HEAL is an
egalitarian network of activists self-empowered to plan events, create
change, and make the world a better place for all life. Our goals
include the liberation of humans, nonhuman animals, and the earth! We
work in cooperation with like-minded organizations that put compassion
in action!
In December of 2009, HEAL began
assisting a family in rescuing their child from
Eagle Ranch Academy in
Utah. We had no idea at the time that it would lead us to the
evidence we have long believed to exist connecting most (if not all)
behavior modification programs. In recent months, we have found a
massive amount of information linking
Aspen Education
Group,
CEDU (Synanon
spin-off),
Straight, Inc.
(Synanon
spin-off),
Provo Canyon
School,
WWASPS,
and many more "providers" of "residential and wilderness treatment"
programs that defraud families and torture children.
Our goal is to provide the
information any parent would need to understand that programs that
advertise or are associated under the umbrella commonly known as the
"teen help" or "troubled teen" (a/k/a behavior modification or "Youth
Development") industry are fraudulent and abusive. This industry
lobbies and finances public office campaigns. It receives public
funds and appointments to high offices. And, it is behind the Drug
Free America Foundation (DFAF) (founded by Betty Sembler, wife of
notorious child-torturer Mel Sembler, founder of Straight, Inc) which
uses massive amounts of propaganda and scare-tactics to persuade naive
parents that all children are in danger of drug addiction and that
"preventive" measures such as abusive programs should be used to
"protect" children who are not already addicted to drugs from becoming
addicted to drugs. The DFAF is also behind the DARE program.
DFAF refers families to
Teen Challenge.
This page will focus primarily on
Utah as it is the fatherland of abusive behavior modification programs and
provides unregulated sanctuary to child-torture facilities. Below
is a video exposing Utah Boys Ranch and West Ridge Academy. Notice
that Utah Senator Chris Buttars was the director of the program and
still receives a salary from the program. We will continue our
exposing of corruption in Utah following the video: (courtesy of
www.mormongulag.com)
It is interesting to note that
Utah recently introduced legislation to
cut senior year
from their public schools. And, Sen. Chris Buttars (on the payroll
for
Utah Boys
Ranch) is the one interested in
limiting education for those attending public schools after not
providing educational services to those suffering at Utah Boys Ranch.
The Utah Boys Ranch is just one of
many programs in Utah torturing children with the intent of
indoctrination into Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints (FLDS) cults.
Aspen Education Group
is owned by Mitt Romney. Mitt Romney was a front-runner for
Republican Presidential Nomination in the 2008 election. Romney's
top advisors
in his campaign were Mel Sembler (Straight,
Inc.) and Robert Lichfield (founder of
WWASPS). Ronald
Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush have long been affiliated
with and supportive of fraudulent and abusive programs including
Straight, Inc. George W. Bush appointed Mel Sembler as U.S.
Ambassador to Italy in
2000 and Sembler was head of the
Scooter Libby Defense
Fund. We hope at this point that the links and information
provided are enough for readers to understand that these programs and
their associations are top-level wealth/power players in the United
States and around the globe. The reason that this industry has not
been outlawed is because it is already illegal. But, because of
the players,
prosecution
and requests to the Justice Department have been for the most part
dismissed and ignored.
Under George W. Bush's
administration, dozens of abusive and cult-like programs that offer
little to no educational services were "approved" by the Department of
Homeland Security:
Utah
Institution Name
Campus Name
City
State
Date Approved
Abundant Life Academy
Kanab
UT
2/15/2008
0:00
Alpine Aviation, Inc.
D.B.A. Alpine Air
Alpine Air
Provo
UT
7/24/2003
0:00
Alpine School District
Alpine School District
American
Fork
UT
1/29/2003
0:00
American ESL Academy
Murray
UT
12/26/2007
0:00
American Heritage School
and Family Education Center
The avoidance of investigation of the
allegations of torture,
rape, and death
of children is primarily due to the protections and
parties involved in preventing investigation or regulation of this
industry. In 2005, Rep. George Miller of the House Education and
Labor Committee introduced HR 1738, the "End
Institutionalized Abuse of Children Act". This
legislation has gone through many disappointing changes and now will do
nothing to effectively regulate the industry or protect children from
abuse in programs. States can refuse to participate in the federal
regulation process of such programs according to the latest bill,
HR 911
(2009).
