Randall Hinton

Randall Hinton was arrested.  What were his qualifications to "direct" a school?  Not much. 

There are two suits going against the organizations Robert Lichfield has invested. One is specific to Ivy Ridge; the other is broader. 

Class action suit  (The "Wood Complaint"): (defendants include Lichfield, Ken Kay, Karr Farnsworth, David Gilcrease, and "John Does I through XX).

I imagine Hinton will be one of the Does.

Download WoodAmendedComplaint.pdf

Class action suit specific to Ivy Ridge

• 1974 (perhaps 1975) -- Randall Hinton born (source: news articles on his arrest, which state his age as 32).  Hinton is a member of the Church of the Latter Day Saints.  
• 1992 -- 18 years old-- high school graduation (assuming that he was 18 when he graduated).
• 1992--"shortly after finishing high school" Hinton began working with troubled teens (source: article, "Kemper Proposal Questioned" by Steve Rock published in the Kansas City Star on April 9, 2005).  He was probably employed at Brightway Adolescent Hospital. He claims to have been  a Psychiatric Technician under Dr. Delbert T. Goates (source: bio, below). 
• 1992--Delbert Goates is also the attending psychiatrist at Cross Creek Manor (source: "Seen & Heard" at StrugglingTeen.com)
• 1995(?) At Cross Creek (source: bio, below)
• 1996--Hinton took a few computer science courses at Dixie State College in St. George, Utah. (source: )
• 1996--Spring Creek Lodge in Montana opens.  Hinton was at one point the Assistant Director. (Sources: WWASPSinfo.net, Hinton's biography).  Ownership is confusing.
• http://www.wwaspsinfo.net/brightway/brightway.03.19.98.html)
• 1997--Tranquility Bay (WWASPS facility in Jamaica) opens.  The ownership is confusing--Jay Kay, a college dropout and bankrupt, is listed as owner.  His father, Ken Kay.  Randall  Hinton was the Assistant Director. Hinton admits using pepper spray on students. (source: April 5 2005 article by John Sullivan; the French documentary Les Enfants Perdus du Tranquility Bay:  "the film also includes an interview with a man identified as former TB assistant director Randall Hinton, who stated he and Jay Kay used pepper spray. "I think I can remember Layne being pepper-sprayed more than once a day. I know he was pepper-sprayed more than two times a day. I don't think it would have been more than three times ... and from somebody on the outside looking in, I would say it would be abusive."" )
• 1998--Brightway closed (sources: various)
• 1998--Carolina Springs Academy opened (sources: Shackford article, Hinton bio).  Hinton part of start-up staff; school is owned by Robert Lichfield's brother, Narvin Lichfield.
• 2001--Hinton was the  start-up Director for the Academy at Dundee Ranch in Costa Rica.  The facility was owned by Narvin Lichfield.  Some published reports indicate the profit margin was as high as 50%. (sources: ) As of January 12, 2007, the old Academy at Dundee Ranch was still online at http://www.dundeeranch.org/ and http://www.academydundee.org/index.html
  
  • Students said Mr. Lichfield set up a system typical of Wwasps programs. Children were divided into six levels, the lower ones forbidden to speak freely or raise their eyes, the higher ones free to discipline and punish inferiors. A muscular cadre of minimum-wage staff members enforced the system.
• 2002--June--Left  Dundee Ranch and "severed" relations with WWASPS and the Lichfield group.  (sources: various, including Hinton's bio.)
• 2002:  Started up the White River Adventure (ownership confusing "s
• 2004: At the White River Adventure program in (source: April 11 2005 article by Shannon Burke
• 2005 (March?)--Moves to Boonville, Missouri to work on the acquisition of the former Kemper Military Academy, to be a "school for troubled teens".  (Source: KC Star article April 9, 2005).  In the article claims to have  attended Dixie State College in St. George, Utah, and studied psychology (bio also claims he studied psychology). DCS has no record of him having completed any courses in psychology.
• 2005--November.  Octwell LLC (a Utah limited-liability company that also owns Red River Academy in Louisiana) purchases a closed school facility in Canon City, Colorado, first called "Royal Peak Academy" later "Royal Gorge Academy" (source: Canon City Record)
• February 2006--Hinton the "director" of Royal Gorge Academy
• January 2007--Hinton arrested for abuse.
• 199?-200?--Hinton worked for Teen Help (the marketing arm for the WWASPS/Lichfield group of facilities) for three years.

