{"id":812,"date":"2024-07-27T15:21:58","date_gmt":"2024-07-27T15:21:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kidsoverprofits.org\/staging\/?p=812"},"modified":"2025-06-29T19:36:33","modified_gmt":"2025-06-29T19:36:33","slug":"the-u-s-sun-i-was-abandoned-2-5k-miles-from-home-at-lord-of-the-flies-troubled-teen-school-i-thought-id-die-any-day-from-abuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kidsoverprofits.org\/staging\/the-u-s-sun-i-was-abandoned-2-5k-miles-from-home-at-lord-of-the-flies-troubled-teen-school-i-thought-id-die-any-day-from-abuse\/","title":{"rendered":"I was abandoned 2.5k miles from home at \u2018Lord of the Flies\u2019 troubled teen school \u2013 I thought I\u2019d die any day from abuse"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Read the full article here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Programs mentioned: Bethel Academy, Academy at Ivy Ridge<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Triggers: detailed descriptions of extreme child abuse including psychological and emotional abuse, physical violence, torture<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key Points:
Survivors Allen Knoll and Dave Bowsher made a documentary together called Teen Torture Inc., which is streaming now on HBO Max.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bethel Boys Academy in Lucedale, Mississippi was closed in 2008<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many pictures of students and campus life<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Founded in 1978 by Reverend Herman Fountain <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students were repeatedly removed from campus in connection with credible allegations of child abuse beginning in 1980 yet the school was allowed to remain open for 10 more years<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the state finally intervened, Herman Fountain assaulted a police officer and consequently served 9 months in prison<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After prison, Fountain reopened the facility under a modified name in 1994<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A staff member who was known to be particularly abusive, William Knott, was never held accountable for his crimes at Bethel. However, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for child abuse at his next workplace, Restoration Youth Academy, in 2017<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Includes stories from Bethel survivors Allen Knoll, Daniel Edwards, Dave Bowsher, Ralph Nock, Steven Caccamo, Colin Buckley<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buckley and Caccamo are also survivors of Academy at Ivy Ridge<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buckley and Caccamo founded a non-profit called the Troubled Teen Advocate Group to help other survivors<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bethel survivors filed a class action lawsuit that failed<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Herman Fountain\u2019s son, John, took over as director in the final years of the academy<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parents filed a lawsuit against Bethel that was settled out of court<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lawsuit filed by a survivor\u2019s father resulted in Bethel and Knott being ordered to pay out nearly $1m<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bethel rebranded as Eagle Point Christian Academy in 2005<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Read the full article here. Programs mentioned: Bethel Academy, Academy at Ivy Ridge Triggers: detailed descriptions of extreme child abuse including psychological and emotional abuse, physical violence, torture Key Points:Survivors Allen Knoll and Dave Bowsher made a documentary together called Teen Torture Inc., which is streaming now on HBO Max. Bethel Boys Academy in Lucedale, Mississippi was…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[34,16,33],"tags":[61,69,68,66,59,64,65,63],"class_list":["post-812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-international-news","category-news","category-us-news","tag-bethel-academy","tag-documentary","tag-eagle-point-christian-academy","tag-herman-fountain","tag-lawsuit","tag-mississippi","tag-restoration-youth-academy","tag-wwasp"],"acf":[],"mb":[],"yoast_head":"\nI was abandoned 2.5k miles from home at \u2018Lord of the Flies\u2019 troubled teen school \u2013 I thought I\u2019d die any day from abuse - Staging<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"I was abandoned 2.5k miles from home at \u2018Lord of the Flies\u2019 troubled teen school \u2013 I thought I\u2019d die any day from abuse - Staging\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Read the full article here. 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