(wind blowing)
(chimes ringing) - [Narrator] Thursday. (dramatic music)
(chimes ringing) Wayne Kernochan was stuck at home during an excruciatingly long winter. He was what his parents
believed to be a problem child. Experiencing nightmares,
arguing with the seven siblings, and getting in trouble at school. His parents' method of
punishment wasn't the best. Having gone on record to state
that his father beats him with hockey sticks. It was undeniable that their humble abode in suburban Connecticut was
less of a place of refuge for him and more of a cell of torment. (dramatic music)
(phone ringing) The phone rings in the
kitchen and his mom answers. It's from a school up north called Elan. The man on the phone says that
Wayne should come right away and that they'll have a
private jet waiting for him at Danbury airport. His mom tells him not to
worry and that it's more of an outdoor camp type thing
that'll make them better. According to the flyer she read, it was proven with a 95% success rate and their alumni were all
leaving as better people than when they first arrived there. Counselors, psychiatrists,
activities, friends, Elan had it all he was told. And so Wayne packed up
his stuff that night. Eager, sure, nervous, yes.
(dramatic music) But absolutely awaiting
the things to come. (plane rumbling) The plane touches down in Portland, Maine. Two men greet him. (dramatic music) After embarking for the school
30 minutes north in Poland his escorts inquire on
why he was sent there. - [Man] Drugs? - [Narrator] Nope. - [Man] Court order? - [Narrator] No. - [Man] So why the hell are you going? - [Narrator] They joke. And then things get quiet. It was at this moment when
Wayne began to question whether he was going to the
place he thought he was. Something didn't seem right, but he was willing to give
it the benefit of the doubt. The two pull off a back
wooded road into a clearing. "Looks like a camp" he thinks. However, when he exits the vehicle, he isn't greeted with a
silent serenity of nature, but instead with screaming. (muffled, distant yelling) (gentle music) The 1970s were an interesting time. Across the United States, a rise in for-profit behavior
modification facilities were in action. Now called the troubled
teen or tough love industry. It seemed to be a money
machine aimed at altering and stifling troublesome
behavior in adolescents. The exact data is hard to
gauge due to the widely varying nature of the names, motives, and specialties of each of these schools, but they were widespread
and only became more so throughout the eighties. It's widely believed that
the parental reception to the era's youth were the catalyst
for facilities like this. Given that this was the
decade following the rise of the hippie subculture authority was and had been challenged for years resulting in a sort of panic
among older generations. Resultingly in early
1970 a psychiatrist named Gerald Davidson alongside
investor David Goldberg, and a man named Joseph Ricci
would band together to create a school named Elan, a private
co-ed behavior modification program geared from grade
eight to beyond high school. Ricci built the facility
as one that would correct bad behavior by teens without punishment, while painting himself as a genuine mentor that could help make that happen. Sitting on 33 acres of land
off of Number Five Road in Poland, Maine, Elan's main
campus was highly secluded and a long shot from any
outside civilization. With numerous facilities in place the school was well equipped
to handle a student body in the hundreds and within the
span of just one year they'd eventually meet that metric. Numerous alumni, much like Wayne, have gone on record to
stage that their initial outside impression of the
school was that it was like a summer camp in the Maine woods. However, upon arrival reality would paint a different picture. Allegedly, the final minutes of the trip there were unforgettable
with Elan being shrouded down a long dirt road in
the middle of the wilderness and made up of rundown
trailers and buildings, giving it a frightening feeling of dread. Furthermore, some have
stated that once they exited the vehicle expecting a lively campground they're instead faced with
a sight much stranger. Some students were spotted
wearing degrading signs, some shackled in handcuffs, some being yelled at and
bizarrely everyone would just pretend it's normal. At this point it's been
noted that some students attempt to flee. They weren't entirely sure
what the Elan school was, but it was clear to them
that it wasn't good. These escape efforts were
always futile though, as Elan station guards
around the campus to chase and subdue outliers
that would attempt this. Considering how the school was marketed, touting itself as an
altruistic institution genuinely concerned with helping troubled teenagers get better
it was clear from the outside that those claims were a reach. But just how far would they take that? (gentle music) What most students were
unaware of was that behind their back a deal was
made on their behalf. (gentle music) With nothing but a simple
signature and payment, parents could sign their
child's life over to Elan, which advertised itself as a positive reaffirming center of growth. According to an excerpt