Randall Hinton's self-written biography from approximately 2002 (as republished by WWASPSinfo.net:

Randall Hinton is a husband to a beautiful wife and a father to two daughters and one son. He was employed by Brightway Adolescent Hospital to serve as a Psychiatric Technician under Dr. Goates, Child Psychiatrist for two years. He then went to Cross Creek Programs to work with Students in their Youth Leadership Program for one year. He assisted in establishing Spring Creek Lodge, Montana; Tranquility Bay, Jamaica; and Carolina Springs Academy, South Carolina, as the Assistant Director for each facility. He has worked in the Marketing Department (Teen Help) for 3 years helping parents place their children into the WWASPS Programs. Randall, as the Director, organized the facility and staff of The Academy at Dundee Ranch in Costa Rica. Randall left Dundee Ranch and the WWASP Organization June of the year two thousand and two. He has worked with at risk youth for the past ten years. Randall studied Psychology at Dixie State College. He has now dedicated his life to producing a better atmophere for young men and serving families in need.

Sources:

Tribune article by John Sullivan publishedApril 5, 2005, reprinted at ISACS
Tribune article by John Sullivan publishedApril 15, 2005, reprinted at WWASPSinfo.net
Reprint of article by Shannon Burke published April 11, 2005, reprinted by ISACS
SF Chronicle article, March 19 1998 by on Brightway closure, reprinted by ISACS
Free Times (Columbia SC) article by Scott Shackford's Article (undated)  
Kansas City Star article by Steve Rock published April 9 2005 reprinted at WWASPSInfo.net.
Diablo Magazine article by Mark MacNamara published February 1999,  republished at WWASPSinfo.net.
New York Times article by Tim Weiner published September 6 2003,  republished at WWASPSinfo.net

Other Sources:

http://www.canoncafe.com/index.php?section=03&subsection=03&item=2128

http://www.antiwwasp.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWASP

http://www.isaccorp.org/wwasps.asp
http://www.isaccorp.org/dundee/dundee-ranch.01.03.html
http://tbfight.com/

http://www.intrepidnetreporters.com/TeenHelp/teenhelp.html
http://www.strugglingteens.com/news/WWASParticles.html

http://cafety.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=188&Itemid=2
http://cafety.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=292&Itemid=2

Comments

[Isabelle Zehnder]

Hi Liz,

I wanted to complement you on your blog and on spreading the word about children who have been abused and neglected in treatment. I would like to share my website with you www.caica.org, and to share a press release I recently prepared about Randall Hinton's arrest. http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=26115.

Together, we can make a difference!

If you have any questions or would like more information, please feel free to e-mail me at [email protected] or call me at 360-903-3951.

Isabelle Zehnder
Founder and President
Coalition Against Institutionalized Child Abuse (CAICA)
www.caica.org

[Isabelle Zehnder]

Hi Liz,

One more thing - I recently wrote an informational resource packet about a little 7-year old girl named Angie who died during restraints. I wanted to share the link with you:
http://caica.org/ANGELLIKA%20ARNDT%20BUBBLES%20IN%20MY%20MILK%2012-9-06.htm

I have created lists of children who have died in the name of treatment, one in general, another of children who died in restraint. This seems to be a growing trend and I believe this issue needs to be brought to light.

List of deaths, including news articles:
http://caica.org/NEWS%20Deaths%20List%20of%20Names%20-names%20omitted.htm

List of restraint deaths, including articles:
http://caica.org/RESTRAINTS%20Death%20List.htm

Also, CAICA was contacted by a family that had been harmed by WWASPS. Together we found the Turley Law Firm in Texas that agreed to take the case. Since then there are 82 plaintiffs total who have joined the lawsuit. More are expected to join. Here is a link to my litigation page that has links to the complaint, amended complaints, and three press releases written by CAICA.

http://caica.org/Index-Lawsuits.htm.

Again, together we can make a difference!