The language as well as the title of the legislation has changed.
And, Utah can easily avoid any federal regulation by refusing to
implement the regulations proposed by the legislation.
Another problem with Utah is that
there is no solid Child Protective Services offered because if the
Department of Children and Family Services has a contract with an
offending/abusive program, it is considered a "conflict of interest" for
them to investigate. They claim to pay a private, non-governmental
agency to investigate child abuse reports. It is also important to
remember that children in these programs are given no access to a
telephone and cannot report abuse. So, even when abuse is
reported, often Utah does nothing to investigate due to a "conflict of
interest". See below:
CPS Investigations—When We Have a Conflict
By Ken Patterson
Utah Code Annotated §62A-4a-409(5) requires
another organization to conduct child
protection investigations when DCFS has a
“conflict” or potential conflict of interest.
The most typical conflict is a report of
maltreatment in a foster home. DCFS makes
the placement and, in theory, might
over-identify with the child or the foster parents
were we to attempt to investigate. A less
typical conflict is when the referral alleges
child maltreatment by one of our employees or
an employee of an agency with whom
we work closely.
In late 1997, we began a contract with the
Children’s Justice Division of the Attorney
General’s Office to conduct these conflict
investigations. The contract provided DCFS
with some immediate relief, but failure to
identify an investigative approach to be used
lead to some negative experiences for foster
parents. By the spring of 1999, enough
concerns emerged that the contract was not
renewed for fiscal year 2000. The DCFS
Board, Craig Barlow from the Attorney General’s
Office, Kit Hansen (President of the
Foster Family Association), and others went to
work last summer crafting a revised
process that would work. The new contract has
been developed and approved by the
DCFS Board.
The Children’s Justice Division has been offered
$480,000 to conduct up to 160
“conflict investigations” per year over the next
three years. During 1998 through
1999, DCFS averaged 135 “conflict cases” per
year. The contract could start as early
as July 1, 2000. If the Attorney General’s
Office declines the offer, DCFS will issue a
request for proposals on July 10, 2000 seeking
proposals from other interested and
We advise families to understand that
many programs in Utah are used as "foster care placement" for Utah and
other states. It is a serious concern that there would be a limit
or delay to investigations into reports of abuse. It is more
disturbing that the children are not allowed access to telephone 911 in
the event they are being abused at a "lockdown" facility in Utah.
Many residential programs in Utah
defraud health insurance companies by representing themselves as medical
and mental health providers. However, most of these programs are
not licensed as medical facilities and are not regulated as such by the
state of Utah. Most programs are licensed only as "Residential
Treatment". Below are the requirements for receiving licensing in
the state of Utah. It is important for readers to understand that
Utah allows the industry to self-regulate and places the owners of
abusive programs (i.e.
Logan River Academy)
on the licensing board (i.e. Jeff Smith of Logan River Academy).
Here are the requirements for licensing in Utah:
Licensing Rules require licensees to comply with Local,
State and Federal rules and laws. These include but are
not limited to local zoning, business license, building
codes, fire codes, county health department rules, state
background checks, square footage, safe facilities,
adequate furniture, program policies, personnel
qualifications, insurance coverage, Federal labor
standards, employment practices etc.
The Office of
Licensing will assign a "licensor" to assist the
applicant to complete the licensing process. A policy
and procedure manual is one of the first requirements
prior to being issued an initial license.
All licenses issued by the Office of Licensing are
public record.
See the
Department of Health for other kinds of health
facility licensing (nursing homes, etc.)
Problems with Accreditation Procedure for
Schools in Utah:
A. "Accreditation"
means formal Northwest and Board
approval of a school that has met standards considered by
the Board to be essential for the operation of a quality
school program.
B. "Annual Report"
means a document that explains a school's compliance with
educational standards and progress provided by the school in
its school improvement plan. The school improvement plan is
a dynamic document that reflects changes and progress made
by the school community. The Annual Report also provides
definitions and criteria required by Northwest for
accreditation.
C. "Board" means
the Utah State Board of Education.
D. "Northwest"
means Northwest Association of Accredited Schools
the regional accrediting association of which Utah is a
member.
E. "Secondary
school" for the purpose of this rule means a school that
includes grades 9-12 including public, private, parochial,
alternative, and special purpose schools offering credits
toward high school graduation or diplomas or both.
