In The News

On April 5, following a court hearing regarding horrific abuse uncovered at Atlantis Leadership Academy (ALA) in Jamaica, Paris Hilton spoke out against the troubled teen industry. Hilton expressed that “there is nowhere on Earth I am unwilling to travel to support and advocate for youth who have experienced institutional child abuse and neglect.” She stated in her comments alongside the linked video that two of the eight boys involved in the case regarding the abuse at ALA are returning to their families.

In her speech, Hilton mentioned the abuse that occurred at Miracle Meadows Boarding School. Our attorney Guy D’Andrea, along with Charleston attorneys Jesse Forbes of Forbes Law Office PLLC and Scott Long of Hendrickson & Long, PLLC, secured a nearly $52 million settlement on behalf of more than two dozen of the WV school’s former students in 2020 in that case. Much like Hilton’s advocacy work, we view our work in securing settlements in cases like these as an example of taking action against institutions that cause serious harm to troubled youth around the world.

What Happened at Miracle Meadows?

Twenty-nine former students of Miracle Meadows were alleged to have suffered mental, sexual, and physical abuse at the hands of the adults who ran the school over the course of several decades. The former students alleged that the abuse they suffered included being chained and shackled to beds, kept in isolation rooms for weeks and months at a time, sexually assaulted, starved, forced to perform manual labor, and routinely beaten.

Although the Miracle Meadows School, located in Salem, West Virginia, was shut down by authorities in 2014, it wasn’t until October 2020 that a settlement was reached. The school was founded in 1987 by Gayle Clark and her husband and was advertised as a Christian boarding school specifically targeting at-risk youth or those with learning disabilities or behavioral disorders.

Authorities and law enforcement made multiple attempts to investigate Miracle Meadows over the years. However, it was difficult to bring the perpetrators to justice as they were often brought to the school on work visas and then returned to their home countries before they could be questioned by authorities. At the time of the school’s closure, Clark was arrested, and the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department uncovered multiple allegations of sexual abuse and physical assault at the school.

Parallels of Abuse and Advocacy

In Paris Hilton’s speech, she highlighted how at least eight of the boys abused in the Jamaican school were American. They were forced to remove their clothing and subjected to beatings and waterboarding, starved, and underwent other types of mistreatments. These mistreatments are very similar to those suffered by the students at Miracle Meadows.

Here at Laffey Bucci D’Andrea Reich & Ryan LLP, we have a long track record of handling cases where teachers and others in the educational sector took advantage of children under their care. We are fierce advocates to those who have suffered abuse and will help however we can in the fight against those who allow similar types of abuse to happen.

For decades, Kanakuk Kamps has ignored allegations of sexual abuse, resulting in the victimization of children and no accountability for those who enabled the crimes. Often, victims of this kind of institutional abuse take many years to process the trauma they have endured and, as a result, do not come forward until years later, after the statute of limitations has run out. This can leave them with no recourse for seeking justice.

Now some of these victims and their advocates are speaking out in support of HB 1617, a Missouri bill that would add 10 years to the existing statute of limitations and allow victims to file lawsuits until they reach age 41. Attorney Bobby Thrasher, who represents Kanakuk victim Logan Yandell alongside Laffey Bucci D’Andrea Reich & Ryan attorneys Guy D’Andrea and Michael McFarland spoke with St. Louis Public Radio about the benefits of the bill for victims.

“It would give them more time to work through their own pain and suffering,” he said.

Yandell filed a lawsuit against Kanakuk Camps in 2022, claiming his family was tricked into signing a settlement agreement after he was sexually abused by camp director Peter Newman. Yandell and his parents claim they agreed to the settlement because Kanakuk leaders told them that the camp had no previous knowledge of misconduct by Newman.

Thrasher said the bill gives victims more years to process what they’ve experienced “before re-traumatizing themselves and trying to bring a lawsuit against an organization — or re-face the perpetrator themselves.”

He acknowledges that the bill is limited; there would be no retroactivity. “We would have to amend the state constitution. There’s more steps involved,” Thrasher said. “It just becomes a bigger fight in order to get a law like that.”

Because these brave victims and their families come forward, awareness has grown of the immense harm that occurs when organizations like Kanakuk look the other way and enable abuse. Trey Carlock, a former camper who was abused by Newman, took his own life at age 29. His family disclosed his abuse in his obituary, motivating others to speak out.

“Because we were public about his abuse in that obituary, other families began reaching out and sharing their stories,” said Carlock’s sister Elizabeth Phillips. “And it became this mini ‘Me Too’ movement around Kanakuk victims connecting for the first time.

Laffey Bucci D’Andrea Reich & Ryan represents a woman alleging that she was sexually assaulted at a Massage Envy location in Short Pump, Virginia. CBS 6 Problem Solvers recently interviewed Stewart Ryan and the firm’s client for an investigative report on sexual abuse at the massage franchise and how state regulators address the issue.

Ryan called the issue an epidemic and believes Massage Envy must work harder to protect its customers. “It doesn’t appear that anything is being done, the fact that sexual assault continues to occur evidences that nothing is being done, or the right things aren’t being done.”

Watch the full interviews here.