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BETHEL BOYS ACADEMY
Story by Cheryle,
Mom -
Click here to read the
Complaint
September 18, 2003
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I had placed my son
there on Mother's Day, 2003. My husband drove our son there while I
sat home second guessing our decision. I began searching the
internet for anything I could find on this place or it's owner's
Herman Fountain or John Fountain. I found all kinds of allegations
of abuse and torture on the kids. 3 1/2 days later we were back down
there rescuing our son. He was covered in bruises inlcuding a black
eye. Because we showed up unannounced he was able to smuggle out the
names and numbers of three other boys. We also called their parents.
Within 5 days the other three boys had been rescued also. We all met
with the Attorney General's Office (Mike Moore). We were assured
they would open a full blown investigation. A week later the state
went in and removed all the children with visible signs of abuse to
the face or neck. That is the only part of the body they could see.
Two weeks later another 16 boys ran away. 8 ended up in protective
custody and the other 8 ended up at a former drill instructors
house. All with stories of abuse and torture, sleep, food and water
deprivation. Three days before our Court date to testify (August
26th, 2003) we get a call from the Head of Crim. Inv. that the State
worked out yet another deal with Bethel. Bethel will no longer use
electrical shock for torture, will no longer make the children go to
the bathroom on themselves, will feed them three times a day, will
not slug them in the face. I could go on and on. We parents are now
filing a Class Action Lawsuit. We will name the State of Miss. and
Bethel Boys Academy.
If you were ever a
student or parent of a student at Bethel, please e-mail me direct.
This abuse and torture chamber has got to stop.
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We made a horrible
mistake by trusting someone 24/7 with our child. Especially a place
that was so many states away. We are treating our son at home. He
had started experimenting with pot (so we have him in outpatient
rehab three times a week). He also goes to group meetings once a
week, and a priv. therapist once a week. My son only suffered for
3.5 days but it opened my eyes up to a whole underworld of legalized
child abuse. I have vowed to fight this industry for the rest of my
life in honor of all the boys that my son couldn't smuggle their
number out. It must stop.
_________________
Cheryle - My son
was TORTURED and ABUSED at Bethel Boys Academy aka Eagle Point
Christian Academy, Lucedale, MS.
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Until the lawsuit
is filed by talking, talking and posting on every message board I
can is the way to reach more victims of Bethel's abuse. Employees
have now been contacting me. They are abused almost as badly as the
kids there. POWER IN NUMBERS is the motto of this lawsuit. It will
make national news and I can't wait. I want to save all those
children that are suffering there right now. I was conned and lied
to by the Teen Help agency (who is being named in the lawsuit also)
and also by Herman Fountain and John Fountain. Places like this
shouldn't even be allowed to operate. Then we have parents who truly
don't care what is happening to their child. They just give up.
Places like Bethel need to be closed so they aren't even an option
for parents like this. Either way CLOSE Bethel and send the Felony
Child Abusers to prison.
_________________
Cheryle - My son
was TORTURED and ABUSED at Bethel Boys Academy aka Eagle Point
Christian Academy, Lucedale, MS.
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November 4, 2003
Quote:
"Learning
self-control, through a study of the bible. Helping them learn inner
control. Since 1978, Bethel Baptist Boys and Girls Academy has been
helping young people regain their lives through our LORD Jesus
Christ. Set in the rustic atmosphere of southeastern Mississippi,
children gain help without the negative influences so common is
today's society. "
This is the
description of Bethel Boys Home and Bethel Girls Home in Lucedale,
Mississippi.
What people are
questioning now is whether the rustic setting acts as a calming
influence in children's lives, or is it a way to cover up the truth
of what Reverend Herman Fountain and his son John are accused of
doing to the many children who have come to them throughout the
school's years of existence. Horrific accusations have surfaced from
both boys and girls who resided in these homes. Included in the
accusations are instances such as being forced to eat vomit,
electrocution, denial of medical care, and whippings that left not
only bruises, but scars for life. Many people are wondering how and
why these homes are still in operation.