from an early 2000s archive of their website, we can observe the vernacular
they used to appeal to each parent. Dear parents, we're
very aware of how lonely and confused you must feel
as you sit down to read this. if you're like the parents
of most of our students, you're faced with an
adolescent whose behavior is out of control, and you don't know why. A youngster who's been given everything and is throwing it all away
is difficult to understand. But you can see that this
process is progressive. The most saddening part is
knowing that your offspring is ruining his or her future. Your own pain is difficult, but your pain for your
child is unbearable. By coming to Elan, you have come to a truly different school. We can't offer you miracles,
but we can offer you hope. We know that your journey to
this point has been painful. We hope Elan can change its course. On top of this school staff
were known to hand out flyers to parents while persuading
them that their child just might be troubled. It's been noted that Joseph Ricci was somewhat of a salesman. He was charismatic and excelled
at convincing parents of all the good that Elan
could do for their kids. The good that as we'll
soon find was all a lie. I'd like to let it be known
that Wayne's Elan admission story was on the lighter side. For most of the other students, things were handled a bit more violently. Instead of a plane school
alumni have gone record to state that they were transported by van. Reportedly once your parents
agreed to send you off to Elan and pay the $50,000 tuition fee, they designate a time and
date with Elan's so-called teen escort service. They wouldn't pick you
up during the day though. Instead in the middle of the
night when you're fast asleep they would bust through
your door and kidnap you. In years past Elan staff have
stated that since the child has no say in attending
their capture hinges on the element of surprise. According to a blog
named Suzuki's thoughts, the abduction process involves two men breaking into the teen's bedroom,
physically subduing them, tying them up with plastic handcuffs, throwing them into a van, and then driving them to Poland, Maine, where they'd be handed
over to the Elan school. Such experiences often
traumatized the teens who were abducted. For all they knew at first
they were being taken by criminals to be held ransom, tortured, or worse killed. For the girls it was even more terrifying. Some girls later recalled that
they believed that they were going to be. - [Man] Raped, sexually assaulted. - [Narrator] And murdered
by their abductors. One certainly can't blame the
kids for thinking this way. Such practices had all the hallmarks of a violent kidnapping. This practice became notorious
around the United States. Eventually earning its
nickname, the Elan snatch. If this were any indication, it was clear that morality
wasn't the school strong suit, but that ultimately begs the question, would it stop there or was their torment only just beginning? (gentle music) Day one. Students would typically
arrive to Elan during the early morning hours of the day. Due to the nature of
their transport to campus, they were often known
to resist their escorts. It's been noted that their
capture was designed this way, utilizing their escape
attempt against them as a tool to convey that no matter what they're not getting out of there. And with this came the first
steps of dehumanization. Instilling the feeling that
their basic rights have been robbed of them, in turn
making them feel like less of a student and more like a prisoner. This sentiment was taken even further when they're physically
taken inside the school. Often the first stop would
be the dormitory showers, which served as a tool
in robbing each student of their sense of individuality. Reportedly students are thrown
into them with absolutely no privacy and are demanded to
remove all of their clothing and valuable items. After complying they're
given what Elan calls no image clothing, which
as the name implies, simply includes a bland
colorless shirt and pants. Effectively forcing them
into a state of conformity. Following this each new
student will be taken into a common area where
they're assigned what Elan calls a big brother. This in essence was a
tenured student designated to be a guide. On paper they were told to
help their students adjust to their new life on campus. Someone like a peer while
educating them on how great and effective the program is. In reality though, this
relationship was far from friendly. It's been reported that big
brothers would often try to deceive their newer counterparts, enticing them to run away
or to break the rules. If the student had to ever
agreed or attempted to listen to this their behavior would
be reported to school staff resulting in punishment. As we've seen in studies like the Stanford prison experiment, I'm sure you can see why
this would be a bad idea. Oftentimes big brother figures, much like staff would take
great pleasure in exerting their superiority over the newer students. It fulfilled them in a way
that was almost cult-like. (birds chirping) - You just want to feel (yelling). You're doing it. You and everybody else has to. Get it right. - You know it's lack of quality. You know it's crap. You know this will not be tolerated. - Nobody every thinks about
