Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / $$ PRIVATE SCHOOL $$ Forces Boy in SOLITARY CONFINEMENT, COMMITS SUICIDE: Says Family

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$$ PRIVATE SCHOOL $$ Forces Boy in SOLITARY CONFINEMENT, COMMITS SUICIDE: Says Family · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: A young teen boy. Oh if you could see this boy,
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: so charismatic, so smart, so handsome, just the apple of
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: his parents. I why did Claudio end up dead? Not
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: just dead? And no, he's not hanging out on the
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: street selling karak or buying krak. He's not running into
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: a wall green he's trying to steal and get away
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: with it. He's not speeding while he's drunken. High. He's
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: at school. Not only is he at school, he's at
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: a very fancy private school, and he was forced into
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: solitary confinement. Now, wait a minute, what solitary confinement at school?
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: Not just school where I went, public school, I mean
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: a fancy school where they pay fifty grand a year. Yeah,
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: solitary confinement. Let me just go back for a moment.
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: When I was prosecuting violent felonies in inner city Atlanta
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: for over a decade, I would often have to go
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: to a place called Alto, and it was a youth facility,
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: as it was euphemistically called, it was GeV jail. And
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: I don't mean the jail where you sit around and
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: talk to psychologists and you do word puzzles and you
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: cut things out with a construction paper, not that GeV jail.
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: This was GeV jail for sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen year olds.
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: That a committed offense is like rape, armed robbery, arson,
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: trafficking and drugs. Those juvenals even they didn't have solitary confinement.
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: What are we back in the middle little ages where
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: people are tortured in the dungeon. Claudio is dead at
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: a fancy private school and solitary confinement. I mean, see Grace,
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: this is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: at Fox Nation. In series eleven. All I can say
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: is heads are gonna roll. Listen to this. Elisabetta and
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: Morrowmandia run a successful frozen Italian pizza export firm called
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: FIOD that generates about fifteen million a year in sales
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: in Italy. When their son Claudio told his parents that
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: he planned to follow in his father's footsteps in the business,
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: they elected to send their son to the elite boarding
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: school ef Academy in New York. The tuition runs around
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: sixty six thousand dollars a year for full time boarders
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: and promises a rigorous academic program that would allow Claudio
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: to fulfill his dream of attending a top university in Italy.
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: Sorry correction, it wasn't fifty grand. It's sixty six thousand
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: dollars a year. Now people often ask me what's your
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: favorite case you've ever prosecuted? A covered like, what's your
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: favorite child? I don't have a favorite. And Plus, how
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: can you talk about murders as if they're a favorite.
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: One's more favorite murder than the other. I'm not saying
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: that I expect more or less out of a school,
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: but I do know when you're paying sixty six thousand
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: dollars a year, the last thing you expect is for
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: your child to die in solitary confinement. Take a listen
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: now to our friends at crime online dot com. Claudio
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: enrolled in EF Academy's two year International Baccalaureate program in
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: New York, which provides a globally recognized elite diploma. In
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: his first year, Claudio excelled. His teacher said he was
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: a very good math student, a great joy to having class,
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: and respectful and honest. Claudio liked IF Academy so much
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: his sister joined him at the school for his senior year.
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: COVID delayed the return of Claudio and one of his
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: sisters to EF academy, causing him to fall behind in class.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: When Claudio and his sister finally returned to the campus
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: on January twenty fifth, he was inundated with assignments that
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: had accumulated while he was quarantined, and all had impending deadlines.
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  Speaker 1: Shortly after, a Claudio suffered the unexpected loss of a
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: close family member who died of a heart condition. The
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: loss of set him terribly and led him to seek
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: counseling from the school's director of mental health services, Chelsea Levis.
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: Claudio had begun seeing Levis for mental health counseling more
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: than a year earlier after witnessing the suicide attempt of
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: another student who was expelled and placed in solitary confinement. Okay, wait,
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: we've already had another student who was expelled and placed
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: in solitary confinement and had a suicide attempt. And you know,
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: when I first heard about the story, and this was
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: an Italian family, I thought this happened in somewhere where.
