(wolf howling) (soft music) - Hello, and welcome back to the Corporate Casket, a bi-weekly series where bad businesses go to die. We discuss anything and everything from bad charities, terrible CEOs and businesses that have a lot to hide. Now, recently you may have noticed that I did a two part series
about Dr. Phil and his show and his lack of licensing
and all that good stuff. And many of you noted, why did
I leave out Dr. Phil's ranch? Well, that was done intentionally, because today's episode is
all about Dr. Phil's ranch. In fact, there's so many problems with it that it really did
deserve its own episode. Now, of course, where a lot of these teens were sent to Turn-About
Ranch is alleged abuse. So we're going to be talking about some really serious and heavy topics here. If you are not prepared to hear that, I'm just letting you know in advance because that is exactly what
today is going to be covering. And a lot of these allegations
are still really recent. So even as this goes live, there's probably gonna be
more information out there. So I apologize that I
did not catch everything and I probably won't be able to, but I'm happy that this
is at least coming out. Better, late than never,
and that's where we are. I think it's important to
bring attention to this. So let's get right into it. (soft music) Now almost immediately when looking up Turn-About Ranches origins, I'm reminded of Tranquility Bay a lot. Now in that situation Tranquility Bay was one school of many that operated under a large umbrella company
called WWASPS or WWASP, depending on how you like it phrased. And don't worry, I am
going through the schools and I will get to the giant
umbrella company itself too because there's quite a few interesting details in that as well. Now here, at least
initially Turn-about Ranch looks no different,
we're a minute or two in, and I already feel very doubtful that these children and their safety was ever a priority here. So before we talk about
the ranch specifically, let's talk about this
umbrella company for a moment, because this one's different from WWASPS. This one's called the
Aspen Education Group. So let's get into them. Aspen was founded in
1997 and it's said to be a spinoff of College Health Enterprises, a privately held healthcare
management company, founded in 86. Aspen grew fairly quickly,
they began buying up other programs that could cost $400 a day for parents to send their
teenagers to those locations. In 2002, the company received
a $15 million investment and a $48 million loan, they
were a money making machine. Around 2005, they also "Expanded
into the obesity market, offering schools and camps
for overweight teenagers." Now something about that wording
does rub me the wrong way, but something about the
entire article does too. I'm not saying the New York Times did a poor job of
reporting the facts here, but the whole thing seems
to turn these teenagers, very real struggles
into just dollar signs. I understand the doctors,
therapists, counselors and other workers at this
facility need to be paid. I get why it could be
costly, but the whole, we're expanding our market wording, just feels like Aspen said, we
just need to make more money as opposed to we want to help more kids. It doesn't really help that,
according to this article, a reality TV show on ABC was
released around this time called, "Brat Camp", which shows a wilderness program for teens in action. Brat Camp? Really? If the Tranquility Bay and other scripts about this topic have taught me anything it's that, a lot of the
teenagers in these programs are lashing out or having troubles because they've been abused,
gone through some trauma, or they may have mental illnesses. So calling them brats
is extremely dismissive. I get it's the title of a reality TV show and you need to get your
clicks and whatever, but at the same time, I
just think we had come a long way with mental
health awareness since 2005, and even still, we have a long way to go, but, the fact that these kinds of camps were condoning this language
says a lot about them, not the so-called brats
they were attending to. Also as sort of an aside
here, CRC Health Group, with the support of the
venture capital firm, Bain Capital, acquired Aspen in 2006. For a little while, Aspen was known as the CRC youth division. So if you have ever heard of CRC youth, it's essentially the same thing. Now, I don't want to stray too far from this particular
topic and start talking about a venture capital firms, so let's just stick to Aspen and the programs it controlled for now. Anyway, the cracks began
to show in the early 2010s and Aspen began closing
programs left and right. At one point, Aspen stated, "The need for residential
treatment for teens" "with behavioral or substance issues" "may arguably be as big, if
not bigger than it ever was." "However, changing market
dynamics, including the inability" "of families to obtain credit loans" "or home equity lines to
help finance treatment," "have made it difficult for
parents to access treatment." "It has become abundantly clear" "that the current market
does not support us" "maintaining our entire network
of therapeutic programs." "Considering the legacy of
these quality programs," "this was not an easy decision." "It comes after extensive
financial investment" "in the clinical care infrastructure" "and marketing of these programs" "and following serious deliberation" "about the current
therapeutic education market" "and how we can best continue to serve" "all of our valued
families and professionals" "with an outstanding ongoing network." The market crash in 2008,
hit a lot of people hard and perhaps in part of it parents simply couldn't afford to send