getting their grip on a man. Nothing's your responsibility. You never clean the bathroom this morning. - Maybe you should remember next time you'll do this off the wall. You'll get to clean off the showers too. You and every one of them uses a shower. You're just being irresponsible. - If you wanna act like a
baby, you get screamed at, if you wanna act as a
more mature adolescent, you get talked to. (yelling)
(gentle music) - [Narrator] Speaking of cults, the social hierarchy at Elan
is structured in a way that heavily resembles one. At the school students
are immediately placed into two categories. Strengths, which were
tenured obedient students that were a few steps up the totem pole. And non-strengths, the newer ones who typically
resisted treatments. Strengths were allowed to
talk to fellow strengths and non-strengths. Non-strengths on the other
hand were only permitted to communicate with strengths. If a non-strength were
caught communicating with a non-strength, harsh
punishment would soon greet them. (gentle music) The Elan school as we've
established thrives on the feeling of hopelessness. Throughout students' tenures there, they were forbidden to contact
anyone from the outside world unless they've earned the privilege through good behavior and compliance. Every single phone line from
campus would run through a single switchboard located
in this small trailer. And it was heavily
guarded because of that. If a student were to gain the privilege of contacting their family, it's been reported that
they're heavily monitored, only permitted to praise
the school for all the good it's done to help them
during their time there. If they ever were to be
caught telling the truth or revealing the atrocities
that occur behind the scenes, they were quickly
disconnected, reprimanded, and robbed of any future potential to use the phone lines ever again. (gentle music) On top of the phone manipulation, every Elan resident was
required to write what the school calls a guilt letter, which as you might expect as
an explanation of how great the Elan school is for them, all the great activities they do there, and how well they're
progressing through the program. These letters would be heavily scrutinized before being mailed out to their parents. Effectively this tactic's
goal was twofold. To allow an Elan's
facade to remain in place and to entice their
parents to spend more money on their treatment in turn
keeping them there even longer than they had ever planned to. In reality, students were
helpless, being abused, and in most cases verbally tortured at the pleasure of the Elan school staff. It was clear to students that
they weren't getting away from this anytime soon. And after realizing this, their minds would often
pivot away from rebellion and towards compliance in hopes of powering through the program. This drove most of them to
become somewhat brainwashed, ultimately stuck in a system
that will do everything it possibly can to make
their escape, impossible. (gentle music) As you might expect the rules at the Elan school were immense. Exerting nearly totalitarian control over everything that happens. Joe Ricci's set of rules, which he called guilt was gargantuan and needlessly meticulous. As a student at Elan you would
be expected to refrain from doing the following. Having any image, reading
as a non-strength, not completing learning experiences, writing without
permission, being sideways, looking at security zones,
non-strength interacting, talking too loudly, talking too softly, looking at the opposite gender,
being attracted to someone, any physical contact, looking out windows, unauthorized drawing, not
listening to higher ranks, pretending to sleep at night,
thinking of running away, being in the bathroom for too
long, wearing dark clothing, being manipulative,
being lazy while working, listening to music, talking too much, showering for more than three minutes, not talking enough, making
facial reactions to orders, negative body language, pretending not to have
guilt, over sleeping, under sleeping, smiling, and the list goes on and on. Clearly these roles were
not designed to be followed, causing harsh penalization
to become commonplace. To help enforce these individuals
known as expediters were designated by the school to
stand on watch with clipboards. Primarily they were known to catch those that broke three rules, being attracted to members
of the opposite gender, looking at the opposite gender, and making prolonged eye
contact with anyone else. Since expediters too were
required to fill their clipboards with names and infractions at the risk of their own punishment, they frequently and
unapologetically made assumptions and accusations that were a lie. (gentle music) As you'd expect punishment
varied pretty heavily at Elan and not in a good way. One example involved
requiring a group of students to live in a dumpster for over two weeks. The expediter watching them
was tasked with ensuring compliance and preventing
any attempt to escape. If their subordinates acted out however, the expediter on duty would
be forced to live in the dumpster with them while being monitored by yet another who is up to the task. Another major tactic at
Elan was humiliation. They figured that by breaking
