Facility profile Louisiana

US Youth Services

Also known as Red River Academy (2006-2015)

Closed Lecompte, Louisiana

US Youth Services was a specialty boarding school in Lecompte, Louisiana, operated by World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASPS). It operated from 2015 to 2018.

About US Youth Services

It opened in 2006. It was renamed US Youth Services.source Property owned by Octwell L.L.C. (LaVerkin, Utah, shared address with WWASP).source

It cost about $3,095 per month ($37,140 annually).source Other WWASPS programs: Academy at Ivy Ridge (NY), Spring Creek Lodge (MT), Camas Ranch (MT), Carolina Springs Academy (SC), Cross Creek Programs (UT), Horizon Academy (NV), Darrington Academy (GA), Eagle Point Christian Academy (MS), Tranquility Bay (Jamaica), High Impact (Mexico), Casa by the Sea.source It used Premier Educational Services seminars and Optimum Billing, WWASP founder Robert Lichfield's billing service.source

It was a member of WWASPS program.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.

200620092014201520162017201820062018

  1. 2006

    1. Incident

      Lawsuit

      Red River Academy was among several WWASP programs named as abusive, neglectful and fraudulent in the 2006 Turley lawsuit.

      Lawsuit

      source

  2. 2009

    1. IncidentJuly 2009

      Runaway

      In July 2009 three girls escaped through an air conditioning vent, jumped the fence and hitch-hiked to Texas; a 23-year-old driver was arrested for helping...

      Runaway July 2009

      In July 2009 three girls escaped through an air conditioning vent, jumped the fence and hitch-hiked to Texas; a 23-year-old driver was arrested for helping them and the eldest, 17, was tried as an adult.

      source

  3. 2014

    1. IncidentDecember 2014

      Criminal charge

      After more students came forward, the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office charged the staff member with five additional counts each of sexual battery, indecent...

      Criminal charge December 2014

      After more students came forward, the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office charged the staff member with five additional counts each of sexual battery, indecent behavior with a juvenile, simple battery and prohibited sexual conduct.

      source

    2. IncidentDecember 1, 2014

      Arrest

      A staff member was arrested December 1, 2014 for sexual battery, attempted forcible rape and prohibited sexual conduct with a female student.

      Arrest December 1, 2014

      source

  4. 2015

    1. Opened

      Opened in Lecompte, Louisiana

    2. Incident

      Lawsuit

      A 2015 lawsuit against nurse Alicia Hall and Red River Academy alleges medical neglect after a resident was prescribed antibiotics she was allergic to, leading...

      Lawsuit

      A 2015 lawsuit against nurse Alicia Hall and Red River Academy alleges medical neglect after a resident was prescribed antibiotics she was allergic to, leading to toxic megacolon and a total colectomy; the case was dismissed then reversed by the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal and settled in late June.

      source

  5. 2016

    1. Incident

      Lawsuit

      A 2016 lawsuit accused US Youth Services of fraudulent advertising for falsely claiming to be accredited and authorized by Louisiana to issue diplomas, of...

      Lawsuit

      A 2016 lawsuit accused US Youth Services of fraudulent advertising for falsely claiming to be accredited and authorized by Louisiana to issue diplomas, of inadequate food and clothing, and of not reporting alleged beating of a resident.

      source

    2. IncidentAugust 1, 2016

      Arrest

      A staff member was arrested August 1, 2016 for carnal knowledge of a juvenile and indecent behavior with a juvenile, held on $200,000 bail.

      Arrest August 1, 2016

      source

  6. 2017

    1. IncidentNovember 2017

      Criminal charge

      The staff member pleaded guilty in November 2017 to one count of obscenity; his three-year sentence was suspended for three years of supervised probation and a $500 fine.

      Criminal charge November 2017

      source

  7. 2018

    1. Closed

      Closed

Lawsuits

  • lawsuit Unknown | State of Louisiana Court of Appeal, Third Circuit | 14-1028 Names this facility

    Outcome: Reversed summary judgment; remanded for further proceedings

    Amy Tepper and her parents appealed a trial court decision that granted summary judgment in favor of Red River Academy, LLC. The appellate court found genuine issues of material fact regarding the school’s medical care of Amy, and reversed the summary judgment. The case was remanded for further proceedings. The decision focuses on alleged negligence in the school’s handling of Amy’s medical treatment.

