High Impact
High Impact was a brutal bootcamp located outside of Tecate, Mexico. Owned and operated by Miguel Rodriguez and Ali Hernandez as well, co-owned by Dace Goulding, Owner of Casa By the Sea.
The compound consisted of an outside area fenced in by chain link and separated into 3 major sections. The first section contained only an oval track where the children were made to walk/ run laps about 4 – 5 times a day. The other 2 sections were the girls and boys living areas. Each area consisted only of a concrete slab where a large military tent served as housing. At the back, a crude building with a primitive bathroom and a sleeping area for over night staff. At the entrance of each section was a wall of 4 chain link cages resembling of dog cages and a concrete slab used to make fires for food. When the Mexican authorities shut down High Impact in 2001, they cited the conditions as “deplorable”.
The concept of the program was to earn points by running laps and listening to a cassette tape about Alcoholics Anonymous, on repeat, several hours a day, while avoiding getting any “consequences” that would demerit nearly a full day’s point earnings. The daily experience of detainees in High Impact was nothing short of miserable. They were constantly screamed at by staff, forced to endure excessive exercise 5- 7 hours a day and required to complete pointless manual labor including drawing lines in the sand with their tooth brush, “finger picking” rocks and bits of trash from the sand and carrying and stacking fire wood from one side of the compound to the other (and all back again).
Detainees were expected to obey a very strict set of rules which included not being able to sit, stand, look up from the ground, scratch an itch, or even move in the slightest bit without permission. Detainees were expected to suffer through stress positions sitting on concrete for 5 hours a day. If they could not “follow directions” or if the staff deemed it appropriate for any reason, detainees would be tackled, restrained, and held in the dog cages, or forced to sit or lay in stress positions in the hot desert sun for at least the remainder of the day or for many days following. Often times the staff, particularly the male staff and owner Miguel Rodriguez, would restrain, and sit on top of girls for hours at a time. These men weighed about 300 lbs each, and they would take turns sitting on top of children as young as 12, nearly suffocating them while they contorted their limbs, pulled their hair and ground their chins into the rocky dirt. Injury was common, including burns from the hot sun/ sand and scabs where the skin was completely rubbed off from friction against the rocky sand. Major injuries have been reported as well including spinal injuries, broken jaws and other broken bones during these restraints.
The food consisted of meager meals of boiled oats for breakfast, rice and beans for lunch and a piece of chicken for dinner. Detainees were expected to eat every part of the chicken, including the gizzards and skin which often contained feather spines. If the detainee refused, staff would restrain the child and force the offending parts down their throat. If they vomited, staff would then force them to eat their own vomit. Most detainees lost a considerable amount of weight at High Impact. Although reports vary, on average each student lost 35 – 65 lbs in approximately 60 days.
Reports have cited several serious allegations of rape and attempted murder at the hands of owner Miguel Rodriguez.
High Impact was raided and shut down by Mexican authorities late in 2001. Authorities first caught a glimpse of the compound by helicopter in September 2002 as they collected video and photo evidence of children walking laps and being held in dog cages. A few weeks later the compound was raided by authorities, (said to be both Mexican and American) and the children were shipped back to their parents or (at their parents’ request) returned to their original WWASP Programs. Inside Edition reported on this story in 2003.
Miguel Rodriguez and Ali Hernandez returned to work for Casa by the Sea in Ensenada, Mexico until 2004 when it too was raided and shut down.
Today Miguel and Ali still reside in Ensenada, their place of work unknown.
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.
Miguel Rodriguez
Co-Owner and Director of High Impact, Originally worked at Casa by The Sea with his wife, Allie Hernandez. This man is a pedophile and a very violent individual, He is also the mastermind behind the infamous dog cages and the man who would sit on top of kids as they were being restrained in painful arm/ leg locks and stress positions. He has been accused of several major crimes against children at High Impact including assault, rape and attempted murder. Conditions at High Impact were said to be “deplorable” by the Mexican and American authorities that raided and shut down the compound in 2001. Survivors describe High Impact as a boot camp incorporating a multitude of unreasonable restrictions, excessive exercise and a constant barrage of verbal, and physical attacks. After the closing both Miguel and his wife Ali Hernandez were invited to come back to work for Casa By the Sea, where Miguel was responsible for more assaults on students and Ali assisted in the admissions department. Miguel Rodriguez and Ali Hernandez currently live in Ensenada Mexico.
Survivor Testimony
High Impact – Hell is a Place in Mexico – By Chelsea Filer
A Long Time Gone – My Journey to High Impact – By Amy Teichman
Hauntings – By Lindsey Klein
High Impact Testimony – By Elizabeth Weaver
Elizabeth’s High Impact Video
So seriously….Why don’t you kill them? In Mexico the murder-rate is astronomical. Gangwars, drugcartels. I bet someone knows someone who can get a hit going for 10-20-30k USD and even if you don’t have the money just take out a loan to buy a new car or something.
I mean common. People get killed for far less. It’s almost an injustice that they have not been killed yet and if there is any truth to punishment creating order then you are contributing to disorder by not killing them and showing the consequences of mistreating people. Im talking about all of you who suffered under them.
we don’t condone illegal activity here obviously, but that is an amusing point.