their kids to Aspen. After all these closures began in 2009, then sort of continued
steadily afterwards. Financial reasons
certainly could have played a larger role in this. However, there were more than just monetary issues at play here too. One of the facilities called
Mount Bachelor Academy was shut down in late 2009,
due to allegations of abuse. According to a November, 2009 article, "The state Department of Human Services" "told parents to remove their children" "from the school last
week, after a seven month" "Investigation concluded
that students were subject" "to inappropriate sexual role play," "public humiliation and
physical deprivation." "The state gave the
Academy 90 days to correct" "a list of violations, said
DHS spokesman Gene Evans," "but has not heard anything since." "The school's parent company," "California-based Aspen Education Group," "announced the permanent closure Monday" "in a Worker Adjustment and
Retraining Notification Act" "to the state's Department of Community" "Colleges and Workforce Development." In the notice Mark Dorenfeld,
senior vice president for Aspen education
States that the company is unable to provide 60 days notice as required by the federal act because the closing is the result of an unforeseeable business circumstance. Namely the revocation of the
facility's operating license. Again, Dorenfeld may not be wrong. Finances and business circumstances could have played a role here, but DHS spokesperson, Evan stated those schools license was
only temporarily suspended. And if they took corrective
action, it would be reinstated. In other words, Aspen
decided they'd rather shut down one of their facilities than address the abuse happening inside, then blame it on the state
for revoking their license. Charming, that says a lot about Aspen. If there were a teacher or
facilitator being inappropriate, and the school took immediate
action and recognize then I'd be saying something different, but instead Aspen completely
ignored the problem and by extension the teenagers that were entrusted to their care. One source claims that a
school known as New Leaf, a private boarding school for girls was essentially kicking out their students and disrupting their lives in favor of enrolling those with autism, simply because they believe they could make more money that way. On surprisingly there's
allegations of abuse there too. The Talisman Academy, as it was called, was an academic program
for grades seven to 12, for students on the autistic spectrum. It was closed at the
end of the summer 2013 and there's an entire
webpage on heal online.org, dedicated for survivors telling
their story of this place. Although, Heal is still gathering
information on Talisman, they've released what information
they have about New Leaf, and it's really worrying
,to say the least. According to Heal, parents are
required by New Leaf Academy to sign over custody of their children, to the program for a
minimum of 18 to 24 months. Since New Leaf Academy takes children under the age of 10 years, this required separation from community and family appears to be excessive and cruel. New Leaf Academy requires
a minimum stay of 18 months and states they will
not release your child, unless it's on the program's terms or the child reaches the age of majority. Another issue that arises
is that New Leaf Academy refers to discharge papers as opposed to a graduation/diploma papers. In using a medical term discharged to describe what they claim is a primary education/academic achievement, it is seemingly intending to imply a medical/mental health
service or program. Since New Leaf Academy is not a licensed medical or mental health facility, this again creates an impression of deceptive marketing practices. Any mental health service provided by a qualified psychiatrist, psychologist or other healthcare professional is billed separately to the parents or their insurance carriers. Mental health services performed by unqualified doctors or
unlicensed personnel at New Leaf Academy is implied including in the overly expensive
monthly tuition costs. It seems New Leaf would
be using some of the extravagant expenses
charged as tuition to cover basic licensed therapist or professionals since it claims to be
a therapeutic program. So these additional
charges raise a concern regarding the legitimacy
of the high tuition costs applied to parents or
their insurance carriers, and just like WWASP, they also encourage the kidnappings that
we've talked about before, where parents hire people to
come take their child away in the middle of the
night without warning. Their mental health
professionals are subcontractors, which means that if a child
is abused, misdiagnosed, drugged or confined in isolation, New Leaf, isn't responsible. They say it's the subcontractor's fault and they're not liable, even though they're the ones hiring these people. Their contract calls for permission to use a student's record
and assessments for research, they require unquestioning
and full cooperation, they refuse responsibility for harm arising in these kidnappings. They provide and endorse
their pediatrician as a subcontractor and
they're not responsible for his actions either,
it's an absolute mess. The contract, by the
way, it's 12 pages long, and it's not like Aspen
has a couple problems or questionable methods. Pretty much everything
they do is questionable. As worrying as their contracts might be, some of the resulting
abuse that's happened at these Aspen camps is
absolutely sickening. According to one source, "An employee at the
Bromley Brooks school," "who one student told police