down their social barrier, forcing students into
extreme embarrassment, they could drive them to a
point of total compliance. Those who tried to escape were
often labeled as a split risk and their punishment for doing
so was confiscation of their shoe laces and the requirement
to wear a bright yellow t-shirts and short pink shorts. The school figured that without laces, their shoes were effectively useless in turn preventing any
ability to move any faster than a walk. A more extreme example of
a split risk punishment is shown with this student. Instead of a t-shirt and shorts though, he was forced to wear a
bright pink rabbit suit with cuffs around his legs. It's unclear if this is a repeat offender, but it raises the question
as to how far Elan would actually go with this tactic. Students that smiled out
of place where punished by wearing dunce caps and reduced to work that
the school calls shotdown. These involved repetitious,
dull tasks like mopping floors, scrubbing the insides of trash cans, and even cleaning toilets
with just a single toothbrush for hours and hours on end. If you had to use the
bathroom during shotdown, it's been noted that approval
by sometimes six or more superiors was required
before you were able. And even then an escort had to watch you while you were in there. This on top of a myriad of
other degrading punishments like humiliating sign and diaper wearing it's clear that Elan kept an iron grip on their daily operations. Their daily operations that took up most of the daily schedule and those that were deceptively
named by the Elan school themselves as their treatment. (gentle music) But I will say all of these
punishments are relatively tame compared to what we're
about to talk about. Let's just say if you
pissed off a staff member, they could start something
called a general meeting on you. And trust me, you wouldn't want one. (dramatic music) There seemed to be no standard for them. They would just happen at
random multiple times each day. If staff were annoyed or felt
like targeting a specific student for some reason, they could call a general
meeting at any time. Once these words were uttered, everyone in the building
would be required to gather in front of the students in
whichever room they were in. Get your feelings off the
administrator screams. And following this each
student in the room would begin screaming at and berating the students, firing off slurs and obscenities
for nearly an hour long. No matter how much the student
pled for everyone to stop, no matter how much they broke down, no matter how much they cried
general meetings would not end until the admin said so. (yelling) And when it finally did,
the victim would lay there, often crying and exhausted
of the relentless abuse that they'd just endured. It's clear that general meetings aren't designed to reprimand. They're designed to completely
break each and every student that's the subject of one. And with this we can effectively
put the points together that Elan was doing nothing more than running an operation that
commanded total compliance. Any self thought or sliver
of independence that students thought they had was gone. They were merely reduced to weapons. Weapons that at a moment's
notice could just as easily be used against them. (dramatic music) (bell ringing) 7:00 PM. (dramatic music) Contrary to its focus on
academia in outside marketing school time within Elan was secondhand to the student's treatment. Typically the timeframe for
learning was seven to 11:00 PM, but sometimes could run longer. As you might expect there
were no extracurriculars, no physical education, no projects, no legitimate exams, nothing. Instead, students were required
to grade themselves on work that they were self-assigned
with absolutely no direction. The structure of class typically
involved a staff member supervising a room full of children. Each night of learning
involved completing work out of freshmen level textbooks, which unsurprisingly
for a group of teenagers would be immensely uneventful. Given that class time was after a long day full of verbal abuse, monotonous tasks, and a hierarchy system that
does nothing but suffocate the lower classes, students dozing off and losing track of
their work was expected. Curiously school time too was regarded as a privilege at Elan. Joe Ricci has gone on record to state that the class schedule itself was designed this way on purpose. Allegedly, he believes
students were easier to control while sleep deprived and utilized even this as a
medium to work against them. By 11:00 PM if a student makes
it through a night of work without issue school hours
then draw to a close. They're quickly released from class and escorted to their dorms which were often in the
form of uncomfortable, impersonal military-style bunk beds. Sleep was known to be difficult
as designated students named night owls were assigned to
stand guard with flashlights. In regular intervals they'd shine them on the sleeping students to both ensure that they hadn't escaped and to secure the fact that they're actually asleep. A requirement that as
we can recall was also in the list of Elan's rules. And if one actually manages
to calm their nerves, dozing off into their
only time of tranquility, that would allow them to