F. "State
Committee" means the State Accreditation Committee,
which is composed of public school administrators,
school district personnel, private and special purpose
school representatives, and USOE personnel.
G. "USOE" means the
Utah State Office of Education.
H. "Visiting team"
means a team composed of three to eight active educators as
determined by the size of the school, trained by the USOE in
accreditation procedures and standards.
A. The
Board accepts the Northwest standardsas
the basis for its accreditation standards for
school accreditation.
B. The Board
requires the satisfaction of additional specific Utah
standards in addition to required Northwest standards, to
satisfy Utah accreditation for Utah public schools.
http://www.rules.utah.gov/publicat/code/r277/r277-413.htm
(January 6th, 2010)
A. The evaluation
of secondary schools for the purpose of accreditation is a
cooperative activity in which the school, the school
district, the USOE, and Northwest share responsibilities.
A school's self-evaluation,
development, and implementation of a school improvement planare the crucial primary steps toward accreditation.
B. A school seeking
Northwest accreditation for the first time shall submit a
membership application to Northwest. The accepted
application shall be forwarded to the USOE.
(1) Upon a visit by
USOE staff verifying a school's compliance with
accreditation standards, the school shall then receive
provisional accreditation.
(2) Within three
years of receiving provisional, accreditation, a candidate
school shall complete a self-evaluation utilizing
materials and protocols recommended and/or provided by the
USOE.
(3) Provisional
schools shall be visited annually until they have completed
their first self- evaluation and full-team
visit. (Team is comprised of other program owners or those
that share office/responsibility with program owners)
C. Northwest
accredited schools shall be subject to:
(1) compliance with
Northwest membership requirements;
(2) receipt and
review of annual reports by the State Committee;
(3) satisfactory
review by the State Committee, Northwest, and final Board
approval;
(4) a new
self-evaluation and site visit at least every six
years by a visiting team assigned by the USOE to review the
self-evaluation materials, visit classes, and talk with
staff and students as follows:
(a) The visiting
team shall present its finding in the form of a written
report in a timely manner. The report shall be provided to
the school, school district superintendent or local charter
board chair, USOE staff, and the Board.
(b) USOE staff
shall review the visiting team report, consult with the
State Committee and Northwest and recommend appropriate
accreditation status to the Board.
D. Following review
and acceptance, accreditation visiting team reports are
public information and are available online.
The purposes of the Northwest
Association, as stated in the Articles of Incorporation are
to:
1. Advance the cause of education in the
schools of the Northwest.
2. Develop educational policies and
activities that will extend and improve educational
opportunities and services.
3. Develop criteria of evaluation that
will continually stimulate, evaluate, and accredit vital
educational efforts.
4. Promote cooperative relationships
among schools in order to attain these ends.
The Association implements these purposes through
constructive and continual effort. Member schools are
accredited on the basis of standards developed by the
Association. Each member school is required to participate
in self- and team-evaluations during each six-year period
using a means of self-evaluation approved by the State
Accreditation Committee.
Utah allows the
entire industry to self-regulate. There is absolutely no
oversight.
Licensing process for:
Day Treatment, Intermediate Secure Care,
Outdoor Youth program, Outpatient
Treatment, Residential Support,
Residential Treatment, Social Detoxification, and
Therapeutic School
1. Submit application, fee, and Policy
and Procedure Manual to the Office of
Licensing. Office management will assign
a licensor. The Policy and Procedure
Manual must address the specifics of how
the program will comply with the Core
Rules (R501-2) and with the Categorical
Rules for the applicable category of
service to be provided. The manual must
be reviewed and approved by the
assigned licensor. (application &
fees)
2. Submit Office of Licensing Background
Screening Application forms on all
employees 18 years or older who will
have direct access to clients (Adult only
Substance Abuse programs are exempt from
this). An Office of Licensing
background screen must be completed
annually.