was a coach and a teacher" "had been charged with two felonies" "after police said he kissed
a 12 year old student" "several times and had
a sexual relationship" "with a 16 year old student." "Stephen F. Peters, 40, of Woodford," "was arraigned in
Bennington district court "on December 2nd, on felony
counts of sexual exploitation" "of a minor and lewd and
lascivious conduct with a child." "Peter's pleaded not
guilty to both charges." "In a statement Bromley Brook School," "executive director, David Hans said" "the staff at the school could not" "discuss specifics about staff members" "or students because of
federal privacy laws." "Upon hearing the alleged incident," "we took immediate action and contacted" "the appropriate agencies including" "the Vermont Department
for Children and Families," "Family Services Division
and subsequently" "the Manchester Police Department," "and have fully cooperated with these" "agencies in their investigation." "In addition, we immediately notified" "the parents of each of our students" "and continue to work closely with the" "parental guardians of
the involved students," Hans said in the statement. The school claim they did conduct a background check on Peters, however, given that students have been sexualized multiple times at these schools and even asked to re-enact past trauma, such as rape, it's kind of hard for me to give Aspen the benefit of the doubt. Tragically, it does get
worse and much worse. One woman, Crystal
Manganaro, stepped forward and stated that her son, Matthew died as a result of the lack of training, compassion and effort on Aspen's part. Aspen owned a therapeutic wilderness camp called, Lonestar expeditions, that agreed to take Matthew for one month. Now, before anyone comments that, Oh, crystal was a horrible mother for sending him here and hiring kidnappers to take him to this program, let me just say that for Crystal, at least from the tone of her message, wanted Matthew to get help. "He was making threats of
violence against others and he had even been hospitalized
for suicidal tendencies at a very young age, in
fourth grade," she says. Crystal also didn't actually hire these glorified kidnappers,
that many other parents do, Matthew was well aware
of where he was going, he just asked how long he would be there. Crystal told her son that
the minimum was 28 days depending on how well he did, and she said she loved him very much, hugged him and Matthew left for Aspen. According to Crystal,
this is what happened. "Matthew was on medication
for bipolar disorder." "At home every night
was a fight to get him" "to take the medication, only because" "he fought anything I asked him to do." "I'm telling you this because Matthew" "refused his medication at the camp." "They were to call me and his doctor," "if he refused any medication." "I never got a phone call
and neither did his doctor." "Well, his doctor did get a phone call," "the day after Matt died." "Matthew suffered for over 24
hours in excruciating pain." "The night before he
died, September 16th," "he complained of his chest hurting," "he was mumbling and stumbling around" "and his legs felt numb." "The field instructors
called a psychologist" "and over the phone,
he decided it was just" "an anxiety attack and
to not worry about it." "On September 17th, nine days
after he entered the program," "Matt's group was on a one
mile hike and they got lost." "So the hike ended up being
more than three miles," "with the heat index between" "115 and 130 degrees Fahrenheit." "When they stopped for
lunch, Matthew said" "he couldn't go on any further." "The staff said they had to make it" "to the evening camp and to move it." "He just couldn't move and" "the other boys offered to carry him." "The peer pressure must've been tough" "because Matthew finally
struggled and moved." "When they got close to the evening camp" "after many stops for Matt to rest," "Matt was really struggling,
especially the last 200 yards." "There were only five boys
and two field instructors." "Someone should have been able to" "physically go and check out Matthew." "One of the instructors
personally told me, to my face" "that he was an ex-Navy
SEAL and that Matthew" "was the first person he
had ever lost doing CPR." "This person was never in the Navy," "but Aspen Education Group, apparently" "didn't do a background check." "Everyone he worked with
thought he was ex-Navy." "How can that happen?" Crystal ended up hiring
a lawyer to dig deeper, and what she learned was
horrific, to say the least. Matt was made to carry on,
despite the extreme heat, and one of the field instructors confessed to throwing water over Matt
and telling him he was faking. Apparently in the State of Texas, residential treatment centers are not required to have a
registered nurse on staff unless there are 25 or more kids on hand. Because Matt was in a group of eight boys that day there were no
medical professionals nearby when he needed one the most. The only one that was
called was the night before, and they just diagnosed
him over the phone. So clearly that shows what
lengths this camp went to to protect their children in their care. And that's less than the bare minimum. You'd think that Aspen
would learn from this, that this tragedy make them wake up
a little bit, but, it didn't. Five years later, yet another student died from the exact same thing, heat stroke, at one of their program walks. I wish I was joking, but,
according to the Community Alliance for the Ethical
Treatment of Youth. "The Lake County Sheriff's office has" "concluded its primary investigation" "into the death of Sergey Blashchishen" "in North Lake County on 28th, 2009." "Sergey was attending Sage
