The links below are to stories about kids who have been placed into a Mormon "tough love" facility. The stories are pretty disturbing.

Before I start, let me say a couple of things:

1. I have never raised a child with emotional or mental problems, so I can't imagine how hard that would be to do.
2. Although I am NO fan of the LDS (imagine that, right?), I am not trying to single the LDS out here -- there are all sorts of these "tough love" facilities, both Mormon and non-Mormon.

The stories mostly follow the basic theme of the child being at home unsuspecting, when a couple of large guys come in and kidnap the child. The child is transported to one of these facilities where the child is physically and verbally (and sometimes sexually) abused, emotionally and mentally manipulated -- all without any recourse to any authorities.

The facilities seem to be concentrated in the west, although they are located in other rural places -- I remember the Tennessee facility that was in the blog news a few years ago.

I can't say that I can ever understand a parent sending a child to a touch "love" facility.

First off, if a child has a true mental or emotional or behavioral problem, there are medical facilities and drugs that can help deal with it. For example, if you have a child who is manic-depressive, there are drugs for that. Raising a child like that has got to be a pretty horrendous experience.

Side note: I have a very limited experience with manic-depressive disease. I had a suite mate in undergrad who stopped taking his meds and ended up doing weird things, like loudly singing hymns from the dorm balcony at 3AM. He ended up dropping out of school and going into a medical facility -- my roommate and I called him once there just to make sure he was doing ok.

The reason this topic catches my interest in particular is that a lot these kids are sent to facilities just because they are gay. That's what I find unbelievable. It boils my blood to think that a parent would be so hateful as to send a child to a facility because the child's sexuality doesn't match what the parents want it to be.

Based on the descriptions below, my only question is when will all of these facilities be shut down and legal prosecution begin?

Being kidnapped was probably the last thing I was worried about at 15 years old. I was staying at my grandma's house that fateful night....

*****
...I struggled for breath as he mounted my back, put his finger in my mouth, and pulled back on my cheek, fish-hooking me. The pain was incredible. I tried to beg him to stop, but the words would not come.

After he finished beating and bludgeoning submissiveness into me, he pulled me up by the rope that was lassoed around my waist. The wool army blanket I had fashioned as a skirt had shifted askew and I stood there in my boxers bleeding from my nose, humiliated...


*****
The first person I met in Utah was Senator Chris Buttars (Editors note: Executive Director of the facility). I had no idea who he was until that point...

...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."


*****
That's when I saw Brent - or 'Captain America,' as he was called disparagingly - for the first time. My leash was handed off to him, but he told me to wrap it around my waist and go join the group of young men who were standing with their noses touching the wall, all spread out about arms length from each other....

...He had just slammed my forehead into the wall, and now he had put his foot behind mine and pushed me, sending me to the floor flat on my back.

He stood over me and bawled, "Don't look at me. Don't look around. Don't you MOVE without permission! You don't do anything without permission! If you talk, I think you are talking about running away, and I will restrain you. Do you understand?" I nodded. I knew then that I had to get out of this place. I wasn't going to last here.

http://orato.com/lifestyles/2009/01/02/trapped-mormon-gulag?page=1

Another big complaint is the lack of actual therapy. The boys ranch has the idea that discipline will solve all problems. Everyone’s treatment is the same regardless of the specific circumstances. Boys with depression issues are given the same treatment as rapists and child molesters. Drug addicts the same treatment as kids with ADD. All of these issues are simply boys that don’t respect authority and are acting out. You are simply told to work your program which ones finds hard as there is no specific program laid out or therapy sessions....

...I figured I would send a brief list of some examples of abuse I can think of off the top of my head.

-Work crew boys were lead around on leashes forced to act like dogs and bark for food.
-Boys were threatened with “restraining” if they did not do as they were told.
-Boys were forced to sit outside in the snow for hours.
-Run laps in the snow bare foot in just their pajamas.
-Their hands were taped together with duct tape.
-Boys were strip searched for “drugs” as a punishment and to humiliate them in front of other boys.
-Boys were put on “suicide” watch as punishment forced to lay on a mattress in the middle of the room with all the light on and loud music playing.
-They were sleep deprived and harassed while sleeping.
-Awakened every hour by “night staff”
-Boys would be physically restrained for no reason at all
-One boy’s restraining was so violent it causes a hernia
- Suicide attempts were a dime a dozen these boys were physical punished and threatened with more violence if they tried again
- As punishment younger boys would be placed in rooms with older boys who would sometimes abuse them
- Boys were punished for thinking they were homosexual as it was a “sin” and were put on work crew
-Boys were restrained for not praying
-Restrained for not reading the book of Mormon
- Chris Buttars would threaten to keep boys until they were 21,because he was a senator and had that power, apparently there was nothing your parents could do.
- When boys would complain to parents about conditions they were punished and their parents were told the boys were simply lying and trying to manipulate them.
- Forced to eat food off the floor.
- Forced to eat entire raw onions.
- One entire home was forced to lay in lock down position for an entire weekend, urinating was not allowed
- One boy was dragged around by needle nose pliers in the nose and threatened to have his nose ripped off.
-Desks were throw at boys
-Desks were thrown, while boys were sitting in them.
- Not allowed to eat, or only given partial meals

That is what I remember however I know many more things happened and most of these instances were quite frequent in occurrence.

http://web.mac.com/goodk/www.MormonGulag.com/Testimonials_/Entries/2008/10/7_.html

Chris Buttars ordered two large men to violently rip my clothes off, shave my head bald and made me walk around naked (my underwear was torn in struggle) with nothing but an army blanket for 2 weeks. My room mates whom I was locked in with were there for sexually molesting their younger brothers. I was 13 and I never recovered from my experiences there.

It was much worse than that but I can't stand to describe it. I'd give anything to ask him ‘why?’

He allowed mentally ill children to grow up without any psychological treatment (mental illness in the boys ranch was defined as "the crazy act for attention") He also turned a blind eye to prison justice against these kids in his boys ranch

Beyond that he is the worst human being I've ever been eye to eye with.

http://web.mac.com/goodk/www.MormonGulag.com/Testimonials_/Entries/2008/4/28__6.html

Hat tip to Pam's House Blend for the link.

Recorded back in 1999 -- people in glass houses, lol! Such a bad, naughty boy....



Found on http://www.omgblog.com/index.php