3. Prepare the following documents:
-Business license
-Fire Inspection Clearance (not
required for Outdoor Youth Program)
-Health Inspection Clearance (not
required for Outpatient Treatment or
Outdoor Youth Program)
-Evidence of Insurance (General
Liability with fire, Professional Liability,
Vehicle, and Worker’s Compensation)
-Evidence of Business Registration with
the Department of Commerce
o Sole Proprietorship = Registration
o Partnership = Partnership Agreement
o Limited Partnership = Certificate of
Limited Partnership
o Corporation = Articles of
Incorporation
o Limited Liability Company = Articles
of Organization
-List of members of the program’s
Governing Body
-Organizational Chart
-School Accreditation Certificate for
programs serving clients under age
18. (not required for Outpatient
Treatment or Social Detoxification)
-Completed Youth Education Coordinating
form for programs serving
clients under age 18. (not required
for Outpatient Treatment or Social
Detoxification)
- For Residential Treatment and
Intermediate Secure Care - evidence of
notification provided to the Governing
Body of the local government
having jurisdiction, in accordance with
62A-2-108.2(3)
-Any other licenses/inspections required
by the city, county or other state
agency
4. Licensor will contact you to complete a site
inspection
Section
62A-2-106, the office shall establish and
enforce rules that:
(a) relate generally to all categories of
residential treatment program licenses; and
(b) relate to specific categories of residential
treatment program licenses on the basis of the
regulatory needs, as determined by the office, of
residential treatment programs within those specific
categories.
(3) Before submitting an application for a license
to operate a residential treatment program, the
applicant shall serve notice of its intent to operate a
residential treatment program on the governing body of:
(a) the city in which the residential treatment
program will be located; or
(b) if the residential treatment program will be
located in the unincorporated area of a county, the
county in which the residential treatment program will
be located.
(4) The notice described in Subsection (3) shall
include the following information relating to the
residential treatment program:
(a) an accurate description of the residential
treatment program;
(b) the location where the residential treatment
program will be operated;
(c) the services that will be provided by the
residential treatment program;
(d) the type of clients that the residential
treatment program will serve;
(e) the category of license for which the
residential treatment program is applying to the office;
(f) the name, telephone number, and address of a
person that may be contacted to make inquiries about the
residential treatment program; and
(g) any other information that the office may
require by rule.
(5) When submitting an application for a license to
operate a residential treatment program, the applicant
shall include with the application:
(a) a copy of the notice described in Subsection
(3); and
(b) proof that the applicant served the notice
described in Subsection (3) on the governing body
described in Subsection (3).
This is the law referenced in the licensing procedures.
If a program was a medical facility, it would require
licensing from the Bureau of Health Facility Licensing.
See:
http://health.utah.gov/hflcra/ If you go to
www.qualitycheck.org and search for a program (i.e.
Diamond Ranch Academy) in Utah, there is no facility
listed. This is what is recommended by the Department
of Health in Utah. See:
http://www.health.utah.gov/myhealthcare/hospital.htm#sb132
As you can see in the above
information, a "Social Detoxification" program does not need to provide
proof of educational or other expected qualifications. Below is
the definition of Social Detoxification according to Utah law:
A
social detoxification program offers room, board
and specialized rehabilitation services to
persons who are in an intoxicated state, or
withdrawing from alcohol or drugs. In social
detoxification, individuals are assisted in
acquiring the sobriety and a drug free condition
necessary for living in the community and the
program places an emphasis on helping the
individual obtain further care after
detoxification. Taken from:
http://www.rules.utah.gov/publicat/code/r501/r501-11.htm
Now, most of these programs will
claim to be "Social Detoxification" programs. However, they are
not medical facilities and do not provide appropriate care for children
placed out of the belief that they require "preventive" care. And,
they are not licensed as medical facilities. The state of Utah has
manipulated the laws to cover up the abuse and cults in their state.
And, since children are often forced to confess to drug abuse and sexual
exploits that would shock Howard Stern, the programs can masquerade as
drug treatment while operating brainwashing cults for fundamentalist
Mormons. According to the rules, a program that is a "social
detoxification" program is not required to provide many services
programs deceptively state they offer under state law. (i.e. proper
education/schooling)
As stated above, these programs are
protected by high-level politicians who, at least in part, own
fraudulent and abusive programs that follow the Synanon cult model.
Mark Shurtleff, the Utah Attorney General is the son of Lawrence "Lee"
Shurtleff. Larry Shurtleff was the overseer of DI Ranch under the
ownership of Hyrum W. Smith. Hyrum W. Smith assigned rights to DI
Ranch to DI Ranch LLC which is represented by Dave Arslanian of
Eagle Ranch Academy.
