Darrington Academy
Darrington Academy in Blue Ridge Georgia was opened by Dace Goulding and Richard Darrington in 2004, the same year Casa By The Sea was raided and shut down. Darrington’s history is checkered with accounts of illegal workers, escapes, odd “fear factor” games where children were challenged to eat repulsive/ spoiled food, and investigations by the authorities. Due to reports of Darringtons affiliation with WWASP via verious sources on the internet, Rich Darrington asked Dace Goulding to become a silent partner in Darrington Academy and sent out a rebuttal to parents to attempt to dissuade their concerns. Many accounts of abuse and maltreatment by survivors lead to an investigation by the Fannin County Police Department. In 2009, the facility was closed and Rich Darrington was arrested for assault and battery on 2 students in his care.
According to the Blue Ridge News Observer, Darrington was arrested in May by Fannin County sheriff’s investigators for allegedly slamming a 17-year-old student on the floor, causing a tooth to fall out, and pushing a 16-year-old juvenile into a wall. Darrington paid $6,000 bail and was released from jail. He relocated to Nevada, though the charges are still pending.
Staff
Dace Goulding
Owner of Casa By The Sea and co-owner of High Impact. First worked for Paradise Cove in Samoa. After CBS was closed in 2004 Goulding along with an old High School buddy Rich Darrington, opened another program called Darrington Academy in Blue Ridge Georgia. Darrington Academy was closed and criminal charges were pressed against Rich Darrington, for assault and battery of a minor. At some point he was working in a public school, but currently Goulding reports to be coaching Little League ”Back in St. George”, which is only about 20 miles away from the Cross Creek Property in La Verkin.
Richard Darrington
Richard Darrington partnered with Dace Goulding, an old school buddy, to open Darrington Academy in 2004, the same year Casa By The Sea closed. In May 2009 and charged with battery on two students at the school. When Darrington Academy closed, he moved to Lake Tahoe, Nevada, and got a job as the dean at a private school. His license to teach was subsequently suspended by the state of Nevada in relation to his pending charges in Georgia.
Survivor Testimony
Testimony from Surveys:
Survivor Testimony – Zachary Bland
Survivor Testimony – Laetitia Ray Moreno
Survivor Testimony – Anonymous
Survivor Testimony – Courtney Hall
Gallery
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I’m Jack Ingram I went to Harrington and was later sent to tranquility bay in Jamaica and I know what me and the other kids went threw and are going threw no one should send their kid to any wwasp program fuck them all stay strong feel free to contact me if you need to talk or need info at ingram12121990@yahoo.com
I WENT HERE! It was a absolute nightmare. December 2004
If I tried to list all of the horrible things that happened here I’d be typing forever.
My family rep was ms.sara and she was HUGE on humiliation and physical exertion. I was a part of the shut down and was transfer to and even worse place called red river with a lot of others. We were transported like prisoners. The trauma never dies. I was 13.
This place was absolutely ridiculous. There was many many things wrong with this place. I was only there for 6 months thankfully and didn’t have to graduate the impossible program. I was only 14. I did witness one kid escape the fence and was brought back hours later. Darrington and the old German goon with the dog went and beat the wrap out of him and kept him in the solitary room for a long time. Can’t imagine the pages he had to right. I had to right the pages for 3 hours once for taking a extra cookie. And all allegations are true that I’ve seen other than the spoiled food. Didn’t witness that. But the no contact with anyone or family. Other than the one email letter that was approved by your rep and altered. Forced physical abuse. Verbal abuse. Serious consequences for talking or other small things. The program was impossible. If you didn’t have a heck of a terrible story and cry and everything then you’d be put out and not advance. The schooling part was a joke. When I was there we could log into anyone’s account and see all answers for every curriculum. They used to have a bare solitary room 2 of them. You’d serve a time period in there with a guard at the door. You’d have to seep on the tile floor. All in all that place was horrible. Can’t imagine the people who were there for way longer than me. Anyway that’s just a little of my two sense.
I am Zeke Rodriguez i went to Darrington until it closed and the Gouldings were okay guys..
If it was so great and they were such great guys, why was it closed TWICE and why was Richard Darrington ARRESTED and CONVICTED for his actions at Darrington Academy?