effectively place the cap on a day in the nightmare that is Elan. (crickets chirping) - [Man] House, wake up. - [Narrator] And then you
get to do it all over again. (dramatic music) A notorious aspect of
Elan among everything else that happened there was
something called the ring. Considered the highest level of punishment Elan staff could make the
call to start the ring at any time. The structure was set up similar to that of a general meeting and
was typically commenced when school staff believed
that the punishment wasn't harsh enough
for a specific student. In the ring, a student
is designated as a bully and is outfitted with a
face guard and gloves. Surrounding them are troves
of others that are commanded to scream and yell obscenities at them. While this is taking place
specific students will be chosen to compete against the
bully in numerous fistfights until school staff decided that they were sufficiently injured. No one was safe from the ring either. Some wore preexisting injuries, some were much smaller
than their opponent, and some were even pregnant. Even worse, things seemed
to be treated like a game with superiors commentating on the matches like they were on TV. In reality though this was
the furthest thing from TV. This was handcrafted abuse. Elan was meticulous about
orchestrating fights for the ring too. It's been noted that certain
students would regularly be punished for another's actions, effectively engineering
anger between them. This was often noticed
between big brothers and their subordinates as they'd
be punished for the actions of their newer counterparts. And once they were angry enough, a ring fight would commence
often injuring students so badly that they'd sustained
permanent brain damage, PTSD, and even death. (gentle music) - It costs $17,400 to send
the average youngster to Elan for one year. Even at that price, there
are judges, social workers, and parents who consider it a bargain. Elan's defenders claim it has the most consistently effective program
for salvaging young people who are too difficult for
other facilities to handle. So many states want to use Elan
that there's a waiting list. But on the other hand, one state agency in Massachusetts
will no longer send their youngsters here because
they object to the way the children are treated. One reason is the use
of physical punishment. Joe, you make no bones about it. There is corporal punishment here at Elan. Tell us about it. What are the stages that comes
in, who's it administered by? - Well, it's, it's
administered by the kids. First of all, and corporal,
it's a harsh term. Okay, what it is, is we have the ring. Okay, which everybody misinterprets. It's, it's not a boxing ring,
it's a ring of human people. The bully is introduced as what he is. In this corner is the bully who's trying to turn this
facility into a detention center. Okay, and in this corner
is the house champion who's gonna show him why it can't be done. And that's exactly how it does. And we never allowed the bully to win. - Girls get put in the ring too. - Well girls bully as well as boys though. I mean, you know, it
doesn't, you know, we're, we're a equal rights facility. We also use spanking, which is symbolic. And again, it's the last resort. Okay, and it's, and it's
one resident spanking another resident and it's
done with a ping pong paddle. Okay and usually a person won't
get spanked more than once or twice, but it's a symbolic thing, which is if you're gonna
to act like a baby, you should be treated like a baby. - [Narrator] On December
27th, 1992 a 15 year old Elan student named Philip
Williams was placed into the ring. He wasn't the largest kid there, but he was known to do what
he could to put up a fight. He had grown up in a family of division, regularly witnessing his father
physically abuse his mother. With this there was an anger within him, a sadness that Elan noticed
and wanted to exploit. And so that evening a ring
session commenced with Phil as the bully. There was fight after fight after fight. In the end it's been reported
that he was beaten up so badly that he fell flat on the floor and it took an entire 20
minutes before an ambulance was called to help him. 20 minutes or so they
called the ambulance. They took Phil and they
never saw him again. His sister claims. I thought it was a wonderful place. I thought they were helping my brother. I thought he was coming home. He came home alright. In a box. Elan's official response was that he had regularly faked headaches. The cause of death, a brain aneurysm, and no charges were
ever filed against them. (gentle music) It's been clear to us from
the beginning that Elan is not a place of good. From humiliation to
beratement, to physical abuse Elan's tactics were archaic and inhumane. For a school that markets
itself on academia, on helping students get
their lives back on track, it's crystal clear that this
has never been the motive. What I find interesting now
is that Elan wasn't even the first to utilize this type of
therapy, this attack therapy. In fact it has its roots in
a cult that found its footing all the way back in the mid 1950s. That cult is one by the name of Synanon. - [Newscaster] Howdy, with
a warrant to investigate reports of child abuse. - [Woman] In recent years Synanon began calling itself a religion. - [Guy] He's 52 years old. He's deaf in one ear, he's an egomaniac, but one of the wisest person