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: In my mind, this just couldn't happen here in the US,
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: And I just airbrushed it away, thinking, well, they don't
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: have regulations and rules concerning schools. I had it all
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: wrong joining me in all star panel to make sense
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: of what we know right now. But I want you
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: to have one thing in your head. Remember this, the
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: teacher said, very good Mass student, a great joy to
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: have in class, respectful and honest. He loved the school
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: at the beginning so much. His sister joined him there
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: respectful on his great Mass student joy. That's what he
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: was called. Okay, this is what I don't understand, Alexis
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: terres Chuck joining me from crime Online. You know, I
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: know you have an apple of your eye. As I say, baby,
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: it's not a baby anymore, your little boy. And of
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: course you and I both, like so many parents, would
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: do anything within the law to advance them one step further,
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: make their life one bit easier, so they can have
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: happiness and success as they grow up. And here are
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: these parents working to send their child what they think
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  Speaker 1: is the ticket to a great life sixty six thousand
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: dollars a year. Where is this place, Alexis. It is
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: in Thornwood in New York. It is the EF Academy.
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: It is an internationally recognized school. Wait wait, wait, where's Thornwood.
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: I've lived in New York for years and years. Where
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: is Thornwood Believe it is in Westchester County. Oh okay, hey,
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: I know about Westchester. That's where all the rich people live. Yes,
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: I'm very familiar with the ilk that live in Westchester. Okay,
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: so Alexus Terreschuk Thornwood E f Academy in Westchester, internationally
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: recognized school. Is that what you're saying? Yes, Elizabeth F
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: is in frank Academy. Yeah. Let's take a listen to
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: more of what we know about what happened to Claudio.
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: Take a listen to our forensic crime online. Soon after
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: learning of his relatives death, Claudio admitted to hiring a
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: classmate to draft a math paper for him. As punishment,
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: school officials expelled him and forced him into solitary confinement
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: on February fourteenth until his parents could pick him up
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: from Italy. Officials told Claudio not to leave the isolation room,
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: and they decided that all of his meals would be
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: delivered to him. Okay, let me just analyze what I'm
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: just hearing right now. Karen start joining me. Renowned New
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: York psychologist joining us from Manhattan. You can find her
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: at Karen Stark dot com. That's Karen with a see
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: you know Karen the other night, and I hate this
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: because I feel like it was my fault, but I
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: know it wasn't, but I can't help but feel that way. Lucy,
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: my little girl. The Twins just turned fifteen this past week.
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: Him was up at ten fifteen, still trying to finish
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: an ap World history d b Q. What is that?
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: Data based questions? And they're very involved. She was tired,
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: she had been sick, and she just burst into tears.
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: And she's not one that cries. None of us really
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: cry a lot. And I felt so bad for her
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: and tried to help her. Of course, I couldn't answer
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: the questions or help her find the answers and the stress.
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: And I'm thinking about Claudio. He was out for a
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: while because of COVID. He his mother, his sister. I've
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: forgotten who they all had COVID. He gets back and
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: he's behind and he's trying to catch up. And Karen
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: Stark I have told the Twins five hundred times, Listen,
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: I don't want you to make an F. I don't
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: even want you to make a C. But if you do,
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: it's not the end of the world. Whatever you do,
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: don't cheat, Hey, you'll get caught. B If you don't
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: get caught, you'll get a horrible reputation. You don't want
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: to be at work one day and somebody go, oh,
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: there's Lucy Lynch and John David. They cheated their whole
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: way through school. No, take the f and then do
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: better next time. It's not the end of the world,
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: but the stress here. And this is a great student.
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: Claudio was behind and he got another student to write
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: a paper and he got busted. Karen Starr, It's not
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: just that Nancy. He had recently lost a family member,
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: so there was a really stressful life event that occurred.