I said the Goulding’s . I was personally beaten probably more than anyone there at the time and was there when it shut down and we got sent to red river where I met dusky Goulding one of the coolest guys I know. WHY HAS JOHN GONYAY NOT BEEN BEOUGHT UP IF YOU GUYS WERE REALLY ABUSED YOUD KNOW THIS IS THE EXECUTIONER
John Gange was a terrible man. He once threatened me by kicking a hole through the wall of a trailer, claiming that he could feel no pain in that foot, so if he kicked me as hard as he could he would feel nothing. That was just one occurrence, this man was off his rocker. He used to bring his “attack dog” to the property occasionally, stating that he only took German commands, and with one word he could have the animal tear us apart, literally murder a person. The level of mental and physical abuse this place has instilled in so many youth is shameful and downright dehumanizing. These people should all be terribly ashamed of themselves, but their narcissistic and egotistical nature may keep them from feeling any semblance of empathy. I see some people sharing mixed experiences about not having seen or experienced any abuse, but I can guarantee you these people are either delusional or downright lucky.
I was wondering why Gonya (I don’t think that’s the correct spelling) was on the list of employees
Rachel, I know you wrote years ago but in the off chance you see this, is the song you’re talking about “I miss you” by Aaliyah? There was a girl there that sung that song beautifully when I was there and I think we were there around the same time
I was a graduate of darrington academy and i must say it was not NEARLY as horrible as this website has made it out to be. Yes, it was very tough, but like most kids who attended the school, i needed tough. we were NEVER forced to eat spoiled food and mr. Darrington NEVER abused a child. There were a few things with which I did not necessarily agree, but that was one of the main lessons that Darrington Academy tried to teach us: You don’t always have to like or control the situations that you’re in, but you CAN control how you handle them. The school was for troubled youth, meaning that most of us had a LOT of problem with authority. a lot of us would say anything to try to get out of there; trying to manipulate our parents like we had done in the past because it was indeed extremely strict and we didn’t like that. what i think (and am almost certain) happened was that one kid told his or her parents the “horrible” mistreatment we were subject to, and these parents, as they had been in the past gave in to their kid’s bitching. I was an undisciplined, spoiled-rotten, insecure teenager going in, and I came out with confidence, self-worth, independence, and accountability that came from the character-building program of Darrington Academy. These accusations are outrageous, I was NOT brain-washed or abused, but disciplined and challenged. We were NEVER forced to do anything, but given a choice to take responsibility for our actions and get out of there or continue to be a bratty, selfish little kid and sit there longer than necessary. This is an outrage. It’s been 8 years and I still feel this way. and it saddens and angers me that discipline is now seen by our pussy society as abuse. and I MUST clarify that the philosophy of the school was NOT based on ANY physical abuse. NOT ONE STAFF MEMBER, ESPECIALLY MR. DARRINGTON EVER WAS THE KIND OF PERSON TO HURT A CHILD. I truly believe that Dace and he were genuinely devoted to helping kids succeed. what happen to them was a tragedy and was fueled by sheer ignorance
Really? Because…
“A grand jury in Georgia has indicted a former Whittell High School administrator [Richard Darrington] on felony charges of aggravated battery, invasion of privacy, and four counts of first degree cruelty to children. ”
http://www.heal-online.org/wwasp120609.pdf
I went to Darrington (India was in my ‘family’ actually). Fortunately for India, she didn’t see the bad sides of Dace, Rich, or any of the staff really. I did. I was in Richard’s office almost every week. I wasn’t a trouble maker, I did what I was told…and then some. I tried really working the program and doing it the “right” way, but it wasn’t enough. I had to fake it to make it till the end. And at the end, I was supposed to graduate (3 months after I turned 18), but they were money hungry and wouldn’t let me graduate…that’s when my parents finally saw the light and came and got me. I’ve been diagnosed PTSD due to my time there. I was on a vegetarian diet because I didn’t eat pork. I was forced to eat the nastiest things. If I puked, I got in trouble…and I can go on and on with these types of stories.
Point is, not everyone who went there knew what bad shit was happening. I do not doubt at all that Rich put his hands on a kid..because he did it to me. Get that man angry enough…well refer to court documents.