Isabelle Zehnder
Founder and President
Coalition Against Institutionalized Child Abuse (CAICA)
www.caica.org

[Isabelle Zehnder]

Hi Liz,

I wanted to add a few things here. First of all, Randall Hinton's trial begins Monday, August 27th on allegations of child abuse. Information about the trial can be found on the front page of www.caica.org.

Also, I have prepared a letter to staff that I believe should be more widely distributed. The letter has prompted some staff members working in abusive facilities to come forward and testify on behalf of children who have been abused. Here is the link to that letter:

http://caica.org/A_Call_to_Staff_1-27-07.htm

I have also prepared a letter to parents with warning signs and other information I hope they will find useful if they find themselves distraught and looking for help for their troubled teens:

http://caica.org/Message_to_parents.htm

Isabelle Zehnder
Founder and President
Coalition Against Institutionalized Child Abuse (CAICA)
www.caica.org

[Isabelle Zehnder]

Hi Liz,

Here is a link to the newest on Hinton's trial. One of the teens testified today and more are scheduled to testify throughout the week.

http://randallhinton-trialtestimony.blogspot.com/

Isabelle Zehnder
Founder and President
Coalition Against Institutionalized Child Abuse (CAICA)
www.caica.org
[email protected]

[Isabelle Zehnder]

Here is the text from the article:

Teenager testifies in Hinton trial

August 28, 2007
By: Vic Vela
The Daily Record

Disturbing testimony was provided Monday by a former Royal Gorge Academy student who described bloody details of the alleged physical abuse he received on the part of the boarding school’s co-director, Randall Hinton.

However, the student’s credibility was questioned by Hinton’s attorney — something that will certainly be a large part of the accused’s defense as more witnesses take the stand — as Hinton’s week-long jury trial commenced.

A 17-year-old California boy testified he and two other former students were in a room alone with Hinton when the abuse took place during an Oct. 3, 2006, incident.

“He twisted my arm behind my back and smashed my face into the ground,” the boy said. “I felt like my arm was going to snap. He made me lay in my blood…”

The boy said he was awoken from his bed early that day and was told by a staff member that he would be spending the day with Hinton. The boy testified he was taken to a room where another male student was seated on a chair and a female student was on the floor. Hinton was in the room, as well.

The boy testified that being seated on the chair was uncomfortable for him and when he asked the defendant if he could lie on the floor, Hinton allowed the do so with his “chin up the whole time and arms at (his) sides.”

It was after the boy engaged Hinton in a conversation that the defendant became physically abusive toward him, the boy said. The boy testified Hinton drove his knee into his back and twisted his arm, bringing the student to tears.

Shortly after the incident, Brian Lemons, also a school co-director, walked into the room and saw the boy on the floor covered in blood. Lemons then “threw a tissue at (the boy’s back) and left the room,” according to the boy’s testimony.

The boy said he was told to take a shower and was given a clean school uniform following the incident.

The children were not able to speak to each other during the “14 hours” they spent together in the room, the boy testified.

When asked by Fremont County District Attorney Thom LeDoux if the boy knew why he was being punished that day, he said, “I don’t know to this day why I was in that room.”

LeDoux also asked the boy to explain why he didn’t immediately notify his parents of the incident when he spoke with them over the phone in the days that followed.

“We were told that if we said something bad about the school … there was a staff member next to us who would hang up the phone,” the boy said.

However, Hinton’s attorney, Michael Gillick, attempted to highlight to jurors what he believes to be the boy’s behavioral problems. Gillick asked the boy in a series of questions if he had anger management issues; the boy answered in the affirmative to most of Gillick’s questions.

Gillick also asked if the boy had ever considered suicide.

“When I was younger, yes,” the boy said.

The boy also said he was prone to nose bleeds because of Colorado’s high altitude. Gillick attempted to use that as a way to establish reasonable doubt in the boy’s testimony.

When Gillick asked why the boy didn’t complain to school officials of the alleged abuse, the boy said, “I wasn’t given time…I wasn’t allowed out of the room.”

Hinton was arrested in January following a Cañon City Police Department investigation that culminated in seven counts of third-degree assault being charged against him. He also faces two counts of false imprisonment.

[Linda Johnson]

Does anyone know what has now happened to this Hinton fellow after his trial in 2007. Is he going to be allowed to "teach" other children in schools like these? Any NEW news of anything negative or positive regarding Royal Gorge Academy?