would help with some of his aggressive behavior.
His family lawyer, Michael McFarland, said NewsNation that Cody had “lost a significant amount of weight since entering Atlantis.”
The mother of 16-year-old Cody Fleischmann, who sent her son to the academy last May in hopes it would help with some of his aggressive behavior, now feels remorseful, the family’s attorney, Michael, told NewsNation. McFarland.
Pictured: Randall Cook, founder and director of Atlantis Leadership Academy
In the photo: Generic images of young people at the academy. The religious school specializes in helping teenagers overcome anger, depression and substance abuse.
“They are investigating allegations of physical abuse, which would include beatings, also strangulations, restraints and things like that. And neglect, which would include, you know, withholding food and not providing adequate nutrition to children,” McFarland said.
DailyMail.com has contacted Atlantis Leadership Academy for comment.
The school’s founder, Randall Cook, has not been arrested and denies the allegations, telling NBC: “ALA is appalled by the hatchet job being done to our reputation and denies all allegations that have come to us since. of more than eight years in operation”. ‘
Cook is a pillar of the troubled teen industry, which is made up of a network of boarding schools, wilderness camps and ranches for children struggling with behavioral problems.
The industry has come under increased scrutiny as celebrities like Hilton raise awareness and a Netflix documentary focuses on allegations of abuse by survivors.