Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
A blogger at Pam's House Blend tells the story of Eric Norwood, a young man who was forced to go to the Utah Boy's Ranch, which he describes as a Mormon gulag (literally at mormongulag.com). Some of the stories on that page are appalling beyond belief. Norwood was literally kidnapped - at his parent's request - and flown to Utah because, at 15 years old, he was rebelling against their Mormon beliefs and refusing to attend constant church services:
I was camped out on the sofa bed in the TV room with a plate of leftover lasagna from the fridge. It was half eaten and a Roseanne re-run was playing when they first walked in. They looked around as if they had been told where to go, but hadn't quite envisioned it right. They looked to their left, saw the terrified eyes of a 15-year-old, and pounced. They shoved clothes and shoes on me and I was gone before I was able to think about which way I should run. They told me very little. Their first names were Paul and Barry.Barry was a white guy, a big mother. At least 6'5", and I would not be surprised to hear that he weighed more than 300 pounds, but he was not fat. Paul was shorter and had a darker complexion. He was big too, and meaner than Barry. He turned to me when we first got into their white mid-sized rental car and said, "You have a choice. You can be cool and get on an airplane with us and be there in a couple of hours, or you can sit back there with handcuffs on for the next 12 hours. Non-stop."
"Where are we going?" I asked, still in shock.
"Utah," Barry answered casually from the passenger seat, without turning his head. "We are from the Utah Boys Ranch, Eric, and your parents have asked us to take you back with us."
"What?" My head was spinning. I felt like I was going to throw up. There is no way that this was happening. My mom would never allow this. Utah? What the hell is a Boys Ranch? I couldn't breathe.
"I guess we're driving," Paul said odiously.
I knew the child-lock would be on and as I saw the familiar houses of my grandmother's street pass by, I started to roll down the window. We weren't going fast enough for them to notice yet and the warm Agoura Hills climate didn't tip them off. I rolled it down enough to fit my arm out and open the door from the outside when Paul paused at the stop sign at the bottom of the hill, looked back at me, and stopped the car.
He shoved the gear into park and pulled handcuffs out of somewhere and told me to give him my wrists. I sat there cuffed for a moment when I realized that I really would die from this feeling in my chest - a physical manifestation of angst. My heart was beating furiously, and I knew that I couldn't last 12 hours.
But here's the part that really caught my attention:
The first person I met in Utah was Senator Chris Buttars. I had no idea who he was until that point.
At the time, Buttars was the leader of the Utah Boy's Ranch.
All I knew was that he was to be feared, and I was scared to death of him from the moment I first saw him."Sit down," he squawked in a loud, high pitched, galling voice that sounded like a cross between a buzzard and an old cowboy. He continued to make it very clear that I was at his mercy. He told me who he was - politically - and the influence he had. If I ever wanted to leave I was to do what he said. "How old are you?"
"Fifteen," I mumbled.
"Three years might not be enough for you. I can have a judge order you to be here until you are 21," he croaked. With that he sent me off to be "changed and put on work crew."
Norwood describes backbreaking labor and rampant physical abuse at the ranch. And that's not all:
It turns out that any form of decadence - smoking a little grass, telling your math teacher to sit on it, being gay or bi-curious, sexually assaulting a family member or young girl - is curable by a little hard work, tough love, and Mormon doctrine. Boys with "sexual issues" are housed together in what could only be some cruel showing of satire.They were constantly being caught jerking each other off onto each other, or, more tragically, assaulting younger boys. Whatever it was, they would be shoved into blankets and thrown on work crew. On Tuesday night they would meet with all the boys with sexual issues and provide remedies like IcyHot on the penis to stifle homosexual urges.
I was kept there until they couldn't keep me any longer, and on my 18th birthday I walked out the front doors into a cold October morning with nowhere to go and nothing but my freedom. If I didn't experience it myself I would not believe a place like this exists. A Mormon gulag.
How do they get away with all of the abuse? The forced religion, the stifling of freedom of speech? Was it legal to prevent us from reporting abuse to authorities, or to restrain us with ropes, wool blankets, and duct tape? Is it legal to force young boys to talk about masturbation with Mormon clergy and missionaries? How does all of this go unnoticed? We were young and naive and didn't know that most of what they did to us was illegal. Buttars was famous for telling us that we had only three rights: food, safety, and shelter. They failed to even live up to those standards.
Besides being callow, we hardly had the chance to report any abuse. They instruct parents to ignore any claims of abuse from their children. They call any complaints from children a manipulation tool - "fear factor" - and instruct parents to be wary of the "tactic" they say they encounter most.
There were also no phones to call the police. No nurses or medical examiners to talk to. No government authorities to check in on us. Incongruously, this Orwellian facility desperately needs government oversight.
Sen. Buttars said it all when he told a reporter, "What sets us apart is that we're the only residential treatment facility that doesn't seek or accept government funding. If we did, they'd control us."
Except, of course, now Buttars IS the government in Utah. You can read much more, including the testimonials of other kids sent to this vile place, at the mormongulag link above.
Politics
Comments
"Boys with "sexual issues" are housed together in what could only be some cruel showing of satire."
South Park did a spoof on that. It was funny, but sad.
Posted by: Royale | January 7, 2009 9:48 AM
I'm wondering, given accounts like these, why Federal Marshalls aren't kicking the doors in. Who gives a shit if it's a private or religious enterprise? They still can't violate a person's rights like that. Is it okay if I run a slavery ring under the auspices of Discordianism as long as I don't accept government money?
Posted by: Ranson | January 7, 2009 10:08 AM
Places like this scare me to death because I always get the impression that they'd do it to adults, too, if they thought they could get away with it.
Posted by: speedwell | January 7, 2009 10:19 AM
If my parents did this to me, when they passed away I wouldn't even rub two pennies together to give them a proper burial. Absolutely hideous what Mr. Norwood had to go through.
Posted by: Engr Tony | January 7, 2009 10:32 AM
I'm sure the truth lies somewhere in the middle. I have a friend whose son attended this same camp, and he said they were tough, but nothing like what this guy is describing.
ummmmm.