The current ownership of DI Ranch LLC is undetermined because Utah does
not publicize the property ownership records of Ivins, Utah (the
location of DI Ranch LLC). However, we were able to find the
assignment of rights from
Hyrum W. Smith to DI Ranch LLC.
In the previous hyperlink, you will find extensive information on the DI
Ranch and the desire of Dave Arslanian to take "gifted boys" and help
them reach their full potential. This is not the troubled-teen
program suggested by Eagle Ranch Academy, Inc. advertising. These
are cults masquerading as treatment programs.
Hyrum W. Smith runs Golden Eagle
Motivation seminars. Smith is also on the board of SkyWest
Airlines. SkyWest Airlines is owned by J. Ralph Atkin (the
co-founder/owner of
WWASPS).
And, additional associations between WWASPS, Eagle Ranch Academy, and
Hyrum W. Smith are available at
www.heal-online.org/era.htm
and
www.heal-online.org/erastaff.htm.
At this point, it should be quite
clear that Utah is corrupt and protecting multiple human rights
violators. But, there is much more. For instance, Sheriff
Kirk Smith of Ivins provides security services for Eagle Ranch Academy
and uses the city's SWAT team to recapture children who manage to escape
the torture at Eagle Ranch Academy. Sheriff Kirk Smith is also
known for protecting child rapist Warren Jeffs from apprehension and
prosecution. See below:
Warren Jeffs, who continues to marry
young girls with impunity, seems to be the beneficiary
of a lack of awareness on the part of both the public
and local law enforcement officers. Perhaps there would
be a greater outcry over the tremendous harm Jeffs has
done if instead of being characterized as a "mere"
polygamist, he were more correctly described as the head
of a vast criminal organization that has long engaged in
widespread sexual slavery and financial fraud, and
advocates hatred for non-white races.
Jon Krakauer
Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 14, 2004
Sheriff Kirk Smith of Washington County (Utah) called a
halt on Friday to his department’s investigation of
17-year-old Janetta Jessop, reported missing by her
sister, Suzanne Jessop Johnson. A week earlier Janetta
had phoned Suzanne and begged for help from an
undisclosed location in Hildale-Colorado City—the
secretive polygamist stronghold, straddling the
Utah-Arizona border, which is home to the Fundamentalist
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS). The
FLDS Church is led by self-proclaimed prophet Warren
Jeffs, who is married to some 70 women and girls, and
demands absolute, unquestioning obedience from his
estimated 10,000 followers.
Janetta abruptly vanished from her family home in
Colorado City in August 2003, immediately after her 16th
birthday. At that time, Suzanne believes, her sister was
"taken as a plural wife" by Warren Jeffs, who was 47 at
the time. At least two (and possibly three) of Janetta’s
older sisters had already been taken as wives by Jeffs.
The parents of Janetta and Suzanne are fervent members
of the FLDS Church. Two years ago Suzanne, 26, and her
husband were "cut off" from the church, after which
Jeffs forbid her family from having further contact with
her.
After hearing nothing from her sister for 15 months,
Suzanne received a phone call "out of the blue" from
Janetta on the evening of November 5, 2004. "I could
tell right away something was wrong." Suzanne explains.
"Her voice was trembling. She was talking really quiet.
I asked her right off the bat if she was in trouble and
needed help…. She started telling me, ‘I don’t want to
be here right now. I don’t want to be here right now…’
She kept repeating it over and over."
During the two-to-three-minute conversation, Janetta
revealed that she was somewhere in Hildale-Colorado City
and made it clear that she wanted Suzanne to rescue her.
According to Suzanne, "Janetta told me, ‘I don’t want
Father and Mother to know about this, but I’ll call you
right back with a place to meet me.’"
But that was the last Suzanne heard from her little
sister. Janetta never called back. Instead, their mother
drove over to Suzanne’s house in Hildale to say that
Janetta had asked her, the mother, to deliver a message
to Suzanne. "I don’t know what’s going on or what," the
mother declared curtly, "but Janetta told me to tell
you, ‘Never mind.’"
According to Suzanne, "The first thing that crossed my
mind when Janetta called me asking for help was that
Warren or somebody was doing something really bad to
her, or making her do things that she didn’t want to do,
and it was scaring her. It scared her enough that she
was willing to risk calling me after all that time and
ask me to help her get out of her situation."