This was where I learned how to fake it till I made it. It was the only program that was designed to be completed. Wasp is known for their revolving doors where they’re upper levels get home and are resent back for that one free month.
Not at high impact. Hear you were degraded and whatever Miguel said goes. whenever his staff wanted to treat my broken foot they’d get into a yelling argument and it wouldn’t happen that I would get to soak my foot that day. I was still required to complete all physical activities as normal kids did with or without a broken foot.
While I was there we had an influx in students, I moved to the bottom of the tent and a cat had wandered on to the grounds. It used to sleep with me. When the staff found the cat coming into our tent it was snatched up. The female and male staff spent all night torturing it; one of these parts that both sides participated in was wrapping it in a plastic bag and football punting it over the fence that separated the sides between boys and girls.
Miguel was the one who ran this I believe he is the one who interviewed all of these sadistic staff to make sure that they were quality for the kind of torment and torture that was needed for us difficult students, to be broken down enough, to be brainwashed enough, to be sent back to a program and full comply.
Miguel ran the worst WWASP program WWASP has ever had. I can promise you that.
Everything stated in this article is true. There is more that happened of course. The worst part for me was when they would take one or two of us to the trailer Papa Miguel had at the top of the hill. The things that went on in that trailer are things I would only discuss with my therapist or in a deposition. I know we don’t support violence but I honestly don’t know what I would do to the staff involved with my time there of I ran into them now. I would probably be in prison
Miguel and Ali made my life a living hell. I was kept in a 6 ft by 6 ft cage for at least 6 months. Not allowed to use the bathroom when needed, forced to urinate or defecate in my pants then they refused to let me clean up and laughed at me. I had miguel and luis sit on my back bouncing. I have permanent damage to my spine and my shoulders from the mistreatment. I still have nightmares about the abuse and being forced to eat my own vomit.
23 years later , and this shit still screws with my head.
I was there June 9 2000 until Feb 6 2002.
I came across the program bills , that were sent to my mom, and all the letters I wrote her ……fuck dude, I love my mom :but all it did was open wounds I didn’t want to think about.
How do you send your kid away ?? I have three boys now , never ever . Would that thought cross my mind.
I was there in like 2000 that guy lived in this house up the hill from the torcher camp he drove a fancy yellow truck. If we did good and somehow got to leval 2 then he would have u to his house and give us treats and Popsicles disgusting grooming bastard
Miguel gets great pleasure from abusing teenage girls. I was taken to high impact from Casa by the Sea. I arrived on 12/28/2000 and was there until April of 2001.
The first day I was there Miguel told me I was a bitch. Within a couple of days I was given a backpack to wear at all times. First, it was filled with rocks, the pebbles, and finally all the empty space was filled with sand. I was to wear the backpack during all waking hours. I was never allowed to take it off unless we were sent to bed for the night. I had that backpack until I left in April.
When we would awake each morning, we were to start chores: raking lines in the sand, cleaning the bath house, the outdoor kitchen, sweep the tent etc. Then breakfast which consisted of 3 tablespoons of dry oatmeal. We were given 1 match for which to light a fire and a small bottle of water. If you couldn’t light the fire (wind would often extinguish the solitary match) you ate your oatmeal raw. Then, we did dishes and followed by intense exercises as a group. We were taken to the track to run laps. We had laps and calestinics each at least 4 times a day. Lunch was 3 tablespoons of rice and a spoonful of plain pinto beans. We again were given 1 match to cook with. The beans were cooked every few days and left in a pot in the desert sun. They were usually rancid by the 3rd day. Dinner was again 3 tablespoons of rice and a chicken leg. You got 1 match, and if you didn’t get your fire started, you ate it raw. When the facility started filling up the staff helped with cooking the chicken and sometimes the rice. They added extra exercise sessions to compensate for the extra “free time.” Four times a day we were forced to listen to tapes about a priest who was involved with alcoholics anonymous and had to answer questions about those tapes.
If you weren’t able to run fast enough or preform any task as quickly as requested Miguel took great pleasure in tackling us to the ground and beating us. He would lock us in dog cages and either he or the “mamas” would sit on us for hours at a time. I have been locked in the cages by Miguel for days and weeks at a time.
Sometimes if I was being punished for something as tiny as looking a staff member in the eye I was taken to the cages, that the referred to as RR, which is an abbreviation for Room Restriction. There really were no rooms. We were outside, in the elements. We slept in a WWII style army tent for the majority of my stay. The first few days, when there were only a few girls, there were 2 regular camping tents that were used.
We weren’t allowed to speak, to anyone at all. We could raise our hands and ask to use the bathroom sometimes, but it was at the discretion of the staff. If you raised your hand to ask to use the bathroom and the staff wasn’t receptive, you could be beaten and taken to rr. You could be punished by being made to do exercises or push ups with a backpack full of rocks and also with one or more staff members sitting on your back.
We were awaken in the morning 2 hours before sunrise and bedtime was several hours after sunset. For the majority of my stay we slept in an old army tent that was set up over a concrete foundation. We each had a small dirty piece of old carpet and a thin sleeping bag. The nights in the mountains are cold.
