Trails Carolina Camp "not fully cooperating" after suspicious death of 12-year-old

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/02/09/trails-carolina-camp-not-fully-cooperating-after-suspicious-death-of-12-year-old.html

4 Likes

Makes sense. If I ran an abuse factory staffed by sadists I also wouldn’t co-operate with the authorities when one of my young charges died.

At this point, the dangerous nature of these places is so well known that, if the camp owner or staff are charged, the parents should also be charged as accessories.

[Sadly, these topics sometimes attract apologists for this dodgy industry or for the “desperate” parents who think the solution to their problem is to allow thugs to kidnap their own children to brutal “therapy” at a black site facility. If you’re one of them just … don’t.]

32 Likes

Immediately thought of the Elan story…

Absolutely, and in -every- way, horrible…

16 Likes

Here’s the graphic novel:

14 Likes

For profit, tax payer funded internment camps.
.
The Help : Harm ratio for most of these places is around 1 : 7; but oh boy do they ever funnel more income sources (the kids they are supposed to assist with maturing) forward to the next facility/courthouse/?jail?.

11 Likes

It is interesting that if you Google Map Trails Carolina Camp is just shows up as a border around the city of Ashville with a non specific location. Lake Toxaway is probably +40 miles from Asheville…

The Google Map reviews are, umm, disturbing.

8 Likes

It’s really not clear what you mean by “these places” (or “secular”).

Trails Carolina sounds horrible, but there are wilderness camps for kids that work hard to help the young people in their care. Let’s not just indiscriminately lump mental health facilities into one sadistic bunch

4 Likes

a 12-year-old boy was transported from New York to Trails Carolina Camp in Lake Toxaway, North Carolina, by two men on Friday, Feb. 2.

The troubled teens on Reddit call this “being gooned”. Two big goons drag you into a car, maybe blindfold you, and they drive like mad to the camp, where you are usually “burritoed” (swaddled) and left to scream.

8 Likes

I have experience with this. Our son had a very troubled middle school to earlier high school. These places pitch the gooning as being better for the kids than the parents dropping them off.

4 Likes

He’s talking about “troubled teen” facilities, which is a category (really an industry) distinct from legitimate therapeutic programmes.

I believe the term “secular” refers to the fact that these programmes are usually steeped in Synanon-style cult practices or Xtianism.

24 Likes

That is probably a protective measure implemented by Google, the camp, or the state. Places like this have a concentration of vulnerable children. Not showing the location on Google maps is intended to keep predators from lurking nearby hoping to convince a runaway to go with them or sexually assault them by force or by offering drugs/money. This is a thing that happens. Kids who have already been abused or have mental health problems or addiction are easy prey. It’s part of why getting decent workers for actual shelters and therapeutic facilities is so difficult. The facilities attract predators
The shelters for children who have been sexually trafficked already are the same. They are particularly vulnerable

16 Likes

That’s the one that sprung to mind straight away.
I have read the webcomic series.
Harrowing.

4 Likes

from wikipedia: “among the 17 [wilderness therapy programs] surveyed US Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare Programs, about half of the therapy participants attended involuntarily and were transported by teen escort company

That’s horriffying. My only personal experience is with a facility that many kids were sent by a judge instead of going to juvie, but no one was kidnapped or transported forcefully. And everyone returned home within 18 months, which apparently is also not always the case.

6 Likes

Some of these snake pits do have arrangements with corrupt local judges who effectively give the kidnapping state sanction. Usually it’s easier and less costly to find a couple of goons and a parent willing to sign a waiver.

10 Likes

Not nearly enough bitchslaps going around for Dr. Phil. His show has pushed these programs to overwhelmed parents for well over a decade, demonizing the kids, even paying for the program. So much free publicity for the programs.

9 Likes

I found it by using the address on the website … it’s not right on the lake. But it’s definitely rural.

3 Likes

Are the children are being kidnapped by goons?

8 Likes

I thought it very interesting that google maps obscures its location. I had to trick it by avoiding the name of the facility.

6 Likes

I knew a couple people who had siblings sent off to places like that. I’m still kind of amazed I didn’t end up in one.

3 Likes

Creation of further subjects for their inhumane experiments?

3 Likes