If Suzanne is correct in speculating that Jeffs has
taken Janetta into his marital bed (and considerable
evidence appears to confirm that Janetta became one of
Jeffs’ "spiritual wives" directly after her 16th
birthday), the fundamentalist prophet has committed a
criminal act. According to Utah law, when sexual contact
occurs between an adult and a 16- or 17-year-old, if the
adult is ten or more years older than the minor, a
felony has been committed unless the couples are legally
married—and in Utah it happens to be illegal to be
married to more than one spouse.
On November 11 of this year Suzanne went to the
Washington County Sheriff’s Office with her husband and
private investigator Sam Brower to file a missing-person
report on Janetta. The deputy who took the report
indicated it would be thoroughly investigated. A day
later, however, Sheriff Kirk Smith halted further action
on the case. When this reporter contacted the sheriff’s
office to ask why, Sheriff Smith was unavailable.
Sergeant Reg Browne explained on his behalf that a
deputy had "called the parents and they told him they
know where Janetta is. Therefore Janetta isn’t missing,
so there are no grounds to submit the report."
Suzanne Jessop Johnson is troubled by this decision, and
frightened.
Sheriff Smith’s refusal to take further action is
astonishing when one considers that the individuals who
vouched for Janetta’s well-being —her parents— are
fanatical followers of Warren Jeffs. These are the very
people who allegedly gave their 16-year-old daughter to
the prophet as a sexual concubine, knowingly and
enthusiastically, thus aiding and abetting in the
commission of one or more felonies. Despite the fact
that Janetta made an impassioned, unambiguous plea for
help, nobody from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office
made any attempt to interview the girl face to face,
away from her family and other members of the FLDS
Church. Indeed, nobody even bothered to talk to Janetta
on the phone. In the sheriff’s opinion, her parents’
perfunctory reassurances were sufficient.
"I don’t want to make my parents look like bad guys,"
says Suzanne. "My parents are good people, but they’re
as deep into this religion as you could get. They
believe all that stuff Warren preaches. I mean, my
father believes in Warren so much that, well, he’d do
anything Warren asked. Anything! And that really scares
me! It scares me that one man could have so much control
over so many people. There are young men in this
religion who would kill for Warren. Back when I used to
attend the meetings, before I was cut off, I remember
hearing Warren preach the doctrine of Blood Atonement.
He even wrote a book that has six pages just about blood
atonement itself. He said that for some people, the only
way they could obtain forgiveness was to cry to their
brothers to take their lives."
[The book referred to above is titled "Purity in the New
and Everlasting Covenant of Marriage," published in 1997
and disseminated to every FLDS household. In the passage
Suzanne alluded to, Jeffs is quoting the words of the
second LDS prophet, Brigham Young, who in 1856 declared,
"I do know that there are sins committed... And
furthermore, I know that there are transgressors who, if
they knew themselves, and the only condition upon which
they can obtain forgiveness, would beg their brethren to
shed their blood, that the smoke thereof might ascend to
God as an offering to appease the wrath that is kindled
against them... there are sins that the blood of a lamb,
of a calf, or of turtle doves, cannot remit, but they
must be atoned for by the blood of man."]
Sheriff Smith’s refusal to conduct more than a token
investigation of Janetta Jessop’s call for help is part
of a troubling pattern in Washington County. There is
the case of Caroline Cooke, for example. In April 2001,
when she was 15, Caroline ran away from her polygamous
family in Colorado City because her parents intended to
force her to marry Warren Jeffs. Initially she received
refuge from anti-polygamy activists, but word of this
was leaked to Caroline’s father, who in turn notified
Sheriff Kirk Smith. Sheriff Smith summoned the activists
to his office, at which time he granted custody of
Caroline to her father and ordered that the girl be
returned to Colorado City—despite that fact that the
father is a practicing polygamist with three wives (one
of whom was his own stepdaughter). Thanks to determined
efforts by the activists, eventually the Sheriff was
overruled and a deal was struck allowing Caroline to
live with an uncle in southwestern Colorado instead of
being sent home. Although her story had a happy ending,
according to activist Jay Beswick, "If it had been left
up to Sheriff Smith, Caroline would have gone back to
Colorado City and been married to Warren. I have very
little trust in Smith or his administration."