Posted by: Shelly Girl | January 7, 2009 10:37 AM
So I can't get to the Pam's House site...
Anybidy else having troubles? Is the cult gonna shut it down?
Posted by: walstib | January 7, 2009 10:49 AM
Shelly Girl: it's possible your friend's son was in a different group, with a different, saner, warden/councillor/hall-monitor/whatever; and may never have seen any inkling of what went on in the next cabin; or he was more cooperative; or he believed the threat of parental disbelief, caved to the abuse, and kept quiet as ordered. Or maybe his parents kept quiet.
...They instruct parents to ignore any claims of abuse from their children. They call any complaints from children a manipulation tool - "fear factor" - and instruct parents to be wary of the "tactic" they say they encounter most.
Wow, these people must be terrified of their own children, to see them as such dangerous manipulative schemers. What kind of "values" did they teach their kids, to make them so evil and dangerous in the first place?
Posted by: Raging Bee | January 7, 2009 10:50 AM
yea, yea, it's always someone else's fault....especially those Mormons, they can't be trusted, and everything said about them is true....please grind your axe somewhere else. It is so transparent this story is hyped up.
Posted by: Shelly Girl | January 7, 2009 12:02 PM
If my parents did this to me, when they passed away I wouldn't even rub two pennies together to give them a proper burial.
I wouldn't wait until they'd passed away. What are the precedents for suing your parents for everything they have or ever hope to? And maybe custody of the younger sibs? Even if you lose or get your case dismissed, being a defendant is a miserable and expensive experience--and having to explain in open court (I'd invite the national press, including the supermarket tabloids) why you signed your own child up for something like this is the least that should happen to them.
Poor kid.
Posted by: Molly, NYC | January 7, 2009 12:04 PM
Shelly Girl,
Is the "he said" part refering to your friend (the parent) or the child who went to the camp?
-Kevin
Posted by: kevin | January 7, 2009 12:05 PM
Shelly Girl: first you say "the truth lies somewhere in the middle;" then you flip over to "It is so transparent this story is hyped up." Getting a bit defensive about your church maybe? (I notice you called the story "hyped up," not "false" or "unproven.")
It is possible, of course, that the top leaders of these camps never consciously intended for such extreme abuse to take place, just as the Catholic hierarchy probably had no conscious intent to expose children to sexual abuse by priests. But it seems clear that the abuses happened anyway, made possible by the extremely authoritarian mindsets of both hierarchies, and further enabled (in both cases) by compliant churchgoers and spineless politicians unwilling or unable to stand up and hold powerful church leaders accountable. And in both cases, exposure and political pressure are clearly necessary to get the whole truth out and force a religious establishment to account for it.
Posted by: Raging Bee | January 7, 2009 12:31 PM
Shelley girl -
Why is it so obvious that this is hyped? There are numerous examples of religion based camps doing exactly the same sort of shit described here. Why should we assume that the Mormons wouldn't? Provide some evidence if you want to convince us.
Or is it that you want us to stop criticizing the Mormons? Because if that's the case, you can forget it. Generally the folks around these parts who want to criticize things done in the name of religion, are pretty equal opportunity. This isn't a Mormon bashing site, indeed it's not even a religion bashing site. It's a site that is extremely critical of any religious institutions that go too far.
Posted by: DuWayne | January 7, 2009 12:33 PM
Jim Jones little playground was doomed when a Senator entered, ironic (colloquially) that this compound was run by one. What horrors we are capable of. I wonder how many of the employees were themselves former inmates.
The story reminded me of a movie, The Magdalene Sisters. It was girls instead of boys and Catholic instead of Mormon, but not all that different. If you've seen it I'm picturing Crispina shouting over and over, "You're not a man of God!"
(If you haven't seen it, do. Unlike yesterday's movie selection, this is actually a good one.)
Shelly Girl, I don't want to believe it either. But, this sort of thing happens, not just in religious groups and certainly not just in Mormonism. I've worked with people to help them deal the trauma they experienced in such institutions. I've heard the stories directly and held them as they cried and spasmed. It's of course possible that this particular story is hyped. But it's also entirely plausible that it's accurate, even given your friend's recollection.
Posted by: Abby Normal | January 7, 2009 12:35 PM
Jeez, shelly girl, come down from your persecution complex. If it makes you feel any better, this sort of thing is not unique to the LDS church. There are very similar camps run by dominionist Protestants too. These sort of unmonitored and abusive camps are a travesty (and will only make truly troubled kids worse in the long run) no matter what organization is behind it.
Posted by: milukfrog | January 7, 2009 12:41 PM
You have got to be kidding me!!! It would be absolutely ridiculous to believe this is taking place at a rehabilitation/correctional facility and no type of federal investigation has taken place. Especially when these claims are made all the time about this facilities. I have read both positive and negative testimonials about this place and it sounds to me like those who make these disgusting accusations are simply bitter at the person who forced them to go. If this is really taking place then these people need to stop blogging about it and go to law enforcement.
Further, It is apparent that these types of articles/blogs are simply additional attempts to defame the Mormon church. I am very familiar with Mormon doctrine and almost all of the sexual acts claimed to be taking place at the ranch are grounds for excommunication. Therefore, If this is taking place these men would not represent the Mormon faith. You want to know the truth search the doctrine. It is readily available. The perverted acts that take place by members of any church will rest on the heads of those who perform them, not the church itself.
Posted by: Sessions | January 7, 2009 12:56 PM
It is hype.
Comments from elsewhere
kgb999 said:
"#1 Eric Norwood has lived in LA for over 20 years meaning that at least 2 decades have elapsed since his experience and this writing. Distant memories are notorious sources for embellished history."
--False. The events described in this story all happened between 2000 - and October 2002.
"#2 Senator Buttars was elected to his seat in 2001. When Mr. Norwood encountered him, Buttars was not an acting state official - the narrative is rather misleading on this."