I’m glad it’s closed. 10 years ago today I was there, and had been there for a few months. I was there for 1.5 years….and though yes I learned some things; I’m still recovering. I’ve gone years without thinking about that place. But then it just takes one song, one smell, on word to bring me back.
Never forced to do anything? If we didn’t break down and cry with some sob story of abuse we couldn’t move forward. There are children that never advanced/got out for 3-4+ years because of these programs. There are children who never committed a crime that were locked up for longer periods than rapists and pedophiles. Do you really think that’s justice?
I went to casa by the sea in 1999…I was beaten a few times. A living nightmare…I remember kids were getting molested and no way to get them help..dace if your reading this you fucked up so many kids lives…and jason too. You mother fucker will rot in hell for your action..its been 21 years since I left casa and I still have dreams about it…
I think the most telling part of some of these comments is how some people still feel the need to or compulsively use “MR.” or “MS.”, even after all these years, even as adults themselves.
Me myself? I say plain old Jade, Jason, Brian, Dwayne, or whatever…unless I’m using something like “that abusive douche” or “that fucking idiot” instead.
Dace Goulding was a sadistic abusive asshole in Samoa, he was a sadistic abusive asshole in Mexico, and I can’t imagine the school he opened in Georgia was any different. And the majority of the stories from kids who went there, as well as the criminal charges filed, support that theory.
Desert Hills Middle School ought to fire his ass.
My previous comment was deleted so I’ll say his, I’m in contact with the school he’s at, working on it, I’ve also contacted a lawyer to handle it with the school district, and I’m nearby may just make a visit
your previous post wasn’t deleted. you just posted it on another thread. you can find it here:
https://wwaspsurvivors.com/darrington-responds/#comment-115491
cheers.
-admin
I love what you guys are up too. This type of clever work and exposure!
Keep up the excellent works guys I’ve included you guys to my personal blogroll.
My parents sent me to DA when I was 14 years old, I graduated the six step program a little before my 16th birthday. DA was not meant to help kids, aside from that one therapist NO ONE there was a licensed medical health professional. I saw young girls gets tackled and restrained by fully grown men. I saw young girls get dragged into an isolation room without food and perhaps even water for days simply because they did not wish to speak to anyone.
I was never hurt because I complied. I told the staff, my parents, and even the seminar facilitators what they wanted to hear. In the seminars when I spoke of my moms suicide they told me it was not only my fault but that I was hiding something “bigger”. As if my mother taking her life after struggling with mental health issues when I was 8 years old wasn’t a good enough reason to be depressed and suicidal myself.
I had to make up a story about being raped in order to advance through the seminars. I had to stand up in front of a room of 40 strangers and fabricate a story about being attacked and assaulted just to get through the seminar. They then made me tell my parents about it and to this day they still believe it happened.
The school did not help me in any way, shape, or form. If anything it made the relationship between me and my family worse. After I graduated the program my parents insisted on having a point and levels based program at home as well. I was a 16 year old girl and couldn’t even talk unsupervised on the phone to my brother. I could go outside by myself. I lost five points and lost levels for leaving a towel on the floor or walking to the park. Mind you I never did any hard drugs and wasn’t involved in a gang. I was just a very sad and scared girl who felt completely isolated and unsupported.
I was not surprised to see the school got shut down as Darrington would frequently beat the students. It mostly happened on the guys side of the school as the girls were more complacent. The food they fed us absolutely did not meet our nutritional needs, most gained about 40 lbs or more because all we ate was unhealthy meals from cans. I understand parents were probably desperate when they sent their kids to DA but taking one look at the school in person you would see it was NOT an adequate treatment facility.
Why wasn’t it a red flag when parents were signing away their kids to a facility that said under no circumstances could they be held liable for their death? why was it not worrisome when you received edited letters from your children and couldn’t call them or see them?
I am now almost 24 years old and I still have nightmares about the seminars and what they made us do. They brainwashed us to blame ourselves for everything we did in our life. If you were abused they would ask what choices you made to earn that abuse. If you were raped what choices did you make to deserve it?
It makes my skin crawl when I remember a facilitator asking a young girl to describe how her uncle touched her sexually in full detail and forced her to say she secretly LIKED it and wanted it. She was SEVEN YEARS OLD when this happened to her.