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: Not that it was okay for him to have somebody
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: to do the paper, but it was such an extremely
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: harsh and isolating punishment that he suffered. And if you
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: look at the oneing side of suicide children, for teenagers,
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: that's one of the things you have to watch for
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: is a recent loss and a situation where you have
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: no contact with your friends or your family being excluded
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: that way. I mean, Karen start they don't even treat
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: you like this on death row. And if you're in
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: Max security, you still get to get out of your
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: cell and exercise for an hour. A day or however long.
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: It is just they don't even treat hardened criminals in
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: the US like this. I've worked with a lot of teenagers,
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: there have been incidents like this before where kids are
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: it's the first time of sense, so I'm really surprised
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  Speaker 1: that he's expelled from the school to begin with, and
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: then such a terribly harsh, isolating punishment. It really is
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: Crime Stories with Nancy Greece Guys with Me an incredible panel.
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: I want to go now to two of our panel members.
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: Let me just tell you who all is here. Jeremy Whiteley,
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: who survived and allegedly extremely abuse of school Provo Canyon.
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: You can find him now at Unsilenced dot org or
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: on Twitter at Jeremy Whiteley. Jen Robinson, also the survivor
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: of Provo, advocate focusing on institutional child abuse. You can
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: find her at Youth Indisorder dot com, also on Insta
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: at Jen Robinson Underscore. Guy Stevens with Me advocate founder
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: Alliance Against Seclusion and Restraint. And Kelly Hyman, trial lawyer
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: joining us out of My AMMI, author of Build Back Better.
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: First to you, Jen Robinson, what do you make of
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: what you're hearing happened to this young teen boy, Claudio. Well,
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: it was the heartbreaking story and I sadly resonated with this.
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: Does it remind you of Provo? Oh for sure. I
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: was in Provo for about two years, starting at the
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: age of fourteen, and a really big part of my
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: experience that I've had to unravel as an adult. Why
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: were you at Provo at fourteen for depression? I similar
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: to Claudio. I witnessed the death of a loved one
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: when I was about nine years old, and that, along
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: with some various other traumas in my early life, just
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: kind of turned into this very young depression. Jen. You
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: know what, Jen, Jen, I am not a shrink. I've
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: never been that. One's ever accused me of knowing that
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: entire area. But it seems to me, if you're depressed,
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: the last thing you need is to be away from
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: your family and a loving home. But that's sad. I
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: would tend to agree with you. Tell me what happened.
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: So while I was at Provo, I was actually there twice.
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: I went for about fifteen months when I was fourteen,
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: and it was very difficult, but I wouldn't stay very eventful.
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: They did shave my head, which was, you know, difficult,
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: and it kind of told me what the tone of
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: the stay was going to be right away. I hope
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: you can hear yourself, because everybody in this studio just
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: went what you said. It wasn't too bad they shaved
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: my head. I mean, right there, I think that's bad. Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: You know, I've had to put all this in perspective
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: more and more as I've gotten older, and especially when
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: I became a mother myself and really understood the gravity
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: of the harm, you know, not just to me, but
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: to all the children around me. And you know, that's
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: something that we all carry is is knowing what happened
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: to us in layers. You know, you don't get it
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: when you're a kid. Children don't understand abuse as abuse
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: when it's happening. They're just trying to adapt. And so
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: you know, I went home after my first day. It
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: was very um, you know, rigorous, militaristic. They run it
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: with a kind of behavioral modification focus. So this is
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: not an elite academy. This is not an academic focus.
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: This is behavior modification focus that they promised the parents,
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: We're going to fix your kid in a matter of
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: months if you send them here or they're taking kids
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: from foster care and juvenile justice. So after fifteen months
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: they went home, did not do well because the treatment
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: doesn't work, and then they sent me back and that's
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: when I was placed in isolation. A lot. They had
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: a cement cell that they called observation. They actually had
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: four of these in the building and at any given
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: time there is usually at least one child being left
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: in that cell. And I spent I mean countless hours
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: well you know, left in there. You know, I'm just
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: thinking about my children right now, Jen, thinking of putting
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: my son or my daughter and a cement cell at
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: that age. Jeremy Whitely with me also a survivor. What
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: do you make of what happened? And it's a tragic
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: demonstration on how misunderstood mental healthcare condia, especially in schools.
