I was abandoned 2.5k miles from home at ‘Lord of the Flies’ troubled teen school – I thought I’d die any day from abuse
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 closed in 2008
Many pictures of students and campus life
Founded in 1978 by Reverend Herman Fountain
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
When the state finally intervened, Herman Fountain assaulted a police officer and consequently served 9 months in prison
After prison, Fountain reopened the facility under a modified name in 1994
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
Includes stories from Bethel survivors Allen Knoll, Daniel Edwards, Dave Bowsher, Ralph Nock, Steven Caccamo, Colin Buckley
Buckley and Caccamo are also survivors of Academy at Ivy Ridge
Buckley and Caccamo founded a non-profit called the Troubled Teen Advocate Group to help other survivors
Bethel survivors filed a class action lawsuit that failed
Herman Fountain’s son, John, took over as director in the final years of the academy
Parents filed a lawsuit against Bethel that was settled out of court
A lawsuit filed by a survivor’s father resulted in Bethel and Knott being ordered to pay out nearly $1m
Bethel rebranded as Eagle Point Christian Academy in 2005