--In light of the facts and dates clearly this is false, and the narrative is not at all misleading. Chris Buttars WAS an acting senator while he was at the Utah Boys Ranch, until he was forced to retire in 2004. He was a
#3 mormongulag.com was registered 9/9/2008 ... at the height of the Prop.8 battle when progressives were openly discussing attacking the Mormon church for their support of the measure.
--Ah, you've got me. This is a veiled Prop. 8 battle, please disregard anything you read from here on out. Seriously, #3 is so ridiculous it hardly deserves a response.
#4 "The Utah Boys Ranch Network" - billed as a victim's support group - issued their one and only newsletter Oct 2008. Again, are we really to believe that there is no relationship to Prop. 8 and the creation of this group? Also, neither California nor Utah have record of this charity (but I'm not sure I searched right).
--False. There have been multiple monthly newsletters, so I'm not sure what you are talking about. I would check again about the charity status of the UBRN, by the way. Your showing your investigative journalism skills.
#5 Unlike other victim support groups, the UBRN website provides no resources to actually help anyone who may have been abused. It is exclusively a propaganda site with all content geared to cause the uninitiated to fear/hate the facility.
--Funny, but again false. I'm beginning to feel like I'm dealing with an apologist or a snake-oil salesmen more than a concerned citizen. The UBRN has provided referrals for many former victims seeking assistance.
#6 mormongulag.com has backdated many of their "Bad Press" blog entries to look like they have been operating since 2003. Like referring to Buttars as a senator despite the context being decades prior to his election, this is sort of dishonest.
-- More snake-oil. The dates used on the blog are the dates the articles were published. That is the standard when reprinting articles, if you weren't aware. And again, you are wrong about the timing, but I don't suspect that will matter much to you.
#7 The source(s) of support for both the website and the nonprofit(if it exists?) are not disclosed. Ownership of the site is also hidden behind a private registration. This is not how legitimate non-profit charities usually operate, it's how right wing smear operatives do it.
Nonsense. That absolutely IS how legitimate non-profits operate.
"So 20 years later, out of the blue, this Eric guy suddenly decides that now is the time to speak up for all the abused Mormon kids? Amazingly it happened when there was coordinated effort by many groups to attack the Mormon church on all fronts for their support of Prop 8? Talk about divine coincidence!"
Get out the tinfoil hat! In all honesty, I was four years old 20 years ago.
"I'm not saying he's a liar."
And I'm not saying you are crazy AND wrong. Just wrong.
Posted by: jasyn | January 7, 2009 1:08 PM
While I agree that these types of "boys camps" are rarely necessary and overly harsh, there are two important points to make here:
1) The owners of Utah Boys Ranch may follow Mormon beliefs, but they are not owned by or affiliated with the Mormon Church. The leaders of the Church do not have any say over the private business affairs of the owners of the ranch, and many individual Mormons (including me) do not see UBR as a legitimate extension or expression of Mormon beliefs.
2) While Eric Norwood's experiences at the ranch may or may not be accurate, his explanation of WHY he was sent there is certainly inaccurate. You don't get sent there for simply refusing to attend youth seminary programs -- that kind of behavior is pretty commonplace among Mormon youth. Norwood ended up at UBR because his behavior was out of control (drug use, problems with the law, etc.) or his step-father was a totalitarian dictator. There's something Norwood isn't telling us.
Please don't use this extraordinary example to tarnish the beliefs of many rational, loving Mormon parents.
Posted by: Mike Parker | January 7, 2009 1:15 PM
It appears there is much misleading evidence and little to counter it.
Mostly we have the authors word for it and frankly, I see an agenda here and little more. It makes the author less trustworthy in regard to the information. More to the point there is little to no corroborating evidence beyond teh authors word.
The "ranch" could have been sued long ago by either the author or others.
Freedom of information act would have made claims of abuse available to the public if the author so deemed there were such cimplaints.
These two facts alone lead one to question the veracity of the author.
Posted by: Jasyn | January 7, 2009 1:17 PM
It sure didn't take long for the Mormon godbots to rush to the defense of their bizarre little cult.
Posted by: Taz | January 7, 2009 1:28 PM
Posted by: H.H. | January 7, 2009 1:40 PM
Mike Parker, please look up the fallacy "no true scottsman". That place is being operated under the auspices of LDS, and if you don't think that they reflect the true spirit of LDS then get on the "true" leaders of the church and make sure that the UBR cannot use the name/word/brand "Mormon" in describing themselves or what they do. The only way to be able to claim truly that the church is distant from the UBR is to impose that distance in no uncertain terms (possibly including not recognizing members of the church who continue to work at the UBR).
If the limit of what you are doing is pearl-clutching on the internet and trying to convince people that "we'd never!" then you're as believable as all those who went before you in religious scandals (including my own church's history with "residential schools" for native americans) who turned a blind eye until it was far too late to do anything except beg forgiveness. Let's learn from history and stop the abuses now.
Additionally, I think that there is no reason to put an institution outside of government oversight unless the oversight would uncover flaws and abuses they don't want to come to light. I think all institutions that deal with underage children should be subject to the strictest possible oversight.
Posted by: kodiak | January 7, 2009 1:56 PM
I am very familiar with Mormon doctrine and almost all of the sexual acts claimed to be taking place at the ranch are grounds for excommunication.
I'm passing familiar with Catholic doctrine, and all of the sexual acts claimed to be taking place in certain Catholic schools are also grounds for excommunication. That doesn't mean they never happened.
The perverted acts that take place by members of any church will rest on the heads of those who perform them, not the church itself.
That depends on how the church responds to the incident. Do they investigate the allegations with an open mind, or do they cover it up and thus enable more of the same?
1) The owners of Utah Boys Ranch may follow Mormon beliefs, but they are not owned by or affiliated with the Mormon Church. The leaders of the Church do not have any say over the private business affairs of the owners of the ranch, and many individual Mormons (including me) do not see UBR as a legitimate extension or expression of Mormon beliefs.
BUT...
Please don't use this extraordinary example to tarnish the beliefs of many rational, loving Mormon parents.