walk the wilderness school," "when he died, participating
in his first program, hike." "Findings, investigative opinions" "and recommendations, have been prepared" "in a criminal investigations report." They add that this was the school known for being featured on the
program, "Brat Boot Camp" and say, "The investigation into the death" "of a 16 year old Portland boy" "who collapsed on a hike
with a Redmond based" "wilderness school this summer" "is focusing on reports that the boy" "may not have had proper
nutrition and medical care," "before and during his hike" "through a remote area
of Northern Lake County." "In an affidavit requesting
a search warrant" "to seek documents and other evidence" "from SageWalk Wilderness School's" "Southwestern Obsidian
Avenue office last month," "Lake County Sheriff's deputy Chuck Pore" "wrote that he believes Sergey's death "was a homicide and the result
of criminal mistreatment" "and reckless endangerment by the school." Sergey wasn't given proper nutrition, he even wrote poems about his
hunger that day, one read, "Squirrel running around, blue skies," "green bushes and trees,
but I'm still hungry" Knowing that he died that day, it breaks my heart to know that's one of the last words he ever wrote. Sergey was carrying
food, water, and clothing in a pack that weighed
between 40 and 50 pounds. Sergey vomited, but the hike continued. Shortly afterwards, he
collapsed laying on his back, declined food, hyperventilated
and his breathing stopped. When Sergei stopped breathing they called the school nurse, not 911. By the time 911, did arrive,
it was 45 minutes later and Sergey was long gone. The Sheriff's deputy Pore wrote, "Never before have I encountered a body" "that was warmer than my own touch," "and it was especially remarkable" "as it was overcast and had
been hours since death." "Although I was gloved, I
was wearing short sleeves" "and I could feel the heat
radiation against my own skin." "My senses likened the feeling" "to touching someone who had" "just gotten out of a hot shower." This case was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount,
making the second student to die from a heat stroke
under an Aspen programs care. And yet though, I think
we can all agree by now that Aspen should not be trusted. Here's where Dr. Phil enters the picture, because, he still sends
people to their programs. Now, even though I feel
that I have barely skimmed the surface on Aspen and
we've only looked into just a handful of the schools
they've been involved in and some of the worst cases I could find. I'm not saying that every single camp for kids is horrific, abusive and is going to make someone wuss off. I'm sure there's a few
good ones out there, even though it doesn't
exactly feel that way based on everything I continue to find, and especially not after reading everything I've already read. If a camp is owned by Aspen, I would just never send a there, plain and simple. The rules and contracts are messed up, the way they treat people is fucked up, and the way Sergey died is beyond, just beyond anything. Now, the fact that Dr. Phil would still send a child in need of help to any of these camps under this umbrella makes me question who he is
as a supposed professional and frankly as a human being
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today's Corporate Casket. (soft music) Now let's get into the meat and
potatoes of today's episode, which is the Turn-About Ranch specifically and this is where Dr. Phil's involvement comes into direct play with Aspen. Onto the ranch, more
specifically, Turn-About Ranch. According to their website,
they're a year-round school that accepts students ages 13 to 17. They recommend finding
a professional transport service right on their admissions page, though, they also claim to have
a commitment to excellence. I've got a lot of issues with
these transport services, namely the fact that I feel
the traumatic experience does more harm than good here. I get convincing your child to go would be difficult for some
parents, but I don't think dragging them off without a word in the middle of the night is a solution to that problem either. Now, Dr. Phil's testimony
is on the philosophy page of Turn-About Ranch,
and here's what it says, "If there are programs in this country" "that I have seen work, what
I call absolute miracles," "it would be Turn-About Ranch." "It's a real working ranch,
where real values are taught," "such as accountability and being able" "to trust yourself and create values." His show vouches for
Turn-About Ranch often. Daniele Bregoli is one of the most famous people that's attended the ranch. Now known for her rapper name BHAD BHABIE, and she's spoken out against
the ranch fairly recently. She explained in her videos exactly what we've heard about
with Tranquility Bay and these facilities before. Even though at a glance, you might think Turn-About Ranches for kids
that have committed crimes, sometimes the students
there are kids lashing out because of trauma and sexual
abuse they've endured, in which case they need real
help licensed therapists, someone trustworthy to talk to, not someone subcontracted from Aspen that maybe knows how to do their job. Danielle also makes the point that extreme physical labor isn't actually helping kids that need it. Picking up massive stacks of hay, isn't going to lessen someone's abuse, trauma, mental illness, et cetera. Danielle's spoken out a lot
more in recent days too, that this story is getting more attention and lawsuits are being filed. She said she was malnourished abused and came back with more
trauma than I went there with. We'll get into what things
look like for the ranch today, but, for now let's slowly
