Randall Hinton, WWASPS Heavy, Arrested in Colorado

Update 3/24/07: Hinton's charges have been downgraded from felonies to misdemeanors. Details at the bottom of the post

I've written about Royal Gorge Academy and the WWASPs groups of schools before (see links at the bottom of the post). I've also written about the accreditation policies of NAAS, which "accredits all WWASPS School".

Royal Gorge claims it "isn't a WWASPS school".

Nevermind. Randall Hinton, who was the "project director" has been arrested in Colorado, for mistreating a student at the school. Arrest date: January 9, 2007. The school has only been open since February 2006. (More on Randall Hinton here)

I wonder if NAAC will continue Royal Gorge's accreditation. You might also want to read Maia's editorial.

Admitting to pepper-spraying a teenager "more than two times a day" as a means of discipline might be seen by some as a bar to opening and operating a school for troubled children. Conceding, on videotape that "from somebody on the outside looking in, I would say it would be abusive," seems even less likely to make you a winner in this area.

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

General 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. The amended complaint:

Download WoodAmendedComplaint.pdf

If you want to join the suit, go to http://www.wturley.com/

Ivy Ridge class action suit:

Download IvyRidgeClassAction.pdf

Previous Posts on WWASPS and WWASPS-related issues:

Challenge Day & WWASPS --March 30 2005
Boonville Says No to WWASPS--April 10 2005
Riot at Ivy Ridge--June 8 2005
Academy at Ivy Ridge--August 23, 2005
Advice for Parents Looking for A Therapeutic School -- January 21, 2005
Maia Szalavitz On Debunking "Tough Love" Schools -- April 11 2006
WWASPS Suit--September 6 2006
On Accreditation -- December 11 2006
Northwest Association of Accredited Schools -- December 11 2006

Series on Questions Parents Should Ask:

Other Sources of Information:

Coalition Against Institutionalized Child Abuse (CAICA)--Royal Gorge Index
International Survivors Action Committee ISAC --WWASPS Index
WaspsInfo.net ("home of all the information WWASPS wants you to ignore.") --includes Randall Hinton's bio
NoSpank on residential treatment
Community Alliance on Ethical Treatment of Youth (CAFETY)
John Gorenfeld on Tranquility Bay
John Gorenfield's writings on boot camp abuse

News Reports (in full, since some of the stories will not be available later)

KRDO TV, January 10, Updated January 12 2007

Canon City School Director Arrested, Charged with assaulting female student, By Scott Harrison

Past accusations about a director of schools for troubled teens have caught up with him in Canon City. Randall Hinton, 32, is charged with assaulting a female student at the Royal Peak Academy, 615 Pike Avenue. Third-degree assault, false imprisonment and reckless endanderment are the official charges against Hinton.

The year-old academy enrolls about 45 students from across the country, and is the site of St. Scholastica, a former Catholic girls' school. According to court documents, an academy employee reported the incident because she "could not deal with the way students are treated." The incident happened December 30.

"She was restrained by Mr. Hinton in a proned-out position on the floor," says Capt. Allen Cooper of the Canon City Police department, "for a period in excess of six hours. During that time period, he used a wrist lock to restrain her--which was applied periodically." According to court documents, the student was not allowed to use the bathroom and suffered minor injuries. She also had run away from the academy a day earlier, because of what she believed was cruel treatment.

But the attorney representing Hinton and the academy contends Hinton had a legitimate reason for his action. "The girl at some point went into some kind of rage," explains Michael Gillick. "(She) took a stapler and started stapling her hands and fingers, then started hitting herself in the head and face. The person who reported this to police did not see what happened, didn't see what the girl was doing, didn't understand the danger this girl had presented to herself." Gillick says Hinton acted properly, as he's trained to do in such a situation.

However, Cooper says other students have complained about Hinton's methods. And court documents list students who suffered black eyes, bruises and bleeding after being disciplined by Hinton. Even an academy staff member called Hinton a good man but confessed "he may have an anger problem."