The latest story
stems from a parent whose son was at Bethel for a mere three and a
half days. Cheryl Struble is a mother who enrolled her 15 year old
son into Bethel in hopes of helping him get "back on the right
track". A lifelong Christian and loving mother, she was excited at
the prospect of helping her son, and he also admitted that he was
glad to be going somewhere that could help him. Bethel Baptist not
only came highly recommended by a Teen Counsel group in her area,
Cheryl had lengthy conversations with the co-founder and his son and
felt assured that this was the best option for her family. As her
husband made the half-day trip into Mississippi to drop off their
son, Cheryl began surfing the net on a mission to find out every
detail of Bethel Boys Home, feeling that by doing so she would feel
closer to him in his absence. Cheryl found more than she bargained
for. Not only were there an abundance of horror stories from
previous students of Bethel Baptist, there was also the news that
Herman Fountain had been imprisoned for striking an officer,
apparently in an attempt to stop him from performing part of an
investigation into the boys home. Cheryl called her husband, who was
then en route back home after having dropped off the boy. He let her
know that he had been very impresssed with the home, the students,
and with the Fountains, so they decided that the past must be the
past and everything would be ok. However, Cheryl couldn't shake the
feeling that something was wrong. She made phone calls to
Mississippi offices questioning whether the school was safe, and
over the next two days was told by almost every agency called to "go
get your son out of there". This time Cheryl and her husband made
the trip to Mississippi together.
Once at the home,
they watched as their son walked up to the truck. Here is what
Cheryl had to say:
"He came walking up
with a black eye, numerous cuts on his head. He had bruises, kidney
punch bruises, and he'd been hit so hard in the side you could see
the knuckle marks".
Her son reported
that his first beating had taken place just ten minutes after his
father had left the school.
The son had managed
to sneak three telephone numbers of other children out of the boys
home. Cheryl called all of those families, and immediately the
parents came to pick up their children. From a hotel room they
called the attorney general's office. A criminal investigator was
sent to take reports from the four boys. Bethel was paid a suprise
visit and thirteen additional children were removed.
This was not an
isolated complaint of abuse. Christina Owen, now a 34 yr. old women,
spent 3 years at Bethel as a teen. Christina states that for her,
the first beating also came almost the moment she arrived, and was
administered by Herman Fountain and in the presence of another
student. "He used his hands. He backhanded me so hard in the face I
flew out of my chair on to the floor. No one helped him, he told me
to get up and I didn't fast enough for him I guess, cause he just
about ripped my hair out of my head lifting me off the floor. I got
there in the middle of the night sometime and the next morning for
breakfast we had rice with sugar. It was the worst and I refused to
eat at this time David Owens who was over the girls dorm snatched me
again by my hair out of my chair and flung me around by my hair like
a rag doll telling me I was ungrateful and I was going to eat every
bite of that and if I puked I would eat that too."
Following are
quotes taken from others who feel they've been terrorized and
scarred for life by abuse endured at Herman Fountain's facilities.
"One time I was
being accused of "lying" about being on my monthly cycle... they
said I was being "prissy"...... and I was made to go "prove" that I
was actually indeed having a cycle. I cannot begin to say how
humiliating that was for me to have to pull my underwear down and
"prove" that I was having a monthly cycle. " --Lisa
"No sooner than my
father drove away from the drive at Bethel the owner there, Herman
Fountain, proceeded to scream relentlessly at me, telling me I was
worthless and a whore and many other things as you can imagine that
would go along with this type of name calling. Herman Fountain
allowed me to speak, but only to silence me with a backhanded blow
to the face." --Ty
"Some of the girls
here would be beat with switches till they bled from their bottoms.
I am very sure some still have scars to this day. Just like the
slaves in that time frame were beaten, Bethel has done the same,
treated children the same, and in most cases worse than slaves."
--Chris
Despite the
allegations, Bethel Baptist remains open. The courts have crafted an
agreement requiring Reverend Herman to relinquish all interest and
control in the academy, although he retains his position as pastor
at the church. A consent decree with Bethel states "The Defendants
shall remove any and all electric fences from the areas surrounding
the property of the Defendants upon which Bethel Boys Academy is
located. The Defendants shall be prohibited from the further use of
electric fences and/or other electrical devices in or around the
premises of Bethel Boys Academy. The Defendants shall be further
prohibited from the use of any electrical devices of any type
whatsoever in the discipline of any children residing at Bethel Boys
Academy."
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