I respect your concerns here; but given the quickness with which you just disowned this camp, I have to ask whether the Mormon church were warning their parishoners about it beforehand? Or did they simply take a don't-ask-don't-tell policy until it became an embarrassment? (I don't remember the Mormon church making a huge fuss about that polygamist compound in Texas either.)
Posted by: Raging Bee | January 7, 2009 1:56 PM
I'm sure the truth lies somewhere in the middle between what Shelly Girl is claiming and what Eric Norwood is claiming, but then I've always been a fan of Zeno of Elea.
Posted by: jpf | January 7, 2009 2:01 PM
More to the point there is little to no corroborating evidence beyond teh authors word.
The same is true of the allegations of sexual abuse by Catholic priests.
The "ranch" could have been sued long ago by either the author or others.
So could the Catholic Church.
Freedom of information act would have made claims of abuse available to the public if the author so deemed there were such cimplaints.
Not sure about that, but couldn't the same have been said about the Catholic Church's pedophile-priest incidents?
The points quoted above are plausible, but the same points have been used to deny or ignore other charges, in other incidents, that later turned out to be true, and even resulted in criminal convictions.
Posted by: Raging Bee | January 7, 2009 2:02 PM
As a concrete example of another church doing similar sorts of things, look up the Magdalene Laundries in Ireland.
Posted by: blf | January 7, 2009 2:27 PM
So, the truth lies somewhere between what Eric Norwood claims and what you claim? If that's the case, we could be at this forever.
Posted by: Clay | January 7, 2009 2:39 PM
Sessions -
You have got to be kidding me!!! It would be absolutely ridiculous to believe this is taking place at a rehabilitation/correctional facility and no type of federal investigation has taken place.
You're fucking joking. These sorts
of things happen in juvenile boot camps all too often, whether the boot camp is Christian, Mormon or secular. It took a kid being beaten to death in a Florida boot camp for any investigation to happen and even then no one went to prison for it and the company running the camp just changed it's name and officers.
If it will make the folks who are extra sensitive about this being pegged as a Mormon problem, I really don't think it is. It's an endemic problem with a great many youth boot camps. The problem is that they are privately run and lack more than cursory oversight, if any. But lets not pretend this shit doesn't happen, or that it couldn't happen at a Mormon run camp. It does happen and it can happen at any camp, religious or otherwise.
Posted by: DuWayne | January 7, 2009 5:52 PM
We seem to have such a skewed sense of rights. This story is rife with demand for rights without responsibility. That is not freedom or democracy. Rights and responsibilities come together!!! Responsible people ask what will my actions do to me, my family and community? Do they add something or consume something?
No, person should ever be harmed, physically, mentally or spiritually, but many need to be taught responsibility. It sounds like this boy never learned it. If he was responsible and credible, he would be a rich man today after sueing the facility for improper behavior, sexual asault, etc... but he didn't...its not credible.
Posted by: Dan | January 7, 2009 6:02 PM
If he was responsible and credible, he would be a rich man today after sueing the facility for improper behavior, sexual asault, etc... but he didn't...its not credible.
The fact that you would say this, AFTER an article is cited describing the total lack of accountability prevalent in these situations, only proves you don't care about anything other than pretending the problem doesn't exist. It's not at all surprising, really -- victims of rapists and child-sexual-predators often get the same brush-off.
Posted by: Raging Bee | January 7, 2009 6:07 PM
I'm only saying this kid made choices to combat his family that were dumb. Its easy to rebel, but hard to live through events many of us don't like. I could have rebelled against my family but stuck it out, and became normal. He likely made the path that brough consequences, whether they were abuse or not. I'm not justifying the abuse, but if you dismiss you personally responsibility for anything you are bound to end up in a dark ally one of these days.
Posted by: Dan | January 7, 2009 6:14 PM
Shorter Dan: "That little apostate shit was asking for it."
Posted by: Tyler DiPietro | January 7, 2009 6:21 PM
No, person should ever be harmed, physically, mentally or spiritually, but many need to be taught responsibility. It sounds like this boy never learned it.
And you learn responsibility from someone who tells you they can hurt you without leaving any marks? No. It's not responsibility these camps are meant to teach kids.
As Maria Montessori once said, "Discipline must come through liberty. We do not consider an individual disciplined only when he has been rendered as artificially silent as a mute and as immovable as a paralytic. He is an individual annihilated, not disciplined." It's one thing for prisons to keep violent criminals under control, but these camps for children justify themselves on the basis that they teach discipline. They do nothing of the sort. They merely annihilate the person within. That is what they are meant to do. And if there is one thing cults don't like, it's individuality.
I've always been a little confused as to how it's legal for parents to pay someone else to do violent things to their own children, that they'd get arrested for had they done them themselves. For what it's worth, another notorious youth gulag, Tranquility Bay, located in Jamaica where it's safe from the reach of U.S. law, is also run by Mormons. It's part of a chain of such camps, a gulag archipelago, located in various places south of the boarder. I realize this is not exclusively a Mormon problem. I realize that a great many Mormons would probably be horrified if they heard from the kids who have survived them, what is going on inside these places. But why is it that the most brutal of these child gulags always seem to be run by Mormons?
Posted by: Bruce Garrett | January 7, 2009 6:51 PM
shelly et.al., this is a familier story. look into these camps and ask yourself why somany of them are located in utah, a state that refuses to adequately regulate such facilities.
Posted by: patriotboy | January 7, 2009 8:29 PM
I'd like to thank Ed for helping draw attention to Eric's story.
And, yes, Pam's House Blend (or rather, SoapBlox, the progressive web hosting outfit where PHB resides) was hacked, but PHB is now up and running again.
FYI ... West Ridge Academy is licensed by the State of Utah, and their license is up for renewal this month.
We tried emailing the licensor, Bonnie Stuver (BSTUVER@utah.gov), at the Utah Department of Human Services, Office of Licensing ... but emails to Bonnie are bouncing.