work our way into it. I won't pretend that I
know what's best for kids that are going through these
kinds of traumatic events because, I truly don't, for some, maybe some time away and
outdoors really does help, for others, maybe it's
as simple as therapy. I'm sure that it's different
for every single kid that goes there and
I'm sure the intentions and treatment varies
between facilities too. Their reviews on Yelp, for example, are 2.5 out of five stars, and to me that says they help just
as much as they hurt. Some parents say their
daughter found herself again, others claim the staff is racist. One former attendees says they made all the difference to
her, while others say the instructors are abusive, maniacal and it's not better than child labor. Frankly, there's actually a lot more negative than positive remarks here, simply because you can't give zero stars. Even if Turn-About Ranch does help a few teenagers here and
there, by most accounts, they're doing much more harm and damage than I think they're helping anyone. So let's get deeper into why that is aside from being under the Aspen umbrella. What happened at Turn-About
Ranch, specifically? The first major signs of abuse at Turn-About Ranch came along in 2012. I'm not saying they were a
fantastic place up until then but this is when the first lawsuits against Turn-About
specifically came along. Unfortunately, the case was dismissed due to the statute of
limitations being reached. I don't know if the legal
process dragged along there and that's why it surpassed the deadline, maybe the victim took
some time to come forward, I can't say for sure. So, please keep in mind
that this particular case we're going to look at is alleged, this has not been confirmed. So according to the lawsuit, Julia Vernie signed an enrollment agreement with Turn-About Ranch to take
full and complete custody of her daughter, Elizabeth Vernie. And this was all the way back in 2004 that this agreement took place and it anticipated she'd
stay at least 80 days at the cost of $310, a day. After the initial 80 days
when Turn-About Ranch had full custody, Julia went to the ranch to visit her daughter. She was terrified, subdued,
her hands were raw, continuously bleeding, she lost weight and she appeared exhausted. They took her out of the
ranch for an hour for a visit, and she was paranoid
that their conversation would be reported to the ranch. According to Julia, she feared retribution for anything she did said or thought that was not ranch approved. When they wanted to remove Elizabeth, Max steward, the executive director, threatened to withhold her passport. Let me reiterate, this is alleged. Also while the lawsuit names Max Steward as the person they spoke
to, my other source says it was a Max Stewart, that
was the executive director. I don't know if there's a
Max steward or a Max Stewart on the same ranch, but just in case, I'll say they talked to a guy named Max who basically told the parents
they couldn't remove her. According to these court documents, "The ranch functioned
by lying to the parents" "about the child's false progress" "and to the child about
her parents' approval" "of the treatment she received." "Many of the parents letters
were never given to Elizabeth" "and her letters to them were censored." "Most of Elisabeth's daily
letters never reach her parents." "The ranch told Elizabeth
that her parents" "had indeed phoned the camp regularly" "and agreed with the camps
criticisms of Elizabeth" "and did not want her to return home." "Elizabeth asked her psychiatrist" "to tell her parents how
unhappy and afraid she was" "and that she wanted to come home" "or speak to them directly." "To the contrary, her parents were told" "only that Elizabeth was happy" "and wanted to stay at the camp" "even beyond her 80-day program." The lawsuit also States
that one of the reasons this case may have taken
so long to be filed is because Elizabeth parents
are British Citizens. They didn't know the differences
between the laws in Utah, where she was sent to the
UK, where they were based, you get the picture. It's a whole mess, trying to figure out how to deal with the
lawsuit in another country. A court documents also read, "During her stay Elizabeth was subjected" "to sleep deprivation, denied food" "and yet forced to eat and prepare meat," "which was abhorrent to
her as a vegetarian." "The ranch threatened her with restraint" "and force feeding with a
tube, if she did not comply." "The ranch forced physical labor" "and excessive exercise
in extreme temperatures." "It forced her regularly
to put our hands in a sink" "filled with bleach to wash
dishes until they bled," "leaving to this day
scars on her knuckles." "Staff's verbal abuse was unrelenting," "humiliating, both in private and in group "denunciation meetings, where" "she was made to list her faults" "and listen to her peers, taking turns," "denigrating her and her faults" "and what they disliked about her," "not as therapy but out of relish." "Staff regularly threatened Elizabeth" "with physical violence,
including potential suffocation" "If she tried to run away." "They told her daily that
she was a bad person" "and described her as disgusting, stupid," "manipulative, pathetic, and bad." "They screamed at her,
punished her for crying" "and for having panic attacks" "that caused fearful hyperventilation." We talk about these denunciation meetings and how unfortunately common they are in these types of programs for teenagers. Synanon is widely credited
with starting them, though that's an entirely separate video that is coming soon. The point of all this is,
if true, it's disgusting. There's no excuse for