The case of Ruby Jessop (a distant cousin to Janetta),
alas, did not end as happily as Caroline Cooke’s. When
Ruby was 14 she was observed innocently kissing a boy
she fancied in Colorado City. For this transgression she
was forced to marry an older member of her extended
family, whom she despised, in a fundamentalist ceremony
presided over by Warren Jeffs. Ruby was raped
immediately after the wedding ceremony—so brutally that
she spent her "wedding night" hemorrhaging copious
amounts of blood. Ruby attempted to flee the coerced
marriage but was caught and imprisoned in the home of
her stepfather. Ruby’s sister Flora Jessop—who had fled
Colorado City on the day Ruby was born in 1986—called
the Washington County Sheriff to report that her sister
had been kidnapped. When a sheriff’s deputy went to
Colorado City to look into the alleged crime, he was
told by leaders of the church that the girl was "on
vacation;" the deputy accepted this unskeptically and
departed. Flora, furious at this apparent dereliction of
duty, redoubled her efforts to persuade someone in a
position of state authority to take action on behalf of
her little sister. A month later, thanks to Flora’s
agitation, FLDS members were compelled by the Utah
Department of Child and Family Services to bring Ruby to
nearby St. George and meet with a social worker.
Interviewed in the intimidating presence of one of her
alleged captors, Ruby told the social worker that
"everything was fine," and was promptly returned to
members of the faith. Two years after that, as a
sixteen-year-old, she gave birth to a child. Despite
Flora’s ongoing efforts to rescue her, Ruby has
effectively vanished into the folds of the
Fundamentalist church.
In 2002, when the notorious Utah polygamist Tom Green
was found guilty of first-degree felony child rape for
marrying and impregnating a 13-year-old girl, the judge
gave him the minimum possible sentence of five years, to
be served concurrently with a five-year sentence he was
already serving for bigamy. David O. Leavitt, the Juab
County prosecutor who won the conviction, was dismayed
by the light sentence. "People in the state of Utah," he
lamented, "simply do not understand, and have not
understood for fifty years, the devastating effect that
the practice of polygamy has on young girls in our
society."
Warren Jeffs, who continues to marry young girls with
impunity, seems to be the beneficiary of this lack of
public awareness. Perhaps there would be a greater
outcry over the tremendous harm Jeffs has done if
instead of being characterized as a "mere" polygamist,
he were more correctly described as the head of a vast
criminal organization that has long engaged in
widespread sexual slavery and financial fraud, and
advocates hatred for non-white races.
Last July a nephew of Warren Jeffs filed a civil claim
against the FLDS prophet alleging that Jeffs "repeatedly
sodomized and otherwise sexually abused" him when the
nephew was a five-year-old student at the Alta Academy—a
private FLDS school in Sandy Utah that is no longer in
existence. Jeffs was the principal of the school at the
time. The abuse was said to have occurred in a basement
lavatory during Sunday church services. The nephew was
told that the abuse was "God’s work," and that if he
ever mentioned the abuse to anyone he would be damned by
God for eternity. Warren Jeffs has been in hiding ever
since this lawsuit was filed.
In August 2003, Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff
declared, "I don’t mind telling Warren Jeffs that I’m
coming after him…. We have seen compelling evidence that
crimes are being committed, children are being hurt, and
taxpayers are footing the bill." Although Shurtleff’s
office continues to investigate Jeffs very actively,
thus far no criminal charges have been filed against him
in Utah. Nor have criminal charges been filed against
Jeffs in Arizona, Texas, British Columbia, or anywhere
else where the FLDS prophet has allegedly committed
felonies.
One of the major challenges faced by those who are
trying to bring Warren Jeffs to justice is that a
pervasive, Mafia-like code of silence has been instilled
in his followers. Thus far, thanks to the FLDS omerta,
it has proved nearly impossible to persuade Jeffs’
victims to testify against him in court.
On Saturday, when he learned that Washington County
Sheriff Kirk Smith had refused to investigate the plight
of Janetta Jessop, private investigator Sam Brower (who
has been investigating Jeffs on behalf of the
aforementioned nephew and other plaintiffs in civil
actions against the FLDS prophet) was angry. "Time and
time again," Brower fumed, "when Warren’s victims have
had the courage to break away and ask for protection,
the government authorities who are supposed to protect
them send them right back to their families—which is
just like sending them back to Warren. Is it really any
wonder people from this religion are afraid to come
forward and testify?"