So, now we'll try this one: ldustman@utah.gov
Thanks to all who spare a moment and drop a note to the Utah authorities about the concerns that Eric's story raises.
Posted by: Chino Blanco | January 7, 2009 8:59 PM
One of the more compelling non-witness based pieces of evidence that this place maintained an environment friendly to abusing the clients is this information from the Boy's Ranch located, at least at one time, on its website:
What Your Child May Do
Typically your child will be uncomfortable or in denial as to the reasons he/she is here. He/she may try several types of manipulation to get your attention and to help himself/herself cope. Usually, these are the same manipulative or coping behaviors he/she used with you in the past. It is our goal to change those negative behaviors so your child can function appropriately in society. You may see the following attempts at manipulation:
" Deathbed Repentance. Examples include I see the errors of my ways. I have changed and you can take me home now. I will be good.
" It may feel good to not be the bad guy and be in the position to rescue your child. Or you may be in pain yourself and want to have your child at home. Dont fall for this manipulation. Beware of believing that your child has the capacity to change this quickly, or that he/she is sincerely repentant. Nearly all of our students attempt this manipulation in some form, yet not a single one has the skills needed to successfully return home at this point. They will relapse and resume their bad behaviors.
" Negotiation. Example: If you take me out of here, I will be good forever!
" Your child is not in the position to negotiate. His/her integrity has not been developed and change will take time. Your child will not have the inner resources to maintain any lasting change at all.
" Hostage Taking. Example: If you leave me at West Ridge, I will hate you forever. If you leave me here, I will run away or hurt myself.
" Your child is using your love for him/her against you. Your child knows this is the ace that will get your attention by making you feel guilty. Your child is hoping that you will back off and not insist that he/she change.
" Triangulation/Splitting. Example: Your child gets you alone and tells you about the mean things staff members are saying to him/her.
" This is where your child will try to split one parent against the therapist or the other parent to get his/her way. The childs goal is to dismantle those who are holding him/her accountable for his/her actions. Your child may even say, Dont tell the therapist because I will get into trouble. The more united we are, the more effective the treatment and program will be.
" Fear Factor. Example: All my roommates are drug addicts or gay. I am not as bad as everyone else here. The staff beats up the students. The food isnt nutritious. The school isnt very good.
" This is probably the most subtle and commonly used tool. If your child uses this technique, his/her goal is to split us. Your child is playing upon your fears to attempt to change the outcome. Your child wants West Ridge Academy to become the bad guy. If you have concerns, please check them out with your therapist in a way that continues to support the therapy we are doing. Fears are normal but usually based on false evidence. Never let your child see you challenge staff or West Ridge as a whole. Always bring your concerns to us outside of your child's presence.
----
It still is jaw-dropping to read.
Posted by: Jason S. | January 7, 2009 10:07 PM
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
Is there any other site out there besides Mormon Gulag that has evidence on this? This is a bit hard to swallow with the magnitude of sanctioned abuse and the senator showing up.
Posted by: Dave C | January 7, 2009 10:09 PM
Dear Dan,
Yes, you are trying to justify the abuse.
Contemptuously,
Vic Viper
Posted by: Vic Viper | January 7, 2009 10:13 PM
I recall that I emailed Ed sometime back about Eric's story. He's a frequent poster on a Mormon-related message board I also occasionally post on where he has discussed this off and on. If you'd like to discuss this story further with him, I'm sure you wouldn't have a problem at:
www.mormondiscussions.com
Posted by: Jason S. | January 7, 2009 10:15 PM
Dave C, America is a country where freedom of religion is considered so inviolate that parents are allowed to withhold proper medical treatment from their children if they say it's part of their religion. What's really so hard to swallow about the fact that such places as these camps exist? Children have few individual rights until they reach adulthood and can chose to leave, as Eric did.
Speedwell hit the nail on the head, though: "Places like this scare me to death because I always get the impression that they'd do it to adults, too, if they thought they could get away with it."
Yep.
Posted by: H.H. | January 7, 2009 10:24 PM
Dave C -
What exactly is so tough to swallow about this? Did you read my link? Not that it even mentions this camp, but it is indicative of this pattern of abuse in these kind of camps. Mind that the link I provided, is talking about secular boot camps that theoretically have oversight, as they use government funds. So is it really hard to believe that a camp that doesn't have oversight would be just as bad?
The problem with this and what allows this sort of abuse to be perpetuated, is the fact that no one wants to believe it could happen in America, in this day and age. It is exactly the same mentality that allows sick fuckers like Sheriff Arpaio of Maricopa county Arizona to run roughshod over their domains. We just want to believe it can't happen.
Well guess what? I have a tendency to believe this story, because it does happen and happens a lot. It's not limited to the Mormons or even religion based programs. It's endemic. It's also hard as fuck to prove, given the nature of these facilities. The twisted irony, is that it's hard to prove, because of laws geared to protect the privacy of the minors in these camps. That and the claims that the kids who make such claims about these camps can't be trusted.
Unfortunately, generally these camps only get exposed when they kids in their charge die.
Posted by: DuWayne | January 7, 2009 10:46 PM
Unrestricted power and secrecy will be abused. It only takes one bastard in power to do that...or have you learnt nothing in the last few years.
This matter needs serious investigation and the truth brought out one way or another.
Posted by: Richard Eis | January 8, 2009 4:15 AM
@Dave C:
Try:
http://www.utahboysranch.com/Philosophy/Philosophy.html
and that is the UBR itself!
Posted by: Robin Levett | January 8, 2009 7:37 AM
What may have happened to Eric Norwood at the Utah Boys Ranch (we only have his word for it) probably pales by comparison to what would have happened to him if he had gone to a typical juvenile hall or a state youth camp where he would have been constantly abused by the inner-city thugs who run wild at such facilities.
I also find it amusing how so many of you who are on the political left refer to your media as "independent". It's sort of like all those Communist countries calling themselves "democratic republics" during the Cold War. LOL!
Posted by: Deseret Dawg | January 8, 2009 8:32 AM
Desert Dawg, and the rest of you non-disclosing LDS apologists.
