Facility profile Utah

Mount Pleasant Academy

Closed Mount Pleasant, Utah

Mount Pleasant Academy was a program in Mount Pleasant, Utah, operated by Sequel TSI. It operated from 2011 to 2019.

About Mount Pleasant Academy

It opened newly founded; opened for school-age boys struggling with online pornography obsession.source Mount Pleasant Academy was one of the CARE Schools (Centers for Adolescent Recovery and Education) of Frank and Melanie Habibian until August 16, 2016, when Sequel Youth and Family Services bought the schools' operating assets; Sequel closed it in July 2019.source 1, source 2, source 3 Red Rock Canyon (St. George, UT) is the parent organization.source

The average stay was 8-13 months, or as needed.source

It was accredited by Northwest Accreditation Commission.source It was a member of NATSAP, IECA, US Dept. of Homeland Security, and NAAS.source

Timeline

From the records: who ran it and the deals that moved it, its names, and the deaths, incidents, inspection findings, lawsuits and news stories on file. Point at an event, or tap "More about this", for the details.

2011201420162017201920112019

  1. 2011

    1. Opened

      Opened in Mount Pleasant, Utah

  2. 2014

    1. Incident

      Sexual abuse

      A former employee said a 20-year-old staffer had sex with a minor at the home in 2014; he was later charged with misdemeanor sexual battery of a minor and pleaded guilty.

      Sexual abuse

      source

  3. 2016

    1. Ownership

      Sequel Youth and Family Services began running it

      It ran the program until 2019.

    2. IncidentJanuary 2016

      Sexual abuse

      A staff complaint alleged boys at the home engaged in unlawful sexual activity that staff knew about and did not report.

      Sexual abuse January 2016

      source

    3. IncidentFebruary 2016

      Investigation

      Sanpete County deputies served a search warrant on Feb.

      Investigation February 2016

      Sanpete County deputies served a search warrant on Feb. 23, 2016 over allegations of sexual activity among boys and unreported abuse, and concealment.

      source

    4. Essential reportingMarch 21, 2016

      Investigation Opened at Utah Residential Facility Following Allegations of Misconduct

      ProPublica: ProPublica on Mount Pleasant Academy in Utah, raided after staff reported misconduct and sexual abuse between residents.

      Investigation Opened at Utah Residential Facility Following Allegations of Misconduct March 21, 2016

      Law enforcement raided Mount Pleasant Academy, a youth residential facility in Utah, following employee allegations regarding staff misconduct and child-on-child sexual abuse.

      Read the article

  4. 2017

    1. OwnershipSeptember 1, 2017

      Sequel TSI: Sold a majority stake to Altamont Capital Partners

      Sequel Youth and Family Services ran Mount Pleasant Academy at the time.

      Sequel TSI: Sold a majority stake to Altamont Capital Partners September 1, 2017

      Altamont Capital Partners announced a majority equity investment in Sequel through a holding company, SYFS Parent; terms were not disclosed. At the time Sequel ran 44 programs in 19 states, and APM Reports counted 35 residential treatment centers in 16 states. CEO John Stupak stayed on and co-founder Jay Ripley remained board chairman. Altamont's portfolio page lists the investment as active and says SYFS Parent later acquired Rebecca & Aaron Schools (2017) and Pine Cone Therapies (2020).

      source 1, source 2, source 3

  5. 2019

    1. Closed

      Closed

Lawsuits

  • Falcon Ridge Ranch, Inc., et al. v. Sequel Youth Services of Red Rock Canyon, LLC, et al. Filed | Fifth Judicial District Court in and for Washington County, State of Utah | 200500204 Names this facility

    Outcome: In the underlying AAA arbitration (No. 01-17-0005-9666), the arbitrator issued an Interim Award on March 2, 2020, and a Final Award on May 1, 2020, denying the Sequel buyers' claims, granting the sellers' counterclaim (a contingent payment of at least $3,118,445), and awarding the sellers $1,300,000 in fees and costs. The sellers filed this amended petition on May 11, 2020, asking the court to confirm the awards; the documents do not show the court's ruling.

    Frank Habibian and the companies that sold Falcon Ridge Ranch, Red Rock Canyon School, Lava Heights Academy and Mount Pleasant Academy (the CARE Schools) to Sequel Youth Services in August 2016 asked a Utah state court in Washington County to confirm an arbitration award against the Sequel buyers; the amended petition is dated May 11, 2020. In the arbitration, Sequel sought indemnity for a June 2017 settlement of about $2.58 million it paid the United States and Nevada after self-reporting that the schools had paid referral fees for students covered by Nevada Medicaid. The arbitrator dismissed that claim because Sequel settled without notifying the sellers, found the sellers had been ignorant of the law rather than fraudulent, and ruled that Sequel breached the purchase agreement in how it ran the schools after the sale. This is a business dispute between a program's sellers and buyers, not an abuse case, but it documents the referral-fee practice and the Medicaid settlement. The documents do not show whether the court confirmed the award.

Every case in the lawsuit directory

Incidents on record

  1. 2014 Sexual abuse

    A former employee said a 20-year-old staffer had sex with a minor at the home in 2014; he was later charged with misdemeanor sexual battery of a minor and pleaded guilty.source

  2. January 2016 Sexual abuse

    A staff complaint alleged boys at the home engaged in unlawful sexual activity that staff knew about and did not report.source

  3. February 2016 Investigation

    Sanpete County deputies served a search warrant on Feb. 23, 2016 over allegations of sexual activity among boys and unreported abuse, and concealment.source

News coverage

Staff

Administration

Notable staff

Connections on the network map

The companies, people and programs our research map ties to this program. Open it on the network map.

Ownership

  • Sequel Youth and Family Services operated 2016-2019

Documents

Documents on file (3)
Woodbury Reports Mentions (2)

From the Unsilenced archive

17 documents about Mount Pleasant Academy that Unsilenced collected and Kids Over Profits does not hold a copy of. They open on Unsilenced's Google Drive. Their whole folder: Mount Pleasant Academy.

Materials and links

External links

Reference and research

1 of these from SCIAD NET.

Record updated . Generated from the Kids Over Profits facility database. Suggest a correction