that I've ever met in my life. He knows how to get people moving. He creates turbulence. - [Anchor] Gentlemen,
until further notice, no member of the California
Department of Corrections is permitted on Synanon property, unless he has the permission of Charles Dederich, chairman Synanon. (yelling)
(dramatic music) - [Narrator] In early
1958 a man by the name of Charles Dederich Senior
would found the group in Santa Monica, California. It was intended to be a
drug rehabilitation program aimed at delinquents. However in the years that followed, it appeared to stray from
that mission entirely. The distinguishing form of
therapy employed by Synanon was something called the game. Which in today's terms, it's more commonly
known as attack therapy. The focus of the game was to
break down the social construct of an individual's mind
by first allowing them to open up about themselves
before commencing an aggressive beratement session much
like we discussed earlier with general meetings. The primary goal was to
recreate someone's personality and sense of self by completely
demolishing everything they know about themselves
before rebuilding them as a newer subjectively better person. It hinged on the brink of legality while being entirely immoral
and unsurprisingly by 1991 the cult would disband due
to criminal convictions that caught up to many of their members. The founder also died
just six years later, leaving behind a dark
legacy that to this day is known as one of the most dangerous and violent cults that
America has ever seen. This is of course the abridged history. To be honest with you, I can make an entire hour
long video on the operations and practices of Synanon, but that's a story for another day. If there's one takeaway tonight though, it's that it unknowingly
served as an inspiration and blueprint for other
institutions to follow. One of those being Elan and by
utilizing similar practices, they appeared to carry
the torch that Synanon was forced to abandon. They knew they had to
keep up appearances too, thriving off an immaculate public image spearheaded by the charisma of Joe Ricci. Before the age of the internet, admittedly this was easier to do. Television documentaries like in NBC's For the Child's Own Good were
seemingly the only inside look that the public was allowed to gain. However even they failed
to convey the true extent of what happened there. The hush hush foundation
that Elan was built upon initially seemed to be unbreakable. However, due to a rise in
public attention that would soon find its way there, it was becoming increasingly
apparent that the cracks beneath that very foundation
work merely beginning to form. (dramatic music) (birds chirping) (dramatic music) Through the late seventies
and into the early eighties reports of the true nature
of Elan began to spread by word of mouth from former students. Authorities in Maine reportedly
visited the school upwards of 12 times to investigate, however returned with absolutely
nothing to show for it. Frustratingly, the operation
that Joe Ricci was running was completely and entirely legal. There were no laws in place
for facilities like this. So it was allowed to remain
an operation without issue. As we touched on the
media was the primary in for outsiders at Elan. However even they failed
to communicate the extent of their operations. While they showed select parts of it, unfortunately Joe Ricci
was given enough airtime to convince the public and the
news crew that it was nothing more than their treatment taking place. By dehumanizing the students, emphasizing their delinquencies
on national television, he was able to use this
notoriety to his advantage ultimately swaying the
public opinion into believing that what he was doing was entirely good. On top of the growing
number of alumni though, came an increase in escapees, which only furthered
Elan's unwanted infamy. Over the years, three students, a 16 year old unidentified individual, a 15 year old Brad Glickman, and a 17 year old Dawn Birnbaum would all escaped successfully. However would meet wildly differing fates. For the 16 year old it's
been reported that he ran over 15 miles through the wilderness in the middle of the night. He was eventually caught
by an officer Max Ashburn and after hearing the boy's story and observing his physical condition, he helped him return home. For Brad Glickman, he was shot. In 1990 after escaping
Elan's search parties he made his way into a
house in a small town. Authorities believed that he
had a connection to the girl that lived there. However, the homeowner opened fire, ultimately killing him. And for Dawn Birnbaum, she too had escaped the clutches of Elan, eventually finding a
trucker named James Cruz, who was willing to take her home. A few hours down the road though, Birnbaum would find that
Cruz's true intentions weren't quite so virtuous. As it turned out he sexually assaulted her on the side of the
highway before strangling and abandoning her body between routes 26 and 550 in Pennsylvania. She was discovered by another
motorist with a yellow rope tied around her neck and without
clothes from the waist down and from her corpse were tire tracks resembling that of a semi-trailer. Since Birnbaum had crossed state lines, an FBI investigation