  • Wood, et al. v. World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools, Inc., et al. Unknown | Fifth Judicial District Court, Washington County, Utah | 120500380 Names this facility

    William Chase Wood and several hundred other former students and their parents sued the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASPS), founder Robert Lichfield, his business partners and dozens of affiliated programs, marketing and billing companies in Utah's Fifth Judicial District Court in Washington County. The document on file is the plaintiffs' 228-page first amended complaint, submitted July 24, 2013, which refers to claim sheets filed in the case on December 17, 2012 in opposition to a WWASPS motion to dismiss. It alleges that students placed at WWASPS programs in Utah, other states, Mexico, Jamaica, Costa Rica, Samoa and the Czech Republic from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s were beaten, restrained, locked in isolation and small boxes or cages, denied food and medical care, sexually abused and forced to work without pay. It alleges the programs operated as a single enterprise that deceived parents and concealed the abuse, and brings negligence, fraud, contract, conspiracy and emotional distress claims. The document does not show how the case ended.

Every case in the lawsuit directory

Incidents on record

  1. 2006 Lawsuit

    Red River Academy was among several WWASP programs named as abusive, neglectful and fraudulent in the 2006 Turley lawsuit.source

  2. Lawsuit

    Red River Academy is one of several WWASPS programs named in a class action lawsuit for fraud and abuse.source

  3. July 2009 Runaway

    In July 2009 three girls escaped through an air conditioning vent, jumped the fence and hitch-hiked to Texas; a 23-year-old driver was arrested for helping them and the eldest, 17, was tried as an adult.source

  4. December 2014 Criminal charge

    After more students came forward, the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office charged the staff member with five additional counts each of sexual battery, indecent behavior with a juvenile, simple battery and prohibited sexual conduct.source

  5. December 1, 2014 Arrest

    A staff member was arrested December 1, 2014 for sexual battery, attempted forcible rape and prohibited sexual conduct with a female student.source

  6. 2015 Lawsuit

    A 2015 lawsuit against nurse Alicia Hall and Red River Academy alleges medical neglect after a resident was prescribed antibiotics she was allergic to, leading to toxic megacolon and a total colectomy; the case was dismissed then reversed by the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal and settled in late June.source

  7. 2016 Lawsuit

    A 2016 lawsuit accused US Youth Services of fraudulent advertising for falsely claiming to be accredited and authorized by Louisiana to issue diplomas, of inadequate food and clothing, and of not reporting alleged beating of a resident.source

  8. August 1, 2016 Arrest

    A staff member was arrested August 1, 2016 for carnal knowledge of a juvenile and indecent behavior with a juvenile, held on $200,000 bail.source

  9. November 2017 Criminal charge

    The staff member pleaded guilty in November 2017 to one count of obscenity; his three-year sentence was suspended for three years of supervised probation and a $500 fine.source

  10. Abuse

    'Intervention' was a form of solitary confinement in a small white room with only a chair, used to punish resistant residents.source

  11. Abuse

    Survivors report students were strip-searched on arrival and slept in hallways at first; 'Intervention' was a form of solitary confinement.source

Staff

Administration

Notable staff

  • Brent Hall

    source

    Elsewhere in the industry

  • Alicia Hall

    Former Parent Coordinator, Parent Coordinator and Nursesource

  • Ben Osteen

    Former Shift Supervisorsource

  • Charles Gregory Allen

    Former Staff member (2014, r/troubledteens wiki)source

  • Dusky Goulding

    Former Assistant Directorsource

    Elsewhere in the industry

  • Dustin Perry

    Former Seminar Coordinatorsource

  • Joshua Brown

    Former White Shift Chaperonesource

  • Joshua Wells/Whales

    Former Shift Supervisorsource

  • Justin Jarred

    Former Family Representativesource

  • Larry Reid

    Former Operations Directorsource

  • Latrice Elie

    Former Family Representativesource

  • Michael Matthew Guy

    Former Staff member (2016, r/troubledteens wiki)source

Connections on the network map

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

Documents

From the Unsilenced archive

36 documents about US Youth Services that Unsilenced collected and Kids Over Profits does not hold a copy of. They open on Unsilenced's Google Drive. Their whole folder: Red River Academy - US Youth Services.

Documents (36)

Wiki entries

Materials and links

External links

Archived pages

Other links

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