Does ignoring the truth, or lying about, get you some special honor at the tabernacle? You people are well past reprehensible.
Posted by: democommie | January 8, 2009 9:00 AM
pictures or it didn't happen. There seems to be a serious lack of pictures of said abuse.
Posted by: i support this | January 8, 2009 9:20 AM
@deseret dawg:
"What may have happened to Eric Norwood at the Utah Boys Ranch (we only have his word for it)..."
Go to mormongulag.com and read the other testimonials from like, other people besides Eric Norwood. Why do some people comment so quickly without bothering to follow the links CLEARLY DISPLAYED in the post above?
By the way, Utah (and other Southwestern states) are filled with these unregulated 'ranches.' Rivendell (now called Copper Hills I think) is an infamous cure-the-gays gulag.
Posted by: TikiHead | January 8, 2009 9:28 AM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyn_Duff
Lyn is a well-known survivor of one Rivendell.
@deseret dawg:
"I also find it amusing how so many of you who are on the political left refer to your media as "independent". It's sort of like all those Communist countries calling themselves "democratic republics" during the Cold War. LOL!"
Or even more side-splittingly, look how made-up cults will unabashedly call themselves religions!
LOLZ!!!
Posted by: TikiHead | January 8, 2009 9:33 AM
Even if this is true (and I only have your word for it) how does it help? I can just see a defendant using this in court, "Someone else might have raped and killed the boy. I only raped him. Why pick on me?"
Does this sort of thinking really pass for morality in your circles?
Posted by: Abby Normal | January 8, 2009 9:37 AM
Hey, all you Mormon morons defending child abuse! Does Jesus like it when you lie?
Well, since Joseph Smith was a known conman who forcibly married and raped underage girls, I guess it's not surprising that you defend this, your whole religion is founded on fraud and child abuse!
Posted by: phantomreader42 | January 8, 2009 10:00 AM
I get more amazed every day at the sheer lack of shame displayed by the supporters of these "youth camps." If the examples I cite below are at all representative, then these loons are even more morally retarded than I thought...
He likely made the path that brough consequences, whether they were abuse or not. I'm not justifying the abuse, but if you dismiss you personally responsibility for anything you are bound to end up in a dark ally one of these days.
What about the ADULTS who made the decisions that led the kid to be hauled off to this camp? What about the ADULTS whose decisions led to the treatment this kid got at the camp? Don't ADULTS have some "personal responsibility" for their ADULT choices? Or is "personal responsibility" only for kids? You seem to be saying that a kid's actions deterministically cause the adults' response, and the kid has all the responsibility and the adults none. "Upside-down" is the most charitable adjective I can apply to this reasoning.
What may have happened to Eric Norwood at the Utah Boys Ranch (we only have his word for it) probably pales by comparison to what would have happened to him if he had gone to a typical juvenile hall or a state youth camp where he would have been constantly abused by the inner-city thugs who run wild at such facilities.
And what does a "Desert Dawg" know of such things? Judging by the paragraph that follows the above, not much beyond simpleminded labelling. And since when did "someone else does it too" justify this sort of abuse?
pictures or it didn't happen. There seems to be a serious lack of pictures of said abuse.
If we apply that standard consistently, very few people will ever be convicted of rape or child sexual abuse. Or anything else for that matter.
What's really amazing about all these hyper-defensive responses, is that these people really are dumb enough to think they're plausible.
Posted by: Raging Bee | January 8, 2009 10:01 AM
Dan -
What a strange turn of phrase.
Why would he be going there? As far as I can tell he wasn't convicted of anything.Deseret Dawg -
Posted by: Taz | January 8, 2009 10:06 AM
Dawg defending child abuse:
Taz:
Well, he dared think for himself, rather than mindlessly obeying the cult, so in the Dawg's twisted mind he deserves to be tortured until the end of time. Such silly things as the law or the actual facts of the case are irrelevant to a cultist. Any punishment, any abuse, any atrocity is a perfectly acceptable response in defense of the cult. The thought that questioning the cult is not actually a crime simply can't be allowed to enter the Dawg's mind, lest he explode from cognitive dissonance.
Posted by: phantomreader42 | January 8, 2009 10:14 AM
"i support this" blathered, defending child abuse:
Thank you for admitting up front that you support child abuse. Most of your fellow cultists aren't that honest.
Imagine your child was raped and beaten, and you found them crying, bleeding, in pain. Then imagine you called the police and they said, to your face: "pictures or it didn't happen". Any officer who so utterly failed at his duties deserves to be fired, but you want that to be standard police procedure.
It would be poetic justice for you to be beaten within an inch of your life, then unable to prosecute your assailant based on your own sick denial of reality. Lucky for you the world isn't run entirely by psycopathic cultists like yourself.
Posted by: phantomreader42 | January 8, 2009 10:28 AM
Posted by: Taz | January 8, 2009 11:27 AM
No need for that. These are the Mormons, after all. It's acceptable if they are etched on golden plates by an angel and visible using seer stones only to a designated prophet of God. Just don't try to show them to anyone else or the angel will take them away.
Posted by: jpf | January 8, 2009 11:55 AM
What rights would those be? The right not to be adbucted, beaten, and held captive? The right to freedom of religious belief? Exactly what are you suggesting he needed to do to "earn" these very basic human rights?
On what do you base your claim that this man never learned responsibility? On the fact he hasn't gotten rich off these claims? It that alone demolishes his credibility, then there's no reason any jury would have found him credible enough to make him a rich man to start with (especially in Utah). Circular logic.
Pray tell, what were you before you were "normal"?
"Whether they were abuse(sic) or not?"
With this you banish any illusion of being interested in the facts of the case. Clearly your only goal is to defend this institution, no matter what may have happened there. You blithely rush to place the blame on a man you apparently don't know, while simultaneously all but declaring the alleged abuse irrelevant.
I can't vouch for this man's story, but I do know that similar institutions have done similar and worse things, aided and abetted every step of the way by sycophantic scum like you.