was commenced for her. And after cross-checking
with numerous similar cases that have happened in the area, the truck belonging to James
Cruz was deemed as the culprit. Upon catching up to him
and searching his vehicle authorities were able to
find but a single blonde hair that belonged to Birnbaum, effectively leading to his arrest. Much to the school's displeasure these cases successfully
gained ample attention. Joe Ricci resultingly
paid off numerous judges and journalists in hopes of
drowning out the negative press. However outsiders were
beginning to catch on that these students were
running for a reason. (dramatic music) But why? (crickets chirping) (dramatic music) On the night of October 30th, 1975, a 15 year old girl named
Martha Moxley was out with her friends participating in what
they call mischief night. This typically involves tee peeing houses, ding dong ditching,
typical teenager antics. Later that night Moxley found
a liking to a Thomas Skakel, eventually kissing him
before the pair decided to venture off. To the other friends in their
group seeing Moxley fall over the Skakel's
backyard fence with Thomas was the very last time that
they would ever see her alive. The next morning the Moxley
family awakens as usual. They go about their morning routine, however notice that Martha is missing. Upon searching the house for her, they notice a body lying by
the tree out in the backyard. They approach it and
discover a grim scene. Martha is laying lifeless
with her pants down. Her body appears to
have been visibly beaten and a few feet away from the body, broken remnants of a six iron golf club. This club was eventually traced
back to the Skakel family. Autopsy reports claimed
that she was bludgeoned and stabbed to death all by that six iron. And since Thomas Skakel was
the last person she was spotted with that night he was the
prime suspect in her murder. Due to a lack of sufficient
evidence however, he among the other suspects
were eventually absolved. And as a result the Moxley
case frustratingly went cold. (dramatic music) Three years later. (dramatic music) Thomas' 18 year old brother
named Michael Skakel is arrested for drunk driving. His punishment, admission to Elan. While there Skakel was known to be problematic and outspoken. According to Elan students at the time, he would regularly boast
about a girl named Martha and how he sexually
assaulted and killed her. One student named Gregory
Coleman recalls this vividly recounting how Michael had
gone on record to state that I'm going to get away with murder. I'm a Kennedy. The Kennedy reference was
alluding to his relation to Robert F. Kennedy. Something that would prove
pivotal in launching his eventual trial to the national spotlight. At the time of his confession though nobody could do anything about it. Given the overbearing nature
of the rules set at school, any student that tried to
tell someone about this was quickly reprimanded. It would take an entire 22
years before Skakel's actions would reach the public eye. In January of 2000 he was arrested and charged with the
murder of Martha Moxley and due to his relation to the Kennedys it was a case that commanded the airwaves. Since Skakel's primary vehicle
in bragging about his crimes was Elan this by proxy
had also thrust the school into the national spotlights. Dozens of students took the
stand exposing the callousness that occurred there. The humiliation, the general
meetings, the beatings, the ring, the deaths, all of it was brought into the public eye. Realizing this Joe Ricci did
everything he possibly could to keep discussion about
his operation to a minimum. He eventually took the stand downplaying any mention of Elan, touting its high success rates and doing everything he
possibly could to divert the attention back to
Skakel and Skakel only. But this was only marginally effective as this was in the 2000s, an interconnected era of information catalyzed by a little
something called the internet. Michael Skakel was eventually
found guilty of the murder and was sentenced to 20
years to life in prison. After serving just 11 years behind bars, he was granted a new trial in
2013 in which he was let go after posting a $1.2 million bond. Today, he walks a free man. But back then the cat was out of the bag. The inhumanities committed
at the Elan school were documented in one of the most
high profile cases in decades. And because of this, people began talking,
theorizing, and investigating, effectively marking the beginning
of the end of Joe Ricci's iron grip on the hundreds of students that were helpless beneath him. (dramatic music) But with his weakening grasp
on the media surrounding his operation came a different
hurdle that Joe Ricci would soon have to overcome. In June of 2000, he was diagnosed with lung cancer caused by his well known
addiction to cigarettes. And just six months later on
the 29th of January, 2001, Joe Ricci would pass
away in Portland, Maine at 54 years old. As a result, his second wife Sharon Terry would take over operations at Elan. It was clear though that due
to the increased publicity among the rising alumni testimonies, the idea of Terry having a
lot of PR work on her plate was putting it lightly.