it, there's no reason or justification for it, and
this doesn't help anyone. I can't say that all of
this is 100% accurate again because, it's alleged, but,
it all rings true to me. This sounds a lot like the abuse we've heard about in
many other camps before. There's similar allegations,
the excessive exercise, we know Aspen is known for,
so, I do believe Elizabeth. you can take or leave this but,
I found it worth mentioning. There are allegations that
date this far back to me, which says Aspen didn't simply get worse. They've always had this
disturbing pattern of behavior. Salon also did an investigative piece about Aspen around the same time in 2012. And again, though, none of
this has been confirmed, they said there were claims about the sexual assault of a female student by an Aspen employee at Turn-About Ranch. Their story reads, "The
girl was later duct-taped "and restrained by staff,
a former employee," "Toni Thayer, told Feldman
after writing complaints" "about abusive staff
conduct to management," "state regulators and Garfield
County sheriff in 2004," "but, no sanctions followed." Though this as well as
what Elizabeth said, may only be allegations,
it is a clear pattern of misbehavior that's starting to emerge. And one against Aspen is already present. However, because of the torture and abuse endured by these students, it's not only their lives that are endanger. Years later in 2016 one
teenager actually killed a staff member to escape the
torture they were enduring. The Washington Post in 2016, claims that, "The Arizona teen, 17,
woke up in his cabin" "with another resident
and stepped outside" "to start their chores,
Perkins told the Deseret News" "in an extensive interview." "In the area known as 'the circle,'" "the teens built a fire
and prepared breakfast." As a brief aside here, the Deseret News is owned by the LDS church and they're not an entirely reputable
source considering that there's a bunch of obvious
bias going on here. That's been brought to
my attention before but, since there was an exclusive interview with the Deseret for this case, you might see it mentioned here. So I just wanted to point
that out, but, let's continue. "An hour later, at 7:30 AM, staffer James" "Jimmy Woosley, 61,
stopped to check on them." "It was then that the Arizona teen," "for reasons unknown to authorities" "pulled out a hidden weapon." "He hit Woosley on the back of the head," "Perkins told the Deseret News," "and when the 61 year old
man fell to the ground," "the teen hit him again, and again." "It was brutal, vicious,
violent, very violent attack," "the sheriff told the newspaper." "Woosley was later transported
to a local hospital," "where he died from blunt
force trauma to the head." "The sheriff told Desert
News that it didn't appear" "the fatal attack was spawned
by a personal vendetta." "The Arizona teen had even
spoken very highly of Woosley," "according to Perkins, who
said the Turn-About staffer" "was a jovial, easygoing
guy who had worked" "at the ranch for a decade
and loved to hunt and fish." "He was just simply unhappy to be there" "and he wanted to leave,
Perkin said of the teen," "according to the Deseret News." "why he did what he did, I don't know." "After he allegedly beat Woosley," "Perkins told the Deseret News," "the Arizona teen took the man's keys" "but couldn't get the car to start." "The 17 year old turned toward
a cabin, where the other" "resident from the circle
had fled for safety." "Inside was a female staffer,
identified as Alicia Keller" "in the Salt Lake Tribune
and four other residents." "The Arizona teen turned
his weapon on Keller," "the sheriff said, beating
her in the head and hand" "and threatening to
kill her if she didn't" "relinquish her car keys." "Keller tossed them on the sidewalk," "according to the Tribune,
then led other teens" "into the nearby woods to safely
wait for law enforcement." What happened to Woosley is tragic. I don't know if he took
part in the abuse or not, so, I don't want to
speculate if the teenager was being abused by
Woosley himself or simply saw getting past Woosley
as a way to escape. My sources has said that he didn't intend to kill anyone but he
just wanted to get away. And again, with so little information being released about this teenager, I just can't say for
sure what happened here. However, what amazes me about this case is the fact that this happened years ago, back in 2016, and I don't
see any consequences for Turn-About Ranch itself. If a teenager was this
desperate to escape, why wouldn't law
enforcement at least glance at the Turn-About Ranch and question, hey how are they treating these kids? Was this a case of a violent
teenager lashing out? Or was it a case of someone pushed to their absolute breaking point? I'm not going to say the murder
was justified by any means, I just wish that a more thorough investigation was actually done. For now, let's get into the
more modern allegations. Thanks to the Paris Hilton documentary and a spotlight finally being shown on these abusive schools, more people have been coming forward and speaking out. Hell, many of you have
personally reached out and emailed me and shared your stories of the specific schools that I've covered, that either you were involved in your friends were involved in or nearby family or sister schools that you went to. So, I know there's many of you out there that felt an extreme amount of pain from being at these schools,
and for some of you, your stories may never be told. So, hopefully these spotlights
at these certain schools and that more people are speaking out gives some sort of resolution or peace to what may have happened back then. One Colorado woman, Hannah Archuleta said, the documentary from