Anyone who can in any way defend this horrid and sad excuse for an educational or treatment facility should be ashamed.
Dear Bri M,
Your smile some days was the only thing that kept me going. I remember at the classroom doors if we were leading the lines we would briefly see each other through the window to yell GIRLS/BOYS COMING THROUGH and we’d have maybe a half a second of genuine human interaction. I really hope you are doing well, those seminars we endured were super rough, and none of us deserved that kind of treatment.
Charles Pool
I hope my dad burns in hell for putting me there. Some people really don’t understand what some kids went through. The staff like the person who managed my mail with my parents were some sneaky scamming mother fuckers. And the way the “restrained” kids was disgusting. Fuck every single person who worked here and at red river. I genuinely hope u all have a terrible fucking lives. Please.
I was a parent of a child at Darringtonn Academy. I’m at a lose as the day I made the decision to send my whole life there. My son that was on drugs, suicidal, in trouble with the law. Darrington was the only answer I had. His dad had made the choice to not be involved in his life much and now I look back on it I made it to easy to be a dead beat dad I should have allowed the kids to get in a car with a totally intoxicated man. What was I thinking? Right wrong or indifferent I had no other choice. My son is extremely successful.
Not everyone had the same experience. But one thing is for certain- the kids who had it bad , had it bad. I attended in 2007 i missed every major holiday and all because a family member recommended it. I was 15 when i went to darrington. My father had just been murdered, and I was acting out a bit by drinking and breaking curfew. I accept that at the time i may have been an out of control teenager, but i still do not think i deserved anything that i went through there. I was served fish with scales still on it. I was forced to eat when i was full. I was forced to urinate myself when me and my friend “passed a note” and “cheated in school” just because she read my hand writing about a math problem. I am now a COLLEGE GRADUATE. And they treated me like a criminal. I was constantly knocked down to level 1 , never got above level 2 and one time it was literally because me and my bunk mate reached our hands to each other after lights out and just held hands. Someone snitched and we were punished very bad the next day. She was there for KISSING A BLACK GUY, by the way. I saw girls touched, tackled, restrained like George Floyd. It has been many years, but i cannot forget what ive seen here. At one seminar, they were screaming at me and eventually had me removed because i had a broken collarbone at the entirety of my stay, and they wanted me to beat a rug and i could not physically do it. I also had lice untreated for months because someone from juvie came in and they let her stay in our room. The nurse literally said “gross i dont do that here, you have to to wait.” I lost half of the hair on my head and even this many years later, i dont expect some of these physical emotional and mental wounds to ever heal. You can say you did not share the same experience, but you cannot defend and say it was not bad just because your program was different. i hope you all are doing well, because those of you who did have to suffer at darrington, you never deserved it. re-building a relationship with mother has been incredibly
difficult because i almost felt “how could you NOT know?!”
not only could my family
not get my letters or speak to me on the phone, but i received letters with words cut out and my mom did not have a clue. at least now i know, because i have become a parent, i will never send my child somewhere that safety is not a guarantee. these emotional scars will not go away, but at least the kids who were going to be sent here are safe now.
Hi Alyssa I remember you hope all is well I believe I was the friends you were talking about we got dropped together this place was terrible
yea man i went to darrington or what ever tha hell you speel it no one can forget me the only italian kid who couldn’t speek english but fuck everyone one there especialy the staff only mr.pepper (R.I.P) was the only real one
i mean at the end of the day it wasnt it that fucking bad suck a dick grow a pair and keep on going with life meet some great people and i meet some people who i hope they die from cancer wile there mothere gets rape but what can i do
i speek like that cause i have alot of anger in a way towards that program so much abuse and so lack of rules couldn’t even look left wile eating or you loose points without out being told and i even seen someone get slamed and brought to to detention for the night etc and so much more
You were my buddy in there!!