Like hell you're not.
Posted by: DaveL | January 8, 2009 12:23 PM
This thread provides a remarkable and very saddening example of just why it is that grifters like, for example, Dennis Lee or Joe Newman commonly seek marks among members of fundy churches: because the authoritarian-follower personalities who congregate in such groups are so astonishingly bad at reasoning and think that whether or not a claimant is part of the in-group is a basis for judging the truth value of his claims.
Pious brutality apologists: you're being played for suckers and you haven't the thinking skills to realize it. Unfortunately it's other people who are being made to suffer as a result, not yourselves.
Posted by: Ktesibios | January 8, 2009 12:40 PM
I read a book about secular camps like this a couple of years ago. The author pointed out that she could probably get several volumes out of religious camps. This is not unique to the Mormons. Furthermore, the warnings about manipulation that Jason S. quoted from the website are standard fare for these types of outfit.
While we're at it, I personally know someone who was sent to a place like this. She got out in only a year because her father had some kind of fight with the director, apparently over money, but even that one year was enough to produce what looked and sounded like a brainwashed godbot. She seemed to have gotten over it the last I saw her, but I shudder to think what would have happened if she'd been unable to get out before she was 18. She was 16 when she got shipped off to the place. It was religious, but not Mormon, AFAIK.
Posted by: Inquisitive Raven | January 8, 2009 2:12 PM
Thinking back, I had a friend with two children that got send to "counseling" camps that used some of those same justifications for what the kids would say. That frightens me some, both for what it meant for the kids and what they might have been like when they came out.
These kids were sociopaths, with actions ranging from simple lies and manipulation to get what they wanted, to teaming up to sexually abuse a younger step-sibling (and both of these two were pre-pubescent at the time). Their custody had been changed to the father, due to neglect and abuse with the mother, and they apparently worked in concert for years to damage the people who worked to help them escape that. When caught, there was no remorse, no thought to other people's humanity, nothing. I'm a cynical bastard, and they had me fooled for a long while; until they tried to play me off one of their relatives.
If the camps these two went to were even slightly abusive, I have no doubt that that they would come out even more vicious predators. If they got real help, then they might stand a chance of functioning like human beings. I honestly don't hold out much hope, though.
Posted by: Ranson | January 8, 2009 2:59 PM
6-7 PM MST - Friday, Jan 9th:
Listen in and catch the author of "Trapped in a Mormon Gulag" in a discussion with Utah Boys Ranch staff on KRCL.org @ 6 PM Mountain Standard Time on Friday, Jan 9th ...
http://www.krcl.org/
Posted by: Chino Blanco | January 8, 2009 11:38 PM
Mr Charles Dickens wrote a novel about such an institution as this one, "The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby" (1838-9). He got the idea, apparently, after touring 'boarding schools' in the north of England that were a dumping ground for 'uncontrollable', disabled and unwanted children. After the novel was published such institutions, facing negative press, public hostility and legislative scrutiny, closed down.
Yet again conservative America has crept back into it's 19th Century comfort zone. - :( DJ
Posted by: DIngoJack | January 9, 2009 1:27 AM
Again, this is NOT a Mormon camp. It is non-denominational. It's called West Ridge Academy. Look it up. Get educated. Was there anything to corroborate this guy's claims? It is a place for TROUBLED teens after all. http://www.utahboysranch.org
Posted by: Russell | February 1, 2009 12:31 PM
After the Utah legislature defeated a bill to allow hospital visitation and medical decision making by unmarried partners (gays) with no complaints from the LDS church, there can be no defense of Mormons. Mormons are possessed of a murderous hatred of gays
Posted by: Frank | February 19, 2009 11:13 AM
After the Utah legislature defeated a bill to allow hospital visitation and medical decision making by unmarried partners (gays) with no complaints from the LDS church, there can be no defense of Mormons. Mormons are possessed of a murderous hatred of gays
Posted by: Frank | February 19, 2009 11:13 AM
I cal tell you everything you need to know about the lying trolls supporting this bullshit: Each and every one of them is a Mormon. Furthermore, they're not only die-hard Mormon sheep, but each and every oen of them is a right-wing authoritarian. To them, anything that criticizes Mormonism is no less than religious bigotry on par with the Holocaust, and to them, no act, no matter how reprehensible, is wrong if done by an authority figure, doubly so if the figure is a Mormon.
How do I know this? I've seen a prime example of it. Go to the Fundies Say the Darnedest Things website forum and look for the guy called "Skyfire". This guy, who also posts in places under the name "Fortress Ironhold" (if you can't tell, he's a Transformers fan, and that's how I first ran across him) is a prime source of the same gharbage the trolls in these comments are saying. His defenses of Mormon abuses and the Mormon Gulag are exactly the same, down to the letter. It's rather sickening. He defends any action taken by Mormon RWAs, so long as they're Mormon RWAs.
Personally, I'm of the mind that we need to weed these people out of society - as long as they'll defend abuse, they are undeserving of the benefits of humanity. Let them live in the wild, let their tyrant skyman provide for them.
Posted by: Blue Fielder | February 19, 2009 2:28 PM
I read "Jesusland" not too long ago about a similar camp set up by some other ridiculous denomination. It's a heartbreaking story (Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Land-Memoir-Alex-Awards/dp/1582433380 . I don't work for amazon).
But that Mormons have a desire to dominate all around them is a fact that can't be denied. The evidence simply speaks too loudly. Anything that doesn't conform to their doctrine must be killed. And it's been going on for a long time.
Posted by: garth | February 19, 2009 6:20 PM
Was West Ridge Academy's license renewed? Has any mainstream media outlet covered Eric Norwood's story? Is there any further substantiation anywhere?
Google is coming up empty.
