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[18 Nov 1998]
Torture Claims Shut
'School'
by Ladka Bauerova
BRNO-Tales of torture,
imprisonment and intimidation directed against 57 American teenagers
prompted Czech police to arrest the managers of the private reform
school Morava Academy and shut down the facility. The incident has
thrown suspicion on Utah-based company World Wide Association of
Specialty Programs (WWASP), an umbrella organization sheltering an
entire network of similar youth institutions in and outside the
United States.
The head of the organized
crime unit in Brno, Petr Netik, said the Czech Police will launch a
joint investigation with the American FBI. Their first meeting
should take place in mid-December. "This case should become more and
more interesting," Netik said. On Nov. 9, police arrested Glenda and
Steven Roach, a former police officer from Utah, and two Czech
citizens who worked as guards, Iveta Ch. and Richard S.
While Mrs. Roach and the two
guards were released on the same day, Mr. Roach remained in custody
until Nov. 11 when he was freed on 200,000 Kc ($6,670) bail. All
four could face two-to-eight years in prison for violating basic
human rights. Netik didn't rule out bringing charges against the
teenagers' parents for violating Czech jurisdiction by imprisoning
their children in the Czech Republic against their will.
The arrests came more than a
month after a former employee of Morava Academy Hana Simonova
reported the physical and psychological abuse that the young
Americans were subjected to. When questioned by the police, students
confirmed that their hands had been handcuffed or tied with paper
tape, that they had been forced to lie on their stomach for days in
a solitary-confinement room, and that they had undergone systematic
brainwashing that involved the use of audio and video tapes.
Netik said several children
were kept for weeks in solitary confinement in a room with a single
mattress and a painted-over window. They were fed only cold
sandwiches and provided with a limited amount of water. "In some
cases they were denied access to toilets. One girl defecated on the
floor and after cleaning up she had to stay in the same room," the
officer said.
He also described the
students' fear after they were told to return to the academy
following police questioning. "They swore, crossed themselves and
begged not to be sent back," Netik said. "Some of them said they
would rather sleep outside than go back. They were afraid of further
punishment." In addition to acts of physical and psychological
abuse, the police also suspect financial impropriety on the part of
the academy management.
Netik said one female
student reported that the staff lied to her about the currency
conversion rate, so she received 1,200 Kc (about $40) per month
instead of the $80 she was entitled to. According to Simonova, the
staff was encouraged to punish the students as often as possible.
The children, between 13 and 18 years old, were not allowed to talk
or move without permission. Teachers had to write down every
"misdemeanor" and the academy charged the parents for each
violation.
"There was a whole menu of
misdemeanors," Simonova said. "When they left their book lying
somewhere, they paid 15 Kc. If they spoke without permission, it was
36 Kc. We had to count it and the parents paid extra. I think [the
academy] was making a lot of money off this project." Simonova
described the academy's manager Glenda Roach as "very aggressive."
She said that Mrs. Roach, a
former policewoman who walks with the aid of a cane, enjoyed
punishing the students. "I think she hates people and she thinks the
worst of them," said the former teacher. "I never saw her laugh or
smile, never. Only one time she smiled and laughed very much. That
was when she scared Ryan [a student] and called him bad names. Then
she was happy," said Simonova, describing an incident that happened
in her presence.
After guards found a spoon
filed down to function as a screwdriver in the bed of 16-year-old
Ryan, they dragged the boy off to solitary confinement. "They showed
him handcuffs and even brought in a dog to scare him," she
described. "[Glenda] yelled at him that he was 'shit' and other
nasty words. He was crying so hard, but they let him stay there for
at least a week."
Despite the allegations, the
parents who flew in a few days after the arrests denied any
wrongdoing of the part of the management. "Our children are not here
against their will," said Gita, who arrived from Los Angeles,
California. "There is not one child who wants to go back."
Connie Shalin from Tyler,
Texas, praised the academy for turning her 16-year-old daughter
Marie into a "positive, happy, loving young woman; everything that I
would want as a mother." She said she chose Morava Academy for the
"loving and nurturing environment," "strong academics," and
"structure." The mothers refused to explain why they placed their
children in the institution, but they allowed a few of them to come
out after several hours and make a statement.
Seven pale-faced girls and
boys who were not permitted to answer any journalists' questions
formed a semicircle and, holding their parents hands, they produced
a litany of praise. "I really appreciate the Czech Republic, I
learned a lot about this country, and I love it here, I think it's
beautiful. And I am sad to go," said 17-year-old Renee from Oregon,
who has spent six months in the academy.
"I love Steve and Glenn,
they're just incredible people, they're all incredible," she added,
while her mother clutched her arm. Matt, 17, who arrived in Brno
seven-and-a-half months ago, went even further. "These people can
come here, tell lies, take my family from here, take my friends from
here, but they are never going to take what Morava Academy has given
me, because it's in my heart," he declared.
The president of WWASP, Karr
Farnsworth, who flew to Brno to handle the situation, said he was
"shocked" by the allegations of violence. He denounced the police
evidence, blaming the language barrier. "Disgruntled former
employees made false allegations because they lost their job," he
said.
Simonova claims she lost her
job 10 days after she reported the ill treatment. Farnsworth said
his company was a nonprofit organization that provides consultative
services to a network of schools specializing in behavior
modification. The schools themselves are run for profit.
WWASP oversees at least
seven institutions similar to Morava Academy - which was the least
expensive with a monthly tuition of $1,790. With 57 students, the
revenues, not counting the fines accumulated by the students, can be
$102,030 per month. Farnsworth claims the tuition was based on the
school's expenses.
Salaries for the staff,
however weren't high. Svatkava Verkova, one of the former teachers,
said she quit because the salaries were only 9,000 Kc - 11,000 Kc
per month. Farnsworth admitted that many of the staff were Mormon,
as are the Roaches, but hastened to add that his organization as
such claims no religious affiliation.
He said the organization was
offering the opportunity to parents to relocate their children to
another one of their institutions. "The program would generally not
stay in the place where it's not welcome," he said.
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