My daughter was there but we got her out…does anyone know her or how she was treated? Her name is Toni Freeland and she was in the Hera Family
I was in Hera with Toni, she was my friend! Like most of us she struggled.. with stupid and petty rules we broke without ever meaning to. I remember her struggling with depression, especially when she got the orange or red shirt(it’s been a long time so I can’t remember which). . She is an amazing person
This was most definitely a money racketiny scam. Rich Darlington and the rest of the staff there were abusing us mentally and physically as kids and hindering our childhood development while convincing our parents or guardians that we were fine and succeeding in our growing. I was only 13 at the time and it was hard to gather everything and understand how my parents could love me but leave me and allow me to be around the stuff that was going on. I wasn’t able to report anything because every letter we wrote was monitered and reviewed by the staff there.It was honestly terrifying. I was just trying to do whatever it took to make it back home…I was sent to red river academy from blue ridge when Darlington was being shutdown.i still don’t understand how my dad could make the decision to allow to continue a program that was so corrupt.All I can think is the girlfriend he had at the time that had a strong influence on him and we didn’t get along well. …idk the point is I have exceeded in my life well since and without anything I “learned” from the program and am happy with my life I have found a career as a electrician and God has led me every step of the way. I do want anyone that may be reading this to know the abuse and child neglect did occur and that “gonye” I think it is or rich Darrington will be face to face with the one that matters one day and he sees them through everyday and everything they did they think they may have gotten away with. I understand forgiveness and I do forgive,its just harder understanding and forgiving someone for things they did. If anyone has any questions concerning this please feel free to contact me. 7067287236.
I attended darrington academy for a year and 8 months from the time I was 16-17. Advertised as a school for teens in crisis, my separating parents saw it as solace to get me on the right track. I am no drug dealer, addict, or any of that. Just a kid going through his parents divorce by skipping school, hanging out skateboarding with my friends, and just being kids.
Strangers handcuffed me in the middle of the night and drove me 7 hours from NC to GA where darrington was. No bathroom breaks and no food. You were treated as a criminal no matter if you were transferred there from juve or just like me. The first day there I remember waking up and having 3 minutes to shower, getting in line structure, forced to eat every meal and if you didn’t you were put in detention where you would write the same sentence until your hand fell off or forced to stare at walls in a 5×5 room. If you tried to commit suicide you were put in a red shirt and put in that room for a few days, if you tried to escape you were put in an orange shirt and put in that room for a few days. The only person you could talk to was your family rep (luckily mine was pretty amazing RIP John Pepper. “THIS IS THE FIRST DAY IF THE REST IF YOUR LIFE. “ Despite a few comments I’ve seen about that man he is a real one. Hard as nails but a real one. You had an hour to read books in the morning and an hour for recess in the afternoon as a Lower level. Your bunks were constantly searched and the entire facility was divided by boys and girls. If you even were caught looking at the opposite sex you’d be put in detention.
I was never a trouble maker and have always been liked by most people I meet so I was lucky and not harassed by the staff like others. The rest of your day was school or therapy. They almost brainwashed you to think there was something genuinely wrong with every person in there – also adding some Mormon flavors (thanks Dace you creeper). Like many of the students that attended I suffered from PTSD years after and still have problems trusting anyone else again because of how alone they made you. I did not have it so bad there but feel so much for the others I saw that did. There was abuse both mental and physical, weird student staff relationships, and they wanted to keep you there as long as humanly possible because it was like $70k a year or something ridiculous like that.
Thank you for all of the friends I met along the way. Truly wouldn’t have made it out and kept the faith if it weren’t for all of you. I see plenty of familiar names in the comments.
Honestly a massive plus for the program is I am glad it got me back on track with school. Came in failing 9th grade. Left a year and a half later a senior with one semester left.
School was my escape from no music, not being able to talk with my family except one letter a week, and no contact from outside those 15ft high white walls of the complex. Luckily I was able to convince my parents at one of the upper level events to get me out (only upper levels got to spend time with their parents after about a year of not seeing them). There are many others though that were not able to make it that far and were forced there against their will even after turning 18 writing pleas to their loved ones to bring them home…only for that part of the letter to be blacked out or wording completely changed by the staff.