Posted by: Jim Lippard | February 19, 2009 9:11 PM
You all may find this poor victim's experiences astonishing but we have been tracking the epidemic of priestly abuse for the past twenty years. Twenty years ago we were trying to
alert the public to this problem whilst child care charities
were sweeping it under the carpet because the edifice of
charitable status is so closely linked with the religious establishment and 'doing good'. The child charities couldn't very well accuse the hand that fed (funded) them. That's what the myth of Satanic Ritual Abuse was all about - a smokescreen so that perverted priests the world over could continue victimising helpless kids whilst the government and child care charities looked elsewhere. It's happening in the U.K. just the same. Get informed and up to speed on www.saff.org.uk/sickvics.htm - Arnold
Posted by: Arnold Frampton | July 28, 2009 10:05 AM
I was there. They abused us physically, mentally, and sexually emotionally. I had no idea practices such as these could possibly exist in America.I would say the majority of attendees have PTSD from their experiences there, and I
Posted by: Keith Moore | August 12, 2011 6:39 PM
The abuse is part of what is done for mind control purposes and it is orchestrated, organized through the control of the LDS church. Please read my long post which helps put some of the pieces together.
We even met with a "mortgage runner" who delivered envelopes of money to bought-off Judges who would look the other way when "drugs were flown into reservations and distributed by the police of Utah". This testimony came from an illegal immigrant who was the interpreter (slave) for King Hinckley.
There are so many puzzle pieces that fit together for an awful picture of why the LDS church IS the third "great and abominable church" which took out the "plain and precious truths" from the Book of Mormon. Wake up LDS Sheep! (D&C 64)
Posted by: Karen Davis | November 29, 2011 12:54 PM
I'm glad that there is a growing Utah Mother's organization against the atrocities that take place at the Mormon Gulog/Westridge and throughout Utah.
Isaiah warned that all secrets would be disclosed with all corruption being "shouted from the rooftops". My disclosure of the secret evils of Utah Mormon leaders comes with spiritual confirmation that it is time for everything to be exposed. After all if the truth doesn't come out, then the abuse will continue! Those telling the truth are protected by God, I've seen this to be true.
Truth and full disclosure is of God with secrets being of Satan. Which explains the evils of the secrets (silly Masonic signs, hand shakes, names, etc) of the LDS temples which are condemned by God (D&C 124).
One young girl and her even younger brother were taken away from their good mother and sent to Westridge by her wealthy father, a MD, Cardiologist by the name of Charles Dahl due to an unfair divorce with bought off lawyers and judges all in league with the Mormon Gestapo. The mother expended over three million dollars fighting for her kids stolen from her by slimy LDS liars/lawyers of Utah.
The young girl remembers being kidnapped several times while at Westridge and remembers being taken forcibly. She was injected with some kind of drug. Later a porn DVD is discovered with her in it!? She was taken to Westridge at a young age due to the divorce and NOT because of any behavior problems. The now impoverished mother lost custody of her children and could not pay the wealthy dad the $2,000 a month nanny fees so he shipped off his kids to Westridge for sexual abuse, mind control, etc..
Her father is very corrupt and a member of the Mormon Mafia/"Danite Warriors", a secret combination/organization complete with the serious satanic blood oaths as practiced ignorantly in all LDS Temples and read about in the Journal of Discourses.
We've been told to SEEK truth and to not trust in the arm of flesh or "prophets that cause my people to err". The early church history is incredibly enlightening about the evils of our church history including blood atonement murders, castration of young boys so the old perverts could get the young girls, not one women was happy with polygamy, men admitting the evil of polygamy but like Joseph got into their "carnal desires" as warned against in D&C 3:1-11 and early church history.
A great book to read is by Ann Eliza Young (10th wife to divorce Brigham Young) written in 1876 entitled, "Wife No. 19 or The Story of A Life in Bondage".
Another great enlightening book is written by LDS Cathy OBrien, "Trance Formation of America" about the CIA MKUltra torture and mind control justified by the world elite to bring about the Millennial Peace through control of the people with the "Pope and the Mormon Prophet fully in support of The Project". Why else did LDS Judge Jay Bybee write the legal memo to legalize torture. The reason behind the divinely exposed Gitmo waterboarding, sexual abuse, etc. is mind control.
Senator Frank Church exposed the majority LDS CIA MKUltra mind control program in Congressional Hearings as available on the internet. This is a reality and the Mormon Leaders and the Catholic leaders have allowed sexual abuse and torture BEHIND THE SCENES for a long time.
Do the research to know WHY the Interoffice Memo written by Pace about Satanic Ritual Abuse aka sexual abuse and trauma for mind control purposes goes on. The leaders want to create a "perfect" people through control...
Look at the Osmonds, the Jacksons, etc. to see what has been happening to entertainers who don't usually remember what they've been through until they have a break down like Marie Osmond's live interview confession that she was sexually abused by family members as a child then her words were altered.
What I've related is only the tip of the iceberg of what is really going on in the "all is well in Zion" propaganda the leaders feed the sheep.
The abuse at Westridge is just the secret corruption of mind control and abuse that goes on secretly among the elite.
Please read Glen L. Pace's "Interoffice Memo" which describes abuse that goes on by top church leaders throughout Utah.
Other good books written by good but ignorant Mormons about extreme abuse by church leaders include:
"Paperdolls: Healing from Sexual Abuse in Mormon Neighborhoods" headed by an apostle's daughter and son-in-law (Kathleen Hinckley and Alan Barnes who confessed to the FBI about his signing the Olympic bribery check and then conveniently dying before trial ~read SLTrib article "The Silent Witness").
Read "Hell Minus One" with the torture abusers providing a written confession of horrible torture and sex abuse of one of their kids (the designated scapegoat like Martha Beck sexually abused daughter of Hugh Nibley) at the direction of their Bishop and Stake President who were a part of the "sex ring". The author died not too long ago, but we were told the "path of loyalty" taken for the LDS leaders to get called to their Rameumptun positions... and it is NOT based on worthiness by God but rather a facade. No prophecies, no revelations, and no spirit of God based on a history of "faith-promoting lies" rather than truth...
I'm a Mormon who believes in the original Book of Mormon which warns the Mormons about the corruption of the church today.
Posted by: Karen | December 11, 2011 8:17 PM