Previous reports describe Hinton as working for the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASP), an organization which has operated schools in Mexico, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and Costa Rica. The schools stressed "tough love" as behavior modification for difficult teens. Some students at those schools complained of receiving pepper spray and other forms of discipline from Hinton. In fact, he's blamed for the suicides and other deaths of at least three former students who apparently couldn't recover from their treatment by him. But Gillick says Hinton never was charged in any incident until now. Two years ago, WWASP tried to open a similar school at the site of an former military academy in Missouri, but the local town council denied the request after learning of the previous allegations.

Gillick says town officials do not understand how the academy tries to help troubled teens--and if they did understand, Hinton would not be charged. According to Gillick, police and social service agencies have ignored invitations to tour the academy. He believes police mishandled the situation. "The police acted certainly very inappropriately-maybe illegally--during (a) search warrant, interviewing children without a guardian or parent, without separating the children." Gillick also thinks police owe Hinton an apology.

Cooper says the incident doesn't make him concerned about overall safety at the academy. "It's generally one or two individuals who are involved, who get a little out of control--if that's the case. That remains to be seen."

Hinton posted a bond of $2,500 and is free until his scheduled court appearance Tuesday afternoon. The academy remains open. Some parents have withdrawn their kids from the academy. There's no indication about whether the female student involved in the incident remains enrolled.

Cañon City Daily Record January 10 2007

Academy director arrested for assault

by Debbie Bell, The Daily Record

The director of the Royal Gorge Academy is under investigation of charges of third-degree assault, false imprisonment and reckless endangerment.

Randall Hinton of Cañon City, 32, was arrested by the Cañon City Police Department on Tuesday. (January 9 2007) He was released on $2,500 bail.

Information is still vague, but CCPD Capt. Jim Cox said this morning Hinton is facing allegations from at least four underage students at the school. Three of them are male and at least one is female.

“We are still investigating at this point,” Cox said. “I know the information is fairly broad, but we are not releasing further information at this time.”

Hinton is the director of the school, which opened as Royal Peak Academy in February 2006 but recently changed its name.

The school is a coed private boarding school located at 615 Pike Ave. in the former St. Scholastica Academy. It serves students 14 through 18 in a year-round setting intended to give students a strong moral and academic background.

The parent company for Royal Gorge Academy is Octwell LLC of Utah.

No further information on the charges was available at press time today.

Cañon City Daily Record, January 11 2007

Academy puts official on leave

by Debbie Bell, The Daily Record

The private school official arrested on charges of assaulting a student has been placed on administrative leave by the Royal Gorge Academy.

Randall Hinton of Cañon City, 32, was released on $2,500 bail following his arrest Tuesday on charges of third-degree assault, false imprisonment and reckless endangerment.

Hinton is project supervisor at the Royal Gorge Academy, a private school for troubled teenagers.

Michael Gillick, Hinton’s attorney, said this morning his client is “completely not guilty” of all charges.

“This is a boarding school,” Gillick said, “not a strict detention facility. This is to help children who have problems and hopefully get them turned in the right direction.”

Gillick said the teenage girl involved in the alleged incident that occurred at the end of December was “brand new” to the school and had not adjusted to being there.

He admitted the girl was restrained using “common, legal methods” for her own safety and that of school officials, but Gillick was not able to specify the restraint techniques used.

Hinton reportedly has been involved at other school facilities for troubled teens, most notably the infamous Tranquility Bay in Jamaica.

Various online accounts report abuse of students either by Hinton himself or directly supervised by him.

Cañon City Police Department Capt. Allen Cooper said this morning his office had been told of prior allegations before Royal Gorge Academy opened.

“As law enforcement officials, we are not allowed to react to things that happen outside of our jurisdiction,” Cooper said. “My understanding is there is not a lot of oversight on private schools. The process to me sounds kind of superficial.”

Gillick maintained Hinton never before has been charged with similar accusations.

“Lots of bizarre things show up on the Internet,” Gillick said. “You can read anything there and take it with a grain of salt.”

Gillick also questioned police tactics used in the investigation and said he offered to cooperate.