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: And it seems like he didn't meet anyone qualified enough
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: for help, and the school provided discipline instead of the
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: appropriate necessary and mental healthcare. Jeremy, I know we're talking
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: about Claudio right now, but what happened to you at
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: Provo Um? Well, I went there because you know, I
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: was dealing with depression and I told my parents I'd
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: rather die than live with them. And that's what I
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: got me sent to PROVO. And it wasn't anything like
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: the brochures and stuff that I watched I saw when
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: I was there. Probo as marketed as a therapy people
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: in school, so you know, an emphasized academics. But it
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: also heavily, heavily incorporated behavior on psychological therapies UM into
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: the school program. UM. It was a little bit different
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: from you know Gen's experience UM for me, UM, but
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: there is a lot of isolation. You know, if we got,
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: if we got, if we cheated on a test, you know,
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: we would be put in a place called investment and
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: we have to stand up against the wall for hours
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: the days at a time UM as punishment. UM. A
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: lot of kids that came they went to Provo also
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: went to one of some of these elite schools. You know,
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: they were get in trouble there and then they came
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: to Provo. UM. Some of my friends that happened to UM,
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: you know, some of them to get handcuffed in the
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: middle of the night and they regard to Provo UM,
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: this is a horrible I just can't imagine a young
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: team like my children or Alexis yours soon being handcuffed
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: in the middle of the night. Guys, I want you
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: to hear more about Claudio. Take a listen to our
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: friends at crime Online. According to a lawsuit, Claudio screamed
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: and cried for help while being held in solitary confinement,
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: while school officials allegedly ignored his pleas and refused his parents'
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: request that they allow him to leave the room they
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: were keeping him in. The day before he was expected
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: to depart, Claudio interacted with at least three school staff
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: members while displaying signs of attempted suicide on his neck,
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: according to the complaint, which notes that up to fifteen
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: of his classmates may have also seen the marks when
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: they visited him to say goodbye, and many asked him
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: questions about it. The complaint states that Claudio said he
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: fell in the shower, so he covered up a suicide attempt.
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: There are now up to fifteen witnesses. If the other
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: students saw it to the point where they were saying,
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: what happened to your neck? The teachers and the administration
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: didn't see it. Joining me. Guy Stevens, advocate found or
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: Alliance Against Seclusion and restraint at and seclusion dot Org.
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah you gotta jump in man, Yeah, absolutely, you know
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: this is heartbreaking to start with, to hear a story
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: like this and understand what happened and what the result is. Unfortunately,
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: I'm not surprised. I'm not shoctics, as some of your
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: other guests have expressed as well. You know, Unfortunately I
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: learned the hard way that kids are sometimes physically restraint secluded.
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: You know, have a lot of other really adversive discipline
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: practices that are that are subjected to them in the
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: name often of behavior, in the name of discipline, and
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: the name of rules, in the name of a lot
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: of things. I have a son who's Nord of Virgin
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: who was being restrained and secluded in the public school.
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: I would have never even imagined that was something could
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: have happened. Hearing the words solitary confinement in the context
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: of a school, it's mind blowing. Again, who would imagine
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: the kids might be put into solitary confine? Absolutely mind
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: blowing to hear something like that happening. Unfortunately, these kinds
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: of things happen more frequently than a lot of people realize,
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: and they happen in public schools. They happen in private schools.
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: They happen in behaviorally focused schools. They happen in elite
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: schools like this, where kids are restrained, secluded, suspended, expelled,
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: subjective corporal punishment. We solve nineteen states that allow you
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: to hit a kid in public school, and again, unfortunately,
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: these things are often happening in the name of behavior.
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: I totally got hit in the school. I got hit
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: in the first grade for getting it. Yeah, you're supposed
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: to circle the right answer, and I circled it and finished,
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: and then I started drawing flowers on the circles. My
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: first grade teacher, Miss Willis, hit me so hard I
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: fell over on a stack of books. I can tell
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: you this. I never drew another flower in that glass again.
