Paris Hilton traveled to Jamaica to support teenage boys from the US during a court hearing during which they told about their alleged molestation.
According to reports of abuse that occurred on February 8 at a college for troubled teenagers, seven boys were placed within the care of Jamaican guardianship authorities. NBC News. Reports vary on the precise variety of teenagers.
“I used to be shocked at how horrific the allegations were. “When I found out the boys had asked me to come and support them during their next court hearing in Jamaica, I dropped everything to make sure I was there,” said Hilton, 43. Newsweek in Saturday’s interview.
“No child deserves to testify about violence they’ve suffered alone, especially abroad. “I’m really proud that I was able to show these young men and set an example for these young men that there are people who believe them and care about them.”
Hilton has long spoken out about her experiences at an analogous institution when she was a teen, and founded her own support group, 11:11 Media Impact, to place an end to what she describes as a “tough teen industry.”
The boys were students of Atlantis Leadership Academy in Treasure Beach within the southern Caribbean island. The academy itself describes itself as a faith-based boarding academy that gives education in corrective behavior and leadership skills for troubled teens. He was accused of mistreating participants, with some reporting severe weight reduction and physical punishment.
According to local media CollectorDirk Harrison, a lawyer for the academy and its founder Randall Cook, said the Child Protective and Family Services Agency’s claim that there was evidence of abuse on the academy “boils down to a premature conclusion before the investigative process is complete.” He added that Cook desired to clear his name.
Newsweek reached out to Atlantis via email Saturday morning searching for comment. The Jamaica Child Protection and Family Services Agency was also contacted.
This was reported by a lawyer representing one in every of the boys Newsweek the college didn’t inform his mother about his expulsion from the academy, and she or he only found out about his situation when he managed to call her every week later.
Jamaica’s Child Protective and Family Services Agency told the parents that the boy had been picked up via email after receiving only information that the boys “were mistreated, amounting to abuse” and, based on U.S. authorities, was working with U.S. authorities to return the boys to home. NBC News.
After February 8, Cook sent a letter to folks saying: “Because of our reputation and transparency, no one could believe that something like this could happen or that we are in any way a violent organization,” per NBC News.
“No contact has been made with either Atlantis Leadership Academy or Mr. Cook, but we note that the insinuating public comments were untimely, inflammatory, inappropriate and contrary to due process principles,” Cook’s lawyer said in a letter to the Jamaica Child Protective Services Agency. per Collector.
Michael McFarland is a lawyer with expertise in institutional violence and represents one in every of the boys at a court hearing to find out whether he will be released from foster care. The 16-year-old was sent to the power by her mother, who now believes that Atlantis sold her a “false bill of lading” regarding services provided by the college.
“They don’t have qualified staff, they don’t train anyone and there are no policies in place. There is nothing for these kids,” McFarland said Newsweek. ““Many of them have high needs… they are not well fed and they are exploited.”
His client was first sent to Atlantis in May 2023, and McFarland said he received no formal education at that time, but was instead put in front of a laptop to watch an online course.
What allegedly happened during these nine months was a program designed to “break their spirit” and “break them physically.”
According to McFarland, his client said he “was physically punched, pushed into a wall, forcefully choked and placed in shackles on a very regular basis.”
“I saw him yesterday [April 2] and he complained of pain in his shoulder, because of this it happened to him often,” the lawyer said, adding that the scholars were also forced to perform “extreme physical exercises”, including jumping up and down 3,000 times or filling bathtubs with sand and running with them.
“They are also under constant threat of violence or force, are under constant surveillance and are not allowed to contact their parents.”
He said his 16-year-old client had also lost alarming weight during his time on the academy, but he was looking forward to returning home along with his mother.
McFarland said his client can be released next week and the others’ next hearing can be April 11.
“He preys on defenseless families”
Hilton stated that her experiences were very much like what the boys in Atlantis allegedly went through. She said she was dragged out of bed in the course of the night against her will by unknown men and was subjected to aggressive treatments that left her with lifelong trauma.
Until recently, she mainly campaigned against the “difficult youth industry” within the US, until she “learned about a significant legal loophole in which families can forcibly send their children to facilities abroad and keep them there until they are 18.” .
“We are becoming aware of the fact that the majority of children on international placements in Jamaica are also adopted children,” Hilton explained.
“This for-profit industry is incredibly complex and preys on vulnerable families, the child welfare system, the juvenile justice system and youth with disabilities. I hope to raise as much awareness and tell the stories of these young people as possible to create positive impact and lasting change.”
Hilton added that the United States must be “more prepared to deal with cases like this when problems arise because parents hand over their rights to facility owners when they send their children away and those children end up in child care in Jamaica.”
“Currently, there are very few U.S. intervention systems in place to ensure the rapid safety and placement of these children in appropriate and loving homes,” she said.
“We must act in the best interests of these children and I will continue to advocate for this to happen.”
As a mother of two, Hilton shared her best advice for fogeys if their child tells them they’re being abused.
“Any parent who is considering placing their child in an industry for troubled teens please read the information,” she urged.
“This industry has been proven to engage in significant deceptive marketing designed to gain attention in our most vulnerable state. These objects will also label your children as liars and manipulators and prevent confidential communication with them.”
Hilton added: “My biggest recommendation is to trust what your child tells you, rather than siding with often corrupt owners of facilities you’ve never even met who run facilities you’ve never been to.”
Credit : www.newsweek.com