“I told them they could have anything they wanted, just let me know when. They chose to bully their way around and come back unannounced with a search warrant,” Gillick said. “They could have done it the easy way or they could have done it the dog and pony show, like they did.”

Cooper refuted that statement.

“The initial investigating police officer asked for certain documentation and was told the school did not have to provide it,” Cooper said. “That’s why we went with a warrant.”

Gillick also charged the CCPD with “overkill” as they conducted official interviews with students at the school.

“They put all the kids in the auditorium, did not let anybody see what was going on. There were no guardians and parents were not allowed access to the children,” Gillick said. “It was just absurd, conducting official interviews under those circumstances.”

At least one parent has contacted him, Gillick said, concerned her child was interviewed without parental consent.

Cooper said it is standard procedure to interview juveniles who are not suspects without permission.

“Parental consent is not required,” Cooper said. “None of these kids were suspected of anything other than being potential witnesses.”

Cooper said the interviews with students provided more information than his department anticipated.

“This did turn into a larger investigation for us than we anticipated based on the reaction of some of the participants,” Cooper said.

Hinton is due in District Judge David Thorson’s courtroom at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday for advisement.

CBS4Denver, January 11 2007

Police have arrested the director of the Royal Gorge Academy on several charges of mistreating children.

Randal Hinton, 32, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of false imprisonment, assault and reckless endangerment of a student at the private school for troubled youth.

The charges stem from an incident involving a runaway student. She alleges that when she returned he twice grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back, injuring her hand.

He also allegedly forced her to lie face down on the floor for 6 hours.

Staff members told investigators of other incidents.

Hinton was free on $2,500 bond.

From the Canon City Daily Record, March 14 2007

Felony charge against Hinton dropped

A felony charge will be dropped today against the Royal Gorge Academy co-director arrested in January for suspected assault and other charges. However, several new misdemeanor counts will be added.

Randall Hinton of Cañon City, 32, will face misdemeanor charges in connection to the January Cañon City Police Department investigation into allegations that Hinton was abusive toward students at the private boarding school.

Hinton now will face seven counts of third-degree assault, a Class I misdemeanor, and two counts of false imprisonment, a Class II misdemeanor. There are seven alleged victims in the case.

The maximum penalty for third-degree assault is up to two years in jail. The false imprisonment charge carries with it a maximum penalty of one year. However, probation can also be considered, rather than jail time.

Hinton originally was charged with false imprisonment, a Class V felony as well as third degree assault, a Class I misdemeanor and reckless endangerment, a Class III misdemeanor. After its investigation, the District Attorney’s Office chose not to pursue the felony false imprisonment charge.

“Our office feels it’s more appropriate at this time to go forward with misdemeanor charges,” said Fremont County Deputy District Attorney Thom LeDoux.

The D.A.’s office has the final say in determining what charges officially are filed against suspects, not law enforcement agencies like CCPD.

“The District Attorney’s office does an independent review of the case,” said LeDoux. “We then make a determination on what is appropriate to proceed with.”

An affidavit that followed Hinton’s arrest alleges Hinton forced one female student to “lie face down on the floor, arms to her side and palms up for hours.” The affidavit also reads Hinton refused to let the girl use the restroom while she was having her period. Staff members interviewed by CCPD said they had sus-pected Hinton of abusing students before.

However, parents and other staff members interviewed have been supportive of Hinton and his work at the school.

Hinton, along with school Vice President Brian Lemons, opened Royal Gorge Academy in the spring of 2006. The boarding school houses boys and girls, ranging from 13-17 of age, who have been sent to the school by their parents for various reasons, including behavioral and academic problems.

Hinton’s attorney, Michael Gillick, said he is pleased his client will not face a felony charge. However, he still hopes to see Hinton acquitted of all charges.

“I certainly agree there were no actions that constituted felonies,” he said. “We believe all actions taken by Randall Hinton were appropriate given the circumstances. Mr. Hinton maintains his innocence toward any charges.”

Hinton is scheduled to appear in court at 3:15 p.m. today when the new charges will be filed. Because the case no longer carries with it felonious implications, future proceedings now will be held in county court.