I do not resent my parents for enrolling me in this program only the owners for their sheer greed for money and taking advantage of vulnerable teenagers
I was there for about 19 months myself. Graduated the program. And still think regularly how alone I was while there and how there was no such thing as help for someone who didn’t have rights based on their age. I remember people being zip tied and left on mattresses for hours/days because they tried to run and escape. I remember kids being dragged by their ankles into intervention. I remember there was a hole in the wall in the worksheets room where a kid’s body had been smashed into it. No parent will ever understand what kids went through in that place. Thank you to everyone who helps spread this awareness. I witnessed several spiritual events/demonic possession while there and I thank the Lord for the mercy he has shown me. May he have mercy on the souls of Dace and Darrington. God help them all…
There were even moments when, as an upper level, you earned the privilege to leave the grounds and got to work on Dace or Darrington’s house for them! That’s right. If you were lucky enough you were graced with the opportunity of legal child labor… for free!
I was a chaperone at Darrington Academy when it first opened up in North Georgia. I met a lot of amazing young kids (now amazing adults I am sure) I left there with a heavy heart from all that things I saw.. It was small comfort to find that the law finally caught up to these guys. Looking to catch up to anyone that remembers me..
Thanks Ricky Bonilla
My name is Patrick. I was sent to Darrington academy by a BITCH STEP MOM..MOST OF YOU STAFF REMEMBER ME because I was the STAR of the basketball team and the best athlete you fools have ever witnessed….well I could care less what happened while I was in there because its the past..BUT NOW IM GROWN you bitch ass FUCKS!!. AND it.just s9 happens I turned into a professional MMA fighter…SO Dace and Richard…and the disrespectdul staff.there was 1 maybe 2 good staff while I was there. But .I’m going to personally beat the shit out of eAch and every one of you..DACE AND RICH you guys are too easy to find I’m.about to post your UPDATED home addresses 🙂 well maybe I won’t post them but I have them. As.for the staff GOOD OL BLUE RIDGE GA not a big town <3 If you want a link with my 11-0 pro MMA fight record and videos let me know..I cannot wait to run across you RICHARD. I'm going to break your big ass down with my feet
Hey man, I understand your anger but we cannot and do not condone violence.
Do you know if there are any class action lawsuits or anything still going on? I was physically assaulted by Dace Goulding in a private room away from any witnesses before being sent off to a facility in Mississippi. Do you know if there’s any way I can still press charges?
Ricky, or anyone that has been in contact with him and has an email facebook or w.e, can you please reach out, have not been able to find or contact you.
I went to Darrinton Academy for 1 year and 3 months and it was by far the worst experience of my life. I spent days in intervention where I sat Indian style all day and if I moved one of the chaperones would come in and fix you. I participated in the Fear Factor games which was a terrible idea. I was in Posiedon and Orion Family. I also spent time in Atlas.
I was restrained by chaperones multiple times and choked out almost until I was about to pass out. They treated us like straight up garbage in their and I have nothing good to say about that facility. It was torture while I was there and I didn’t speak on the phone the whole time I was there so no one knew which made it worse. Darrington should a few years in Prison because he’s a terrible man and constructed a terrible facility.
I was restrained. deprived of food. took to a back hallway at night time by dace and rich to get beat on for something that I didn’t do. i was treated less than a human. dace and rich showed strong racism towards me. they also would never send my letters home. we were required to write a letter every week to our parents or we would get punished and my parents say they didn’t receive not 1 letter from me. i was forced to do odd punishments and left in isolation for many days at a time. torture isn’t even the word for how many of us were treated in darrington academy. rich and darrington both deserve to get 100+ years for their foul treatment towards kids and for the corrupt scheme they put together and called a school just to make money.
Hey it’s Zeke. I just remembered this place and thought I’d clarify my experience there. I was horrible. I was constantly in fights and never made it past level 2. I tried to escape and failed and was there up until we all got shipped to red river academy. That being said, as a consequence to the thing stated early, I was beatin, made to kneel on rice, and had my head smashed into a wall and made to sleep on tile with no pillow blanket nothing. For nights on end. I told my therapist who was coming to see me about the violence and it was handled. Afterwards I was sent to red river aka the Goulding facility. I mostly dealt with Dusky but he was an awesome guy and I actually really appreciate him for everything he did for me and my family. Richard and that bald headed New Yorker Goneyay or whatever your name is, I hope u guys get everything you deserve
My name is Amy, and I was a tutor/teacher’s aide for about 2 years at Darrington Academy in Blue Ridge, GA.
