Boys accuse Jamaican school for troubled teens of rampant abuse, starvation

Former students of Atlantis Leadership Academy in Jamaica, along with parents and lawyers, describe rampant abuse. Five employees have been charged with child cruelty.

Boys at an American-run school for troubled teens in Jamaica were beaten by adult staff members, forced to exercise until they vomited and placed in stress positions for hours at a time, according to former students, their parents and attorneys assisting them. 

The new details shared in interviews with NBC News offer insight into what likely prompted Jamaican child welfare officials to remove children from Atlantis Leadership Academy in February and place them in protective custody. Five employees of the school were charged this month with child cruelty and assault. 

“You got whipped, you got pipes beaten on you,” said James, 18, who was among the eight teens removed from the school, and who asked that his last name not be published to protect his identity as an alleged victim of child abuse. “But if I told someone, I was afraid of getting jumped by the other staff.”

Randall Cook, the school’s founder and executive director, defended his school but did not address specific questions about the allegations or arrests. He has previously denied the boys’ allegations.

James’ account bears strong similarities to those of five other boys who attended the school until February and were interviewed in Jamaica by a lawyer who described their accounts to NBC News. Three of those boys, along with James and an additional student, also outlined their experiences in detailed, handwritten statements that the boys said they wrote after their removal. 

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/jamaica-school-troubled-teens-abuse-starvation-rcna147605

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