Paris Hilton inspired her to come forward with her
story of sexual abuse. According to Hannah she was 17, when she was at Turn-About Ranch, and a staff member grabbed
her butt and genital area. She eventually confided
in female staff members hoping they would stop the abuse. "Instead I experienced
retaliation from the ranch" "after I spoke up, she said,
in what appeared to me" "to be punishment for reporting my abuse," "I was required to spend extra time" "picking up horse manure,
walking in circles" "around a horse corral and sitting" "at a desk facing a wall for hours." "I also had to do forced labor outside" "in below freezing temperatures," "and sleep on a wooden
plank with no pillow." "Archuleta is now suing Turn-About Ranch," "alleging the facility was negligent" "in hiring the male
staffer who assaulted her" "and intentionally inflicted
emotional distress on her." "She is represented by Gloria Allred," "a well-known women's rights attorney" "who represented women
who say they were abused" "by famous men like Bill
Cosby and Harvey Weinstein." First of all, I seriously
commend Hannah for speaking out. I know that can't be easy to talk about. Secondly, they punished her
for telling them about abuse. Apparently the Sheriff's
department didn't act either, so, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that they seemingly did so little work investigating when it came to Woosley. The widow of Woosley is also bringing a lawsuit against the school because according to her, the 17 year old that killed her husband,
should've never been there. Now that this teenager is an adult, more information has been released about what happened that day, and as the Salt Lake Tribune published, "The ranch's admittance standards," "outlined in the lawsuit in addition" "to the ranch's website,
say it doesn't allow in" "individuals who demonstrate
aggressive behavior" "or have active suicide
attempts among other behaviors." "The lawsuit also States the program" "was not geared to deal
with minors suffering" "from serious drug
addictions and certainly" "not minors going
through drug withdrawal." "Despite this, the lawsuit
says, the ranch took in Brewer," "who had a history of suicide attempts" "and was addicted to prescription pills." "During his short stay at the ranch," "Brewer tried to kill
himself by drinking bleach." "On his fifth day there,
he killed Jimmy Woosley" "and severely injured Keller." He absolutely should not
have been at that ranch. I'm not saying Brewer
did not deserve help. Simply that Turn-About Ranch
wasn't equipped to handle him. Brewer needed professional help, and as if I've learned anything thus far it's that Aspen facilities
can't provide professional help. As for Dr. Phil, I understand
that celebrities are people, however, people make
mistakes and maybe back the wrong company from
time to time, it happens. However, even the most basic research into this company yields
these types of results. There's times when I have to seriously dig to find any dirt on an organization but even on Aspen's Wikipedia page, a basic rundown of these allegations are easily available and accessible. There's no excuse whatsoever,
for Dr. Phil's continued pattern of sending teenagers
to these types of camps. Maybe he'll stop, maybe
he'll issue a statement, but as of writing this, there's no apology or explanation from him or his team. Now, even though I'm not exactly
a fan of Danielle Bregoli, I commend her for using her platform to bring forward this type of attention. It does not invalidate
her experience in any way, despite the fact, I don't like who she is as a social media personality, this is important to bring forward, and I feel horrible for what
she may have gone through. She helped validate Hannah's
words with her own story, brought more eyes onto the allegations, so, I'm glad for that. Hopefully this simply doesn't
fade into the background because unfortunately
this isn't the first time Dr. Phil has been in hot water for sending a teenager to a camp that's known for abuse either. (soft music) Another one of these camps
is called Island View Residential Treatment Center. When Dr. Phil had a 15 year old teenager Sierra Myers on his show in 2013, he believed Island View
was the right fit for her. She claimed to be meeting
up with strange men for sex and that she'd even witnessed a murder. Dr. Phil felt her
stories were not credible calling her out at lying, and as some would say,
ridiculed her publicly. One source states, "In
their February, 2013," "Dr. Phil episode,
McGraw told Terri Myers" "that she had failed her
daughter by a country mile." "And he accused the
daughter of total naivete." "Based on McGraw's
assessment of the situation," "SM was offered help
in a treatment center." "The complaint States, Dr.
Phil's psychological remedy" "was to offer free
treatment for the daughter" "at Island View, a Utah punitive" "behavior modification
lock-down facility." "Dr. Phil however, knew
or should have known," "that any placement at Island View" "would subject S.M. to
such demented regimen" "that she would be at
risk of her problems" "being exacerbated." "McGraw, the Myers say,
never address the trauma" "this young woman had already suffered" "by having the 19 year old that she" "and an equally young female friend" "had just had sex with, shot to death" "in front of them by
the molesters friend," "a jealous teenage male." "Dr. Phil thus ignored the
causes of S.M.'s trauma" "and then exacerbated that trauma" "by paying Island View to lock her up" "far from home in a private prison" Whether or not she did witness a murder, I can't say for sure, Dr.