This press release was written by Jon Krakauer. It is
based in part on interviews with Suzanne Jessop Johnson
on November 11 and 13; on multiple interviews with
private investigator Sam Brower on November 11 and 13;
on an interview with Washington County Sheriff’s
Sergeant Reg Browne on November 13; on email
correspondence with Jay Beswick; and on extensive
research conducted for the book, Under the Banner of
Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith.
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
SAM BROWER, PHONE (435) 701-1501
Jon Krakauer
Press Release November 14, 2004
One need only look at the facts to
understand that we are looking at a syndicate of connected programs that
believe in protecting child torturers. Parents are advised to not seek help from the
"teen help" industry and to avoid sending any child to any program even
remotely associated or affiliated with offending programs such as Eagle
Ranch Academy.
Other problems that arise is the
endless forwarding of people reporting abuse experienced with Utah
authorities. If HEAL receives a report of abuse at a facility that
is more than 48-hours from the time of the incident, local law
enforcement will do nothing at all. Since children are not allowed
access to telephones or the internet while on the lower levels of these
programs, alerting authorities to abuse within the prescribed timeframe
is virtually impossible unless a brave staff decides to make an
anonymous call. And, this rarely happens. Add to this that
the local authorities then recommend contacting Child Protective
Services. And, Child Protective Services advises contacting the
Licensing Department. The Licensing Department then states that
abuse should be reported to the police as it is outside of their duties.
Contacting the Attorney General in Utah results in the same run around.
This has been experienced hundreds of times by families working with
HEAL who find that reports of abuse, torture, rape, etc. go
uninvestigated. We have seen our reports investigated in New York,
Oregon, and other states. Utah is the only state that actively
hides and protects child-rapists from justice.
Many programs are claiming to use or
unite under the banner of "Positive Control Systems". Many
programs are using the same abusive methods. Some of those in the
web of Positive Control Systems are:
Search HEAL for Information on the Programs Listed in
the Left Column
(search box is at bottom of page)
Many of the programs listed
to the left are confirmedly abusive. Two Aspen
Education Group programs were recently closed in Oregon
due to wrongful death and abuse. At Mount Bachelor
Academy, an Aspen program, girls were forced to give lap
dances as "therapy". Cross Creek Programs are part of
the WWASPS system and notoriously abusive. Please
understand that PCS claims this is a partial list of
programs in that system and it is our belief that most,
if not all, behavior modification programs in the United
States are using similar methods to defraud families and
abuse children. In December, 2009 a "nurse" at Cedar
Ridge Residential Treatment Center was arrested and is
being charged with raping children at the facility.
Cedar Ridge did not take disciplinary action until
charges had actually been filed. The word of the
victims and evidence of abuse was not enough for that
facility, it wouldn't remove a reported threat to
children without criminal charges having been filed.
This is a very abuse-friendly standard.
For information on the types of fraud, abuse,
criminal and civil wrongs committed by programs, visit
www.heal-online.org/ebook.pdf.
Based on the given information and the fact that HEAL
is currently working to help rescue a child from this
facility, we believe that Eagle Ranch Academy is abusive
and that it and the other facilities listed to the left
should be avoided by families who wish to put an end to
a crisis, not exacerbate their family's problems.
Search HEAL for Information on the Programs Listed in
the Left Column
(search box is at bottom of page)
Positive Control Systems at URL/IP
http://75.169.137.172
shows up in IP traces as being located in Tooele, UT.
Positive Control Systems contact information is a PO Box
in Cedar City, UT. The alternative website for
Positive Control Systems is positivecontrolsystems.com.
The IP address associated with this website as of August
31st, 2010 is: 173.201.96.128
according to our trace information. This IP is
traced as being located in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Matthew Cooper is the sole contact known for Positive
Control Systems through our research. According to
records obtained today, Positive Control Systems is an
unlicensed business in the state of Utah. This
is just additional information on the "scam" that is the
behavior modification industry in Utah.
Based on all of the information
provided, we believe all intelligent people would choose against sending
a loved one to Utah. If your child is in Utah, please rescue them
immediately. DON'T SEND ANYONE TO A PROGRAM IN UTAH!!!
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(Search Includes External Links To
Sites Not Affiliated with HEAL)