My skin was dry because I was malnourished and dehydrated. One night, I went to sleep and put my cracked, bleeding hands inside the sleeping bag to keep them warm. Miguel came down from the house on the property in the middle of the night. I was asleep in the sleeping bag and he grabbed me and ripped me out of it. He drug me across the concrete foundation and out of the tent hitting and kicking me along the way. I had no idea what was going on. He drug me through the sand through the gate that led to the track where we ran laps. He accused me of masturbation. He said that would be the only reason why my hands would be inside my sleeping bag. “They were there to stay warm.” I said. He didn’t believe me. He beat me mercilessly for a long time. He groped my vulva very roughly and asked me how much I liked it. I was scared and a virgin and had never been touched like that before. He didn’t let go until I admitted that I liked the way he touched me. He also told me that since he had to come down from the house to deal with me and that my misbehavior was keeping him up all night, he was going to keep me up all night. I don’t remember all of what happened that night. Lack of sleep, fear, and anxiety have caused me to block out some of the painful memories. I know at some point I was put in the dog cage. I was left there through breakfast time. Miguel came back down from the house sometime after daylight. He said i didn’t even get the privilege to stay in the dog cage. I was made to carry 5 gallon buckets of dirt from where another girl was being punished to a different area. The other girl was being punished for attempting to run away. Her punishment was to dig her own “grave” with a spoon. She was digging for several days from the time we woke up until the time we were sent to bed. The hole was already as deep as the girl was tall on the day i had to move the buckets of dirt. After moving many buckets when the hottest part of the day came, probably about noon, Miguel took me to the center of the track. He asked me to stand on the 5 gallon bucket on one foot. Mind you, through all of this I had the 60lb backpack full of rocks and dirt on my back. I wasn’t to move. I wasn’t to look at anyone or speak. I wasn’t allowed bathroom breaks. They forced me to urinate on myself. I was to hold one hand up in the air and pretend that I was the Statue of Liberty, since I wanted to go home so badly. I was mocked and ridiculed by Miguel and the other staff member. I was made to stand on that bucket until after all the other girls had been taken to bed. Anyone who was still in the dog cages or still being punished got a special punishment after bedtime. That special punishment was a nighttime shower with Miguel. It was probably the most feared of all the punishments that could be doled out. Showers in daylight are bad enough, as we had no hot water. Showers in the cold night air were even worse, especially with Miguel’s supervision. He would drag us into the shower house after dark and strip us naked. He would shove us under the frigid running facet and hold us in the stream of water. He groped my breasts on several occasions. We had only 5 minutes to shower during daylight hours, but night showers were usually longer. Some nights were so cold that there was ice on the walls and floors of the concrete room. After my shower, I was made to get dressed quickly and get in my sleeping bag and go to sleep. From then on, I was never allowed to sleep with my arms or hands inside the sleeping bag. People do move involuntarily in their sleep. On several occasions after that, in my sleep, I had put my arms inside the sleeping bag and I was awoken by being hit by Miguel or another staff member and threatened with the same punishment as before.
In the daytime showers were bad. They let us take showers around what i would estimate to be about 2pm in the afternoon. It was generally the warmest part of the day. There was a small concrete building on the girl’s side of the complex. It had 2 rooms. One of those rooms was a shower/bathroom. It had 3 shower spigots on the left wall, 3 toilets on the wall opposite the entrance, and 3 sinks on the right side wall. The far left toilet was in the same cubby as the shower spigot. There was a 3 ft or maybe a little lower between the showers and the toilets except the aforementioned pair in the left corner. 8 to 10 girls were allowed in at a time and 2 to 3 girls were made to share a shower spigot. We had five minutes from the time we entered to shower, get dressed, use the toilet, and brush our teeth. Needless to say, were were very dirty from the dust of running laps and soot from cooking over and open fire and breaking wood with our hands and feet. We were never really able to get very clean. My long sandy blonde hair that reached my elbows was so matted and tangled that I could barely mash it together to pull it up into the required bun.
After showers, we listened to more aa tapes and on each person’s assigned day, we washed laundry by hand and hung it out on the clothesline. That was a very cold winter in the mountains of Tecate. I don’t know if it was planned, or just bad luck, but on the days that I washed clothes, it always seemed to rain before they dried or they froze on the clothesline and I was left with nothing clean. On the very coldest of the days I was there, the only clean clothes I had left was a thin pair of pajama shorts and a t-shirt. It snowed that day for the first time in almost 30 years. I was in the cold snow with barely any clothes for over 3 days. This didn’t excuse me from having to do physical exercise, labor, or run laps on the track.
During my time at high impact I was often physically restrained by Migel and other staff, including his wife Alejandra. I was beaten, hog tied, tied up with duct tape, verbally berated and sexually abused. When I arrived at high impact I was overweight. I was 5’2 and I weighed about 240lbs. When I left I was under 90lbs. I had lost 150lbs in about 4 months time. I was incredibly malnourished. Medical problems were neglected. Wounds were left untreated. I had no