The things that i remember most are the brainwashing techniques they used on us the staff played audio tapes at every meal i can still hear the fucking tapes in my head saying tranquility over and over. The seminars were a whole other kind of torture “Accountability” was my least favorite i remember everybody beating towels with knots in them on the floor yelling and crying i just stopped and looked around and i couldn’t believe the amount of anger and emotion in the room i wondered if i was even that mad about my life it felt like hell. I remember the disgusting bathrooms and having to call strange men father. And the only way to level up in the program was for a student council to vote u up. Me being 12 and extra shy and not a very good speaker at the time it was very hard for me. I repeatedly got denied in the voting system. To the point i a hated the student council. I just didn’t understand if i had had the power to vote yes and one of my peers went home sooner i would have voted yes every time. We would get in trouble for minor things like not cleaning our rooms good enough i even got in trouble for masturbating once and the place was run by Mormons so thats somehow a sin but i was 12 or 13 as a grown man now i think thats natural and if i was to catch my son id laugh i wouldn’t punish him for it. And the punishments were extreme they called it “worksheet” we literally had to sit on a bench but only on the very edge of it i believe the exact measurement was only 2 inches on. There we would have to listen to more tapes these were more about history which i admit i liked these tapes better.they would also take us out in the courtyard and make us do extensive works to the point i threw up on multiple occasions. Not to mention that the whole area was made of astro turf and when u ran on it it would literally slice threw the skin.i also remember them making us get on our hands and knees and finger pick this astro turf with our bare hands i guess we were vacuum cleaners or something. Which reminds me that the only way for us to sweep our bedroom floors was a broom i failed the inspections quite a few times and ended up in work sheet. The most strange part about the whole experience is there were nights i think i was drugged it wasn’t till years later that i had flashbacks of this time period in my life and i specifically remember standing in a cold room in just my underwear with a guard named Arturo standing there smacking us on our heads and yelling at us. We were allowed to write home but the group manager named oliva read all our mail and if we asked to come home that was considered manipulation if we talked about how bad the program was that was manipulation it was not allowed and the flat out wouldn’t send the letters the worst punishment you could receive was R&R the consisted on a very small room where you had to lay on your stomach with your feet in the air i remember them putting a 2 liter bottle on my head and when it fell they kicked me this happened multiple times before i guessed the realized that it wasn’t gonna stay my head aint flat. I don’t like to talk about it much i cant even explain the amount of stress i still feel because of that place i almost didn’t write a whole story all i wanted to write “was it was hell”
Casa By The Sea – Things I Remember – Cory P.
by WWASP Survivors | Sep 13, 2020 | Casa By the Sea, Survivor Testimony | 5 comments
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Cory,
I just read your experience. What year did you go to Casa by the Sea and how long were you there? My daughter went there. I am pretty sure it was was 2000 to 2001 and she was there a year and a half. Her name was Angela Collins. I know she spoke about the levels you had to achieve for certain privileges. I remember she couldn’t wear make up or shave for the first six months. This was not my idea to send her. It was her father’s because she was living with him at the time and it was his idea because she was sneaking out, partying and lying. I was against this but had no say in the matter. I think they brainwashed her. I got letters putting the blame on me because I think Casa wanted to be on her father’s side. I am so happy to hear this awful place was shut down. I am sure there are a lot of things I don’t or didn’t know about what went on. I commend you for being honest and your experience and I hope it helps others so they can see how terrible these places are. I can’t believe the treatment you endured. These people are animals. I read other stories from people who stayed there and I just don’t understand why parents wouldn’t know the horrible things going on in this facility. It was $40,000 to send her for a year and a half.
I am glad this is behind you and all the people who endured this abuse. These people who ran the facility should be in prison as far as I am concerned. Thank you.
I went there in 1998 to 1999 I remember everything you talked about. I myself was in R&R many times and I was kicked punched spit on and other horrible things if I moved. I got moved to tranquility Bay in Kingston Jamaica bc casa couldn’t handle me they said. TB was way worse than casa and that says something. My parents never apologized for sending me there. I can’t even talk about the abuse I endured there because it is so horrible. I remember being sick and had a fever of 104.6 and they refused to send me to the hospital. They said I should be ok. The “Mammas” there were just as abusive. I had 1 nice one. Once they found out she actually cared she was never there again. It’s crazy how many of us there are
Cory,
I just read your experience. What year did you go to Casa by the Sea and how long were you there? My daughter went there. I am pretty sure it was was 2000 to 2001 and she was there a year and a half. Her name was Angela Collins. I know she spoke about the levels you had to achieve for certain privileges. I remember she couldn’t wear make up or shave for the first six months. It was her father’s because she was living with him at the time and it was his idea because she was sneaking out, partying and lying. I was against this but had no say in the matter. I think they brainwashed her. I got letters putting the blame on me because I think Casa wanted to be on her father’s side. I am so happy to hear this awful place was shut down. I am sure there are a lot of things I don’t or didn’t know about what went on. I commend you for being honest and your experience and I hope it helps others so they can see how terrible these places are. I can’t believe the treatment you endured. These people are animals. I read other stories from people who stayed there and I just don’t understand why parents wouldn’t know the horrible things going on in this facility. It was $40,000 to send her for a year and a half.
I am glad this is behind you and all the people who endured this abuse. These people who ran the facility should be in prison as far as I am concerned. Thank you.
Thank for for sharing your story! I was at Casa by the sea in April 1999 till sept 2001 was 29 months of hell.
Thank you for sharing your story. I still live with horrible things that happened to me at Casa By the Sea. It destroyed me from the age of 17 to well… I still deal with the abuse I experienced there but not as much as it used too. I was there in 2003 or 2004 I can’t remember for sure.