I just want to say to all the kids (now adults) who I saw there that I believe you. I know many of you had troubles and problems I could not even begin to fathom, but I also know that to me you were ALL good kids. It was a genuine joy to be with you all every day and help you with your studies. I loved every minute because I got to see you all grow. The best part of any day I had there was all of you.
I remember doing a special arts/crafts project at Christmas time and how much you all seemed to enjoy it. I wish we had been allowed to do that as a regular activity.
I wanted to apologize to you all for how my performance went downhill after I had injured my spine in a fall at my house. Unfortunately, my doctor had placed me on a medicine to manage the pain, and it made me fall asleep in the middle of speaking. It was a great failure of mine and completely unfair to you.
Then came the day I was fired by Dace for “stealing” from him. He took me out into the parking lot and accused me of falsifying my time sheets and in doing so, stealing from him. He then told me I was fired. I never got to say goodbye to any of you, and I hate that so much. I hated leaving. I still do not understand why he lied to get rid of me. Then I found out more about him–and Rich–and it became clearer to me. Also, I had seen the two of them in action with you all and knew just how quickly both their tempers flared. I also ate some of the meals they prepared for y’all, and they were indeed inedible. Had I been allowed to rotate with the families and see the restraints and rooms they put you in, I would have gone straight to the police. I was never so happy as the day I learned the place had been shut down and Rich had been arrested.
I want you to know I will always be in your corner. I thank God it is all over.
Amy are you by any chance British?
I attended Darrington Academy from April 2007 to August 2008, about a year and a half. I was in Atlas family, with John Pepper as the family representative, mostly a good guy, but can’t believe he let these people get away with how we were being treated (though I do remember him mentioning that his daughter also attended one of WWASPs other schools).
I’m just here to share a very small portion of my experiences with this place, maybe this will help heal some of the traumas I am still triggered by today. When I first entered the program I was immediately taken to a trailer where I was restrained by one of the staff members and several of the upper level teens while they zip tied my hands and shaved my head, spreading out what little belongings I had telling me to kiss them goodbye. We were given sandals, sweatpants, tee shirts, and “school uniforms”. In my case, after my first few days, I lost even that small privilege when I was placed on “suicide watch” for stating I may as well be dead because this place was basically prison.
Being placed on this suicide watch required me to wear an XXL red tee shirt 24/7, and I had to remain in arms length from staff at all times, even while I slept. There was ABSOLUTELY no talking to ANYONE, only the staff member assigned to me if I received permission to speak. I was placed in “isolation”, which was a room barely bigger than a closet with tile floors and bright fluorescent overhead light. I could only use the restroom if the person watching deemed it was necessary, and I had to count aloud the whole time with no longer than 60 seconds on the toilet.
The verbal abuse and reinforced thought process that I was to be watched for suicidal behavior ultimately drove me into an even deeper depression, leading to actual suicidal thoughts and plans. Throughout this time I remember being taken outside while I was in solitary confinement, for sometimes weeks on end, to take pictures where I was forced to smile or I’d be sentenced to punishment by handwriting the entire rule book up to 50 times over (word for word, comma by comma) or even worse, restrained for not following orders. I later found out these photos were being sent to my mother, who was paying for my enrollment, and she was being told “how well things were starting to work out for me” while they censored my letters home to her and claimed I was being manipulative to get her to pull me out, which would lead to me returning home still broken from not completing this program.
The seminars were totally bizarre, most people knowing they would only make it through by making false confessions or just downright crying in large group. There were sequences of guided meditations where we met our inner child, then were handed bath towels wrapped in duct tape to beat the floor screaming as long and loud as possible to fight away our anger and guilt for being the terrible teens they made us out to be.
The “meals” they prepared us would not have passed even the lousiest of school regulations, most times consisting of just a ham sandwich (PB&J if you had dietary limitations), a juice box, and some chips or something. We were generally malnourished, very hungry, and under no circumstances could we utter a sound in the food hall. Sometimes they would even play conservative Christian speeches and other weird tapes on full blast as some sort of punishment during this time.