(dramatic music) Throughout the years numerous
changes would be put in place in response to outside
criticism of the Elan school. For instance, the ring
was eventually forbidden from being used as punishment. And while this was
substantially a good thing, the other cruelties would remain. What Sharon Terry was unaware of though, was that due to the
rapid rise in technology, namely the internet, even her reign over Elan
would soon meet its demise. When the water settled
following the Skakel case, mentions of Elan or made on various forums throughout the next few years. They would get people talking. However, it wasn't quite
enough for definite action. By 2010 though, something would change. A website that we all know
very well would help spearhead one of the most effective exposed stories in the history of the internet. That website was Reddit. On November 26th, 2010, a man named Jeff W who went by
Gzasmyhero would make a post titled even skimming this
once will blow your mind. Most probably think it's made
up, but you'd be dead wrong. Within it he explains that he
was an Elan student in 1998 before outlining in detail the reality of what took place there. They're mostly points
that we've already covered and explored in great detail tonight. But back then these
claims were unbelievable. The school was very
much still in operation. So some initially had a tough
time wrapping their head around the fact that a place
like this actually existed. But then came the comments, the other stories from other alumni with their own experiences. Gzasmyhero's post carried
weight, it was real. And these atrocities needed to be known. Eventually this thread would
rack up over 2,000 likes and 1,400 comments. While this may not have caused
Elan's closure outright, it aggressively reopened old wounds. 2010 was not 2000. The internet user base
was exponentially larger than it had been. And resultingly the
effectiveness of this new found attention caused a
massive amount of backlash that the Elan school had
never before experienced. (dramatic music) Four months later. On the 23rd of March, 2011, the Elan school announced
that it would soon be shutting down. Sharon Terry blamed the call
on what they deemed to be libelous remarks made about them online. The school has been the target of harsh and false attacks spread over the internet with the avowed purpose of
forcing the school to close. The school unfortunately has been unable to survive the damage. And on the 1st of April, 2011, the Elan school would close
its doors for one final time. Officially they blamed it
on declining student numbers in hopes of diverting the attention away from the actual cause. But on the outside, everyone knew the real reason. For students this was
unbelievably good news. However the damage they
endured was something that would remain everlasting. It's been reported that
numerous suicides have occurred as a result of attendance at Elan. PTSD with alumni is rampant. And it's clear that the
school had done nothing but damage people. A filmmaker and former student
named Todd Nelson creator of a fantastic Elan documentary
named the Last Stop has gone on record to
state that as a student, he was helped by their
unconventional tactics, but he knew the majority of
others weren't quite so lucky. Today hundreds of stories
remain online about the cruelty committed at the Elan school, about the facade they upkept for 41 years. Reading through these are eyeopening, and you can find them on
nearly every piece of media and documentation that
exists about Elan online. To all of you that have
shared your stories, that have opened up about
the torment you went through, your voice is the reason that
Elan ceases to exist today. This video would not exist without you. And I wish I could say
that I feel your pain. But I don't. (gentle music) While there are and have
been other facilities like this throughout history, those are another story for another time. The legacy that Elan left
behind is a dark one. Knowing the true history of what occurred off Number Five Road is haunting. And no matter if it
forever stands physically, the psychological destruction
that it left behind will very unfortunately forever remain. (gentle music)
Video editing is amazing. Through the roof, in fact. Really eerie.
Fascinating and awful... But there are boarding schools like this everywhere, unfortunately.
There's one in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania that's been accused of letting kids who are known s--ual predators attack other kids, it was in the papers everywhere here a few years ago. I don't know or understand why any parent would put their own child somewhere where they use the threat of r--e or other torture as a punishment.
Hell of expo into this scam-a-tution. A little long, but at least it's good to know that fucking place was finally shut down...after about only say, 40 years, and ONLY because of one brave soul & the internet. The fact that Ricci was able to pay off reporters, judges, and anyone else that might've exposed him & his illegal practices a lot sooner tells you all you need to know about that piece of shit he truly was & how invaluable the internet can be in exposing such practices. My heart goes out to all of the survivors who left that place much worse than when they entered. Elan's Inferno most definitely.
One of Nexpo's best. Great video. I had no idea about these total POS.
Sooo good!! 10/10!
I was JUST reading about this yesterday that’s so crazy
Me and my best friend just watched this, holy shit, as we watched we were so concerned. We lived not even an hour away from this. Around the right age to be sent too.
If anything this just shows me how much small towns can hide. We had NEVER heard of this. Ever. Truly terrifying.
Wonderfully made video! I felt ill midway through the video because of how horrible the place was.
A comment on this video led me to a school called Vista Private School, Utah. The reviews on their google page is full of very scary comments that sound similar to Elan! Comments from as recently as 11 months ago. This is some scary stuff.
https://www.google.com/search?q=vista+private+school%2C+utah&oq=vista+private+school%2C+utah&aqs=chrome..69i57&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#