Phil doubted the story, but I wasn't there, I
don't have police records, so I don't have a clue. And hey, some of you might think Dr. Phil gives his guests some tough love. Some may say he's a bully. Since that argument is
a bit more subjective, let's get into that part that isn't, and how she was treated at the camp. whether or not you think a teenager deserves to be torn apart
on national television. I'd say not, hopefully
we can all agree here that they should never be subjected to the serious abuse that we've seen come out of these Aspen facilities. My source states that Sierra Myers was subjected to cruel punishment,
including a broken arm. "When a math teacher, Ryan Mortenson," "told her to stay after school," "she refused and went to her room," "He then came after her and ordered her" "to an isolation room for timeout." "She refused that too in
emphatic and obscene language" "and told him to leave her alone." "He then pulled her off her bed" "and called for help for three others" "to enforce his command." "In the melee that ensued,
there was a loud pop" "that stopped everyone in their tracks." "S.M.'s, right dominant arm was badly" "and perhaps irreparably broken," "and its main nerve severely damaged". "Given the rapes and murders
she had been through," "the last thing any untrained male" "should have done was assault her." Was Sierra being difficult
and not listening, sure, maybe, does that give anyone a right to assault her and break her arm? No, this is a behavioral center for teenagers going through trauma. What the hell was this teacher expecting? It takes a special kind of patient person to work with kids that are
struggling in this way, and these teachers shouldn't be there. Hell, the school
shouldn't be hiring people if they're not willing to train them and explain the difficulties of this job. Dr. Phil said that he had no influence over the girl's treatment,
but he was the one who recommended Island
view in the first place. I'm not saying he's the
one that broke her arm, obviously, but Dr. Phil's
the one that's constantly sending teenagers to
these Aspen hell holes. So of course he does deserve
some criticism for it. Now, as far as I can tell, the lawsuit and complaints against Dr.
Phil did unfortunately fail, with a note stating, a
plaintiff alleging fraud must know what his claim
is when he files it. Sierra's parents may not have succeeded in their lawsuit but
I'm hoping Hannah does. Considering that she has a
powerful lawyer on her side, maybe we'll see some results and some justice this time around. All in all, I'm not entirely surprised that Dr. Phil would send the teenager on his show to irreputable
treatment facilities. I just genuinely didn't expect them to be quite this terrible. There's debate about effectiveness of the programs as well
since studies of almost a thousand students claimed
their facilities are legitimate. However, these studies are, well, funded by Aspen themselves and
are without a control group. So, takeaway what you want from that. START or the Alliance for the Safe Therapeutic and Appropriate
Use of Residential Treatment, took a look at a couple
studies widely used to support these treatment
centers, and they stated, "There is a dearth of
research on the effectiveness" "of residential programs,
and this study provides" "some information for consideration." "However, there are striking
conflicts of interest" "in the research and several flaws" "within the methodology of the study" "that make its findings questionable." "Further, industry websites make claims" "about their findings and the meaning" "that go far beyond what the data show," "and that our experts
believe are misleading" "to parents, providers and youth." "This study was funded
by a company that owns" "and operates for-profit
residential programs," "and specifically the
programs in this study," "which is a conflict of interest." "The company also uses
the studies' researcher" "to personally recruit
customers for the programs," "which clearly draws her
objectivity into question." "Further, Aspen appears to
cherry pick the results" "that support their industry and programs" "and makes claims about
the causes of change" "in children's health that are
not justified by this data." I'm not saying that this means
Aspen fails every person, just that there isn't enough evidence to prove they work in the first place. So sure, while the prices
may be ridiculously high and their marketing tactics may also have been called into question. Today I really wanted to
focus on the absolutely despicable evidence of abuse that occurs at these types of camps, ones,
which Dr. Phil has endorsed. There've been two deaths of
heat stroke on Aspen's watch, and a guard killed by a teenager, that very clearly needed more
help than they could provide. There are many, many allegations of verbal, sexual and physical abuse, and all of this could be easily found in the years while Dr.
Phil was recommending them. He's called the miracle
workers and frankly, I'd like to see him look at
the survivors of these camps, as well as the parents of
those that didn't survive, and try to justify that statement. But, with all of that being said, that is where I'm going to end today's episode of the Corporate Casket. I hope you were able to
learn something new today although, an unpleasant topic. I do hope you were able to
take something away from this. Thank you so much for making
it to another Corporate Casket. I love you guys and I'll
see you the next one. Bye (upbeat music)
love her!