I was completely demoted once as an upper level, which had taken me a full 12 months to achieve, for eating a small treat which one of the paid kitchen staff gave me for helping her clean. This means I lost my shoes, my talking privileges, my leisure books, and pretty much anything else that contributes positively to the human experience. I had painstakingly worked so hard to achieve these rankings, and to the man that verbally abused/demoted me this was all hilarious.
I was seeing a psychiatrist at the time for my overbearing anxiety, crippling depression, and general lack of appetite/sleep. Our sessions usually lasted less than 20 minutes. I was not allowed to know the names of the medications I was taking (thanks to the previous suicide watch, which apparently I was “so happy” to be on). When trying to get taken off the medications later on due to how they made me feel, my letters home describing these experiences were sometimes edited or altogether clipped out.
We were constantly threatened and lived in a fear based mentality, which you learned to either surrender to, or be met with volatile oppression and punishment. I have witnessed children screaming, bleeding, and nearly passing out from harassment and restraint by grown men who acted as our “chaperones”. The list of crazy and abusive occurrences behind this establishment and all of its affiliates goes on and on, I just wish everyone peace and to know that you are not alone. This was a very VERY rough time for many young people, but know that it is possible to still find a healthy and productive life outside of this trauma. I will be paying myself through university soon with hopes of finishing med school, where I can continue to really make a difference in people’s lives. There is hope.
Rich Darrington and his associates were liars and thieves, among many other things I’m sure you are all well aware. Don’t let them steal your joy, it’s yours to own, and they can’t take it away anymore.
This program forever impacted my life. I spent about 6 months at Darrington beginning September 2005 and then transferred to Red River to finish my program. Thankfully I rode the line and never faced much trouble. I definitely saw chaperones act out of hand and beyond physical abuse the ongoing mental abuse to me is the biggest issue. John was the only person to physically lay hands on me, this was day one when I asked to use the phone to call home. He said no, and I responded I had the right to call my parents. He then slammed me up against the cafeteria wall and proceeded to say if I don’t get in line I will have a very hard time in this place. So out of fear I rode the line. Not the best practice for reform. I went to bed every night in fear that I would lose points or be dropped and have to start all over. The point system was arbitrary and up to the chaperones discretion. If they didn’t like you, they kid keep you down forever. And unfortunately many kids got caught in that trap. Only to the schools benefit at 32k+ a year in tuition. A shame these places ever existed and what they did to me and all the kids that went through them to be “made better”.
I tried to escape a few times,, pretty sure there is still a 20$ bill hidden in the quarter round in a building there I stashed for an escape. Lol. Never happened. Also did anyone ever look into the fact that they handed out Books of Mormon yet claimed no affiliation, also made us watch b.s. videos about Joeseph Smith. Pretty sure it was funded by the Mormons despite them claiming the contrary.
I was so far behind in school when I left there. They had us doing school work that didn’t even count. Not to mention the so called teachers didn’t even help. And the nurse wasn’t even a registered nurse
I never fully recovered mentally from that place. But I’ll never forget the friends I made there. And that chaperone Tim or Jim bucan should be sent to prison
I went to high school in a tiny town with these bullies, they were terrible as kids.
Good families, bad individuals, I’m literally sick to find out this all happened.
@Bill Boyles I don’t know if you will see this, but I am currently a student at Crimson Cliffs Middle School, and have Mr. Goulding as a teacher. If any of you knew him, please reach out to me, I am interested in hearing your stories about him. Me and my friends are debating switching classes, as we are scared of him, and would like to hear about him. He never mentioned anything about these schools you guys attended, only that he lived in Samoa and Mexico and some other places.
I did not got to Darrington, but live near the area. They have converted the complex into a motel, but you can still see signs of what it once was in the construction. It feels very isolated and trapped, even as a hospitality space.
Hello. I was wondering if any of you knew of a girl named Jessica Suarez. She was fifteen when she got there. She was there for around 9 months and 5 days. Family name was Gaia. Has a little sister named Paige. Knew a staff member named Ms. Sarah? I just wanted to see if anyone here had known her, or at least heard about her.
Does anyone know anything about Angel House in Georgia?
I remember Jessica Suarez she was in my Gaia family she tried to run when she got there, I still have not gave my experiences tough to talk about but I will is she ok?