DECLARATION UNDER PENALTY OF PERJURY PURSUANT TO 28 USCA 1746
I, Mary-joan Bouman declare and state as follows:
Name of Program:
Bethel Girls Academy
Location of Program:
Petal, MS
Period of Internment (MM/YY to MM/YY)
11/2003-5/2004
Declarative Statement
I was at Bethel Girls Academy in between the closing in Sept. 2003 and May/June 2004. Unlike many of the other girls there, I have never done drugs and had never drank or even smoked before being sent here. I wasn’t taken in the middle of the night by Roxy and her partner. My first morning there I witness two adults snap a girl’s wrist when they held her down and hit her. I was “smoked” on multiple occasions, meaning we had to exercise until we either threw up or passed out. We had to go into the pond where the sewage drained as a punishment and were not allowed to take a shower afterwards. I was ordered to sweep up drywall dust from the new school building until my hands were bleeding and were covered in splinters from the broom. I had my head go through a window and hit the metal bars on the other side by another girl and was never taken for medical treatment or checked for a discussion. I also was not treated for a respiratory infection until my family doctor in Missouri told my mother that he needed to see me immediately. He gave me three rounds of the strongest antibiotic I could take before it finally cleared because they refused to give me my medicine the required number of times a day. I have seen grown men hit girls and send them flying across the room. I beg you to do your research before you send your child to any of these schools. My mom found out about the history after I was sent there, after I was threatened by the staff. I remember an 11 year old girl begging me not to go on a visit with my parents and not to leave because bad stuff always happened to her when I left. You have other options. Please do your research unlike my parents did. It has been over 10 years and I still have nightmares that feel like I never left.
I give WWASPSurvivors permission to use this statement. I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.
Executed on(date: MM/DD/YY): 01/21/14