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: So you're right, that was public school. Kelly Hyman, high
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: profile lawyer joining us out of Miami, author of Bill
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: Back Better. Kelly, but I am hearing with the backdrop
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: of what guy Jeremy and Jim are saying. The school
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: had noticed, They knew that he was trying to commit suicide.
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: He had these bruises all around his neck. You don't
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: get that from fall. For Pete's sake, Nanthy, you bring
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: up a really good point. Thank you so much for
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: having me on your show. Absolutely, and I think that's
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: something that's going to come out if this case actually
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: goes to trial. I think that they will reach some
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: kind of resolution and try and resolve this matter. But
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: we also have to think about the consequences for other
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: children going forward. As you noted that he had a
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: friend who tried to commit suicide and that the school
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: knew that, and also that he was dealing with COVID
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: and a lot of kids are suffering from mental health
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: issues because of COVID, being isolated not around their friends.
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: And then he also had a family member that had
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: some health conditions as well, and he's dealing with all
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: that now. We also have to remember that the school
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: has said that allegations made him the complaints that they
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: are not actually accurate, and that he wasn't locked during
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: the time that he was there. But I think noticed
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: this key. If they noticed that something he has marks
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: on his neck, it didn't do anything, it didn't act anything,
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: then there's a really strong argument that there was negligence
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: on their behalf. Absolutely, of course they're saying that's not true,
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: but of course they are And I guarantee the last
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: thing they want the school academy sixty six grand a
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: year as a trial, because you know we're going to
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: be on row one, front and center, hearing everything and
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: talking about them. It didn't end there. Take a listen
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: to investigative reporter Dave Mack. According to the complaint filed
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: by Claudio's family, ef Academy kept Claudio in solitary confinement
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: without the necessary intervention, counseling, guidance, medical care, mental health care,
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: and supervision. The next morning, Claudio's sister asked Levise to
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: check on her brother after she hadn't heard from him
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: that day. Levis told the girl that she knocked on
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: the door but nobody answered, leading her to be leave.
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: That he was asleep. When she stopped by the room again.
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: Later she found him dead by apparent suicide. Karen Stark,
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: The sister was asking and asking and asking about him,
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: and then he's found dead. Why did the little sister
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: have to be asking about her brother? If she's concerned
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: about him, shouldn't the authorities at the school be concerned
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: about him? Are there no regulations? I mean, the sister
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: has to find her brother dead. It's unacceptable. That this
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: is happening in the school where they should be much
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: more aware of what happens to their children, the children
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: that they're entrusted to take care of. Did you get
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: the just to this he was quote it was either
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: the sister or love us who was the person in charge? Stay?
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: She quote found him dead? I heard Guy Stevens jumping in.
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: How do you find somebody dead? Didn't we learn even
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: in jail, remember in the case of Jeffrey Epstein, how
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: they have monitors and you do safety checks. How do
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: you just find somebody dad? How long had he been
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: in there without being checked on? Yeah? Well, you know,
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: let's let's be real clear about this. The use of
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: solitary confinement should never have been considered, never should have
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: been an option, never should have been a legal option.
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: You know. The fact that we have kids that are
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: kids in youth, it are we strained, secluded, put in
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: isolation in public and private schools across the country is
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: just absolutely mind blowing. Not only an isolation, yeah, not
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: only isolation, but not checking on them. Even hardened criminals
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: like Jeffrey Epstein, like killers, are checked on routinely and
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: have monitors to make sure they're okay, take a listen
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: to our friends at News twelve Westchester. Claudio was in
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: his senior year at EF Academy when he hung himself
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: on February seventeenth, after he was put in solitary confinement
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: for nearly four days for cheating on a mat assignment.
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: Had Cloudio been treated under the same standards that apply
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: under New York stayed law in the Department of Education,
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: Claudio would be here with us today. The lawsuit points
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: the finger at school officials for isolating Claudio knowing his
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: mental health was suffering, saying he was enduring serious personal
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: and academic hardships. Completely irresponsible and frankly reckless in the
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: disregard for the safety, the well being and the mental
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: health of Claudio Mania. Have you ever wondered why inmates
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: are walking around in those athletic slip on shoes because
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: they can't have shoestrings. Why can't they not have shoestrings
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: so they can't kill themselves or somebody else? My question,
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: as you put this very depressed boy, very upset, he's
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: leaving the next day. He's had a death in the family,
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: he's behind because the COVID he had somebody else work
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: on a math paper. He got busted for cheating. He's
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: at the end of his rope. And I don't mean
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: that as a pun. My question now is not only
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: was he improperly placed in isolation, he also had the
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: materials with him to hang himself. How air responsible is this?
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: I mean the school might as well just hung him themselves.
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: What do the parents say? They aren't devastated. I don't
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: want to be presented to us saying that Claudia was karisma.
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: He was very handsome guy that always help, and he
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: was a very open guy. Okay, antitude, these very positive characters,
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: and he was a fighter, way mellions of miles from
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: a concept like a suicide, not because he was our son.
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: The parents devastated, saying he was handsome, he was charismatic,
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: who was very open to the world. He was a
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: million miles away from a thought of suicide. Yet a
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: couple of months back at e F Academy and he's dead,
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: placed in solitary confinement at a nearly seventy thousand dollars
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: boarding school solitary confinement. He's had a suicide attempt before
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: fifteen students knew about it. Nobody's checking on him, and
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: he has the materials to hang himself. It's not the
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: first time that similar treatment has occurred at a so
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: called elite private school. Paris Hilton, that's right, Paris Hilton.
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: The Star made headlines which she described what happened to her.
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: Listen to Paris speaking to our friends at CBS. Harris Hilton,
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: heiress to the storied Hilton Hotel Legacy, was born to
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: wealthy but working parents, Richard and Cathy. She says they
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: were strict, no makeup or dates allowed, but as a teen,
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: Paris had a wild streak, so wild that mom and
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: dad sent her to a series of behavior modification schools.
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: How did your parents get to the point where they
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: thought that that was the answer. What were you doing?
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: I wasn't really doing anything. I just moved from LA
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: to New York and that's why my life completely changed.
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: And basically I was just sneaking out, going to clubs
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: and not going to school and ditching class. And that's
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: when my parents thought it was time to be a
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: go away. Then seventeen year old Paris wound up at
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: the Provo Canyon School in Utah, a place for treatment
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: of young people with mental and behavioral challenges. There's no
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: getting out of there. But in her film This Is Paris,
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: she describes the place as more of a prison camp
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: with solitary confinement and physical abuse. So they made an
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: example of you, and they would choke you, yeah, and
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: hit you. Yes. It's so weird to think now because
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: I buried this for so long with my emotions, so
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: now to think about it, what happened, It's so weird
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: for me to even be like, how is this really real?
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: To Jin Robinson and Jeremy quietly survivors of a Provo
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: King school. Jin Robinson, I keep thinking about Claudio, this
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: young team boy just lost a family member dead, busted
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: for cheating on a math paper. It was behind because
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: the COVID trying desperately to catch up, and placed in
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: solitary confinement. I'd like to hear what you and Jeremy
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: have to say. Well, it definitely it rings a strong
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: belt because I know what that feels like to be
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: in a place of crisis as a kid and instead
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: of help you are completely left alone. Did your parents
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: know what was happening to you at Provo? They knew
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: that there was an isolation room, and they certainly knew
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: that it was used, but they were not told every
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: time that I was placed in that room at all,
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: And they were not told why I was placed in
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: that room because it was There's so many ways that
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: these schools skirt laws and try to avoid accountability for
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: the use of seclusion isolation. They find so many different
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: ways of just not reporting. You're supposed to only use
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: seclusion in Utah if the child is a clear and
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: present danger to themselves and others. I would be put
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: in isolation for curling up under my desk, which leads
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: me too, Why would you have to be curled up
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: under your desk? It's just and the parents are far
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: away and they have no idea what's happening. They think
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: they're helping their child. Jeremy jump in, Yeah, my parents
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: didn't know it at all. I mean I wrote them
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: letters and holding them about the abuse that they saw
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: that happened to their kids, you know, three hundred pounds.
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: Staff members with you know, tap called kids you a
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: punch on, you know, throw them an usually, and isolation
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: rooms for you know hours to twenty four hours to
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: forty eight hours. I told them my parents that in letters,
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: and the school just destroyed them and never boarded them
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: to my parents. So they were not getting your letters. No,
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: there's no way to have honest communication with your parents. Yeah,
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: because they were taking your letters and monitoring your phone call. Yeah,
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: we're with you on the phone. They're with you on
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: the phone. I mean it kills me when my twins
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: go to scout camp and their phones don't work in
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: the mountains. I can't imagine them being at a place
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: where they cannot communicate with me. I want you to
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: hear what another victim has to say. Jin Robinson, this
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: is you, and you're talking about what happened not only
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: to you, but other victims as well. Listen. For many
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: this is the first time hearing about Provo Canyon School.
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: I'm realizing more and more that I'm confronted with it
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: every day. For people like Paris and Jim Robinson, it's haunting.
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: The issues that occurred women Paris and I were there
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: are still occurring today. Jim was admitted to PCs in
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: two thousand and three for childhood trauma. Basically, they brought
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: me in, they strip searched me in the utility closet,
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: and soon after they shaved my head. They gave me
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: a number. Little did she know the facility would create
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: trauma of its own. It's so abrupt and it's so
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: frightening and it's so confusing that you're just like, well,
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: this is my life now. Jin says she still has
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: vivid memories of having to earn off campus visits, alleged
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: verbal and physical abuse, and isolation. Paris Hilton agrees here
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: she is with at In an interview with People magazine,
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: Harris claims that the eleven months she spent at a
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: boarding school for troubled teens at the age of seventeen
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: was quote torture. It was supposed to be a school,
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: but classes were not the focus at all. From the
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: moment I woke up until I went to bed, it
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: was all days screaming in my face, yelling at me,
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: continuous torture. The DJ goes on to detail the alleged
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: verbal abuse she endured, explaining, quote, the staff would say
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: terrible things. They were constantly making me feel bad about
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: myself and bullying me. I think it was their goal
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: to break us down, and they were physically abusive, hitting
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: and strangling us. They wanted to instill fear in the kids,
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: so we'd be too scared to disobey them. Harris recalled
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: another didn't telling the staff that she planned to run away.
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: As a result, the EIRA says they placed her in
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: solitary confinement. Ferris also claimed she was only allowed to
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: speak with her family once every two or three months,
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: and that when she tried to tell them about what
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: was going on, she was punished. Quote. I was having
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: panic attacks and crying every single day. I was just
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: so miserable. I felt like a prisoner and I hated life.
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: I think it is important to correct one piece of
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: the record with Provolkanian School that, however they may have
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: builed themselves to Paris's parents, they were never an elite
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: boarding school. They take kids for any reason, from all
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: walks of life, and it's I think it's just interesting
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: too to see the difference between a place like Provolkanian
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: School that's kind of this catch all, we're going to
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: fix your kid behavioral modification program, but you have the
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: same types of problems happening in an elite academic school
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: like EFF Academy. And I think a huge part that's
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: important for parents to understand about the safety issue here
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: is that when you send your child far from you
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: and far from the eyes of the people that love them.
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: They no longer have an advocate. They're this counselor that
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: was supposed to be taking care of Claudio and watching
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: after his well being in mental health. That should have
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: been his advocate. But she's not his parents, she's not
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: somebody in his community who truly loved him, and so
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: he didn't get somebody standing for him the way that
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: they should have and saying that this treatment should not
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: be happening to any child, especially a child who's going
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: through what Claudia's going through. Time stories with Nancy Grace
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: to Guy Stevens joining us from the Alliance Against Seclusion
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: and Restraint. Guy Stevens, they you just don't have a
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: chance to tell the parents what's happening. Their letters are
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: destroyed or monitored. That has been proven in other cases,
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: and someone is there from the school when they speak
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: to the parents. If they try to tell the parents,
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: they're then punished after. These systems are based on compliance
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: and control and what children need, any children, any youth,
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: is they need connection and they need compassions. You know,
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: often we're talking about kids that are having a hard time,
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: kids that have been through trauma. You know, you think
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: about the loss of a relative and that the trauma
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: that that might be leading. But we have many institutions,
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: many schools, many elite facilities, you know, across the country
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: that are focused on compliance and control. I think both.
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: I think Jennet mentioned kind of in Jeremy as well,
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: this idea of these behavioral approaches that are honestly, you know,
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: over one hundred years old. I mean, there's a lot
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: of emphasis on this idea behaviorism. It's all about kind
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: of rewarding consequence, and it's leading kids into more trauma.
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: I mean, I really feel for Jen and Jeremy, and
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: I appreciate your willingness to continue to speak on this
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: issue because I know, you know, I know from being
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: connected with you and others, this is traumatic, even even
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: decades later. Well when then you go in for a
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: behavioral issue and then you're treated this way, and in
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: this case, Claudio just went for a better future. Guys,
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: they're not the only ones. We're cutting forward to our
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: cut thirty three and thirty four. Take a listen to
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: another famous name, Kat Vandi and Jen listen. They did
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: a strip search which was completely degrading. I remember having
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: to get naked in front of this person who I
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: don't know the ad credentials. I had no idea who
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: they were. And basically they were just just degrading me
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: the whole entire time. And I you know, I was
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: fifteen years old, I was still a kid. And they
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: put me into a like some hot pink sweats and
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: gave me some sandals, and then they took me into
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: another room and then shaved my head. The mistreatment and
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: the shaving of the head seems to be a common
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: theme at schools like this. Right now, E f Academy
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: on the hot seat because this young boy, Claudio is
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: dead sixty six grand a year. In our cut thirty eight,
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: I want you to hear our friend that joined me,
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: Chris Hooker, when Trevor was there, he constantly reported that
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: he was left in the room for days with basically
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: they just would leave them, feed them, let him out,
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: made him pee in the jug, tackled by staff constantly,
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: which was always denied. It was always his fault. I
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: asked them to view cameras every time it happened. It
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: was somewhere where there wasn't cameras. You know, he used to.
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: When he got home, he told me, he told me
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: that he has lots of nightmares about that place, about
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: the way he was treated, how staff let kids pick
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: on him. Staff picked on him, and he got into
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: a little bit of trouble when he got home, nothing major.
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: But a week later he took his life. I think
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: he thought he was going to end up back there.
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: Another boy dead at a so called elite private school.
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: That boy Trevor Hooker. What is the answer? Why are
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: these so called elite academies and behavioral modification schools repeatedly
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: reportedly facilitating abuse, sex assault, mistreatment, and ultimately suicide. The
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: case is going forward, Kelly Hyman joining me, high profile
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: lawyer out of Miami. What do you expect to come
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: out of a trial? Right? Well, first, I wanted to
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: say my thoughts and prayers go out to the family
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: that lost a loved one, and thank you for our
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: other people speaking about what they went through. I think
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: it's really important to bring about change. I know that
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: the attorney advocating for the family says that he wants
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: to pass Claudia's Law in order to bring about change,
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: but I do believe that I don't think that there
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: is going to be a trial. I think that they're
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: going to try and reach some resolution before that because
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: the high profile thing and a lot of stuff will
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: come out. But I definitely think it's important for people
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: to speak out. Without speaking out, there cannot be any change.
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: Without people telling their stories and what they went through,
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: there can't bring about any any change at all from
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: that standpoint, and also legally about making changes and making
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: a difference to help people. Kelly him in your ride.
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: I don't think there's any way that f academy is
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: going to let this thing go to trial. They will
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: do anything to stop a trial. That's my legal analysis.
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: But bottom line, this teen boy Claudio is dead and
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: ef Academy has a lot of explaining to do. Nancy
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: Grace Crime Story signing off, Goodbye Frank