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August 2006

Whitmore Academy - Utah

The following info comes from the folks at ISAC:

Cheryl Sudweeks, owner of Whitmore Academy in Utah, has been offered a plea deal by Juab County Attorney, Jared Eldridge.

Sudweeks is scheduled to stand trial next month on 7 counts of child abuse and hazing. Child welfare investigators said they substantiated eight instances of physical abuse, educational neglect, medical neglect and environmental neglect.

According to the plea deal, Cheryl Sudweeks will only have to:

1) Obey all laws.

2) Write a letter to Eldridge stating she attempted to haze 4 students and will not open another program in Juab County.

3) Pay any damages awarded in the current civil case against Sudweeks and Whitmore Academy.

4) Stay away from any program or school dealing with teenagers.

After one year her record will be expunged.

It is exactly THIS kind of lax "prosecution" that allows abusive program owners to simply relocate and carry on with business as usual.

ISAC encourages everyone to contact Jared Eldridge and Judge Lynn Davis and voice your outrage to this ridiculous bargain that would allow a confessed child abuser to have a clean criminal record.

Jared Eldridge
Juab County Attorney
160 North Main Street
Nephi, Utah 84648
(435) 623-3460
Fax: (435) 623-8919
Email: Jarede@co.juab.ut.us

Judge Lynn W. Davis
Fourth District Court, Provo
125 North 100 West
Provo, Utah 84601
(801)-429-1063
Fax: (801) 429-1137

Background Information:

Cheryl and her husband Mark have a long history of ignoring laws in 3 countries.

In 2002, 29 starving horses belonging to Mark Sudweeks were discovered on property he owned in Canada.

In a landmark case by the SPCA, Sudweeks became the first person to be banned from ever owning animals in British Columbia.

In 2001, the Sudweeks were ordered to leave Mexico after authorities determined they were illegally operating a treatment facility for troubled teens.

For complete information about the Sudweeks and Whitmore Academy, please visit ISAC's Document Library.

Back to Basics Military Academy - Florida

There's yet another black mark on Florida's already horrible teen-help record.

On Saturday, August 12, 13 year-old Alex Cullinane collapsed and died at Back to Basics Military Academy a day after a marching and exercising on a beach.

The final autopsy results haven't come back yet, but other kids at the school say Alex hadn't been eating or drinking water.

Local officials have determined that the school was operating illegally since owners Reginald and Lynda Browne never bothered to apply for the proper permits.

According to the Miami Herald, Florida officials knew about these two but apparently did NOTHING to keep them away from kids.

In 1991, the state ordered Reginald Browne, Director of the school, to stop referring to himself as a psychologist since he wasn't licensed in Florida.

In 1995, Reginald Browne was fired amid allegations of financial mismanagement from his job as CEO of Family Life Institute for Counseling, Education and Research, an agency that counseled at-risk youths.

Lynda Browne and their son, Reginald Browne Jr., also worked at the institute.

Broward County and the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice revoked grants to the institute after investigations concluded that money had been misused.

Alex's death comes just 2 months after Dillon Peak, age 14, died DeSoto Outward Bound, a state run wilderness camp for juveniles in Florida.

In January, Martin Lee Anderson, also 14, was beaten to death by guards at the Bay County Boot Camp, a center for juvenile offenders run by the Sheriff's department.

Academy at Ivy Ridge - New York & WWASPS

A $100 MILLION class action lawsuit has been filed in New York.

It names numerous defendants including Ivy Ridge, WWASPS, Jason Finlinson, Robert Lichfield, Premier Education, and Northwest Association of Accredited Schools.

The suit alleges fraud, conspiracy, and violations of the RICO Act - otherwise known as ORGANIZED CRIME.

This is a helluva lawsuit and considering that the State of New York has already fined Ivy Ridge and ordered them to repay over a $1 million in "tuition" - it should be a SLAM dunk.

Click here to read the lawsuit.

Keep your fingers crossed, folks. This could be a serious bitch-slap for Lichfield and his gang of crooks.

WWASPSINFO.NET and ISAC have all the background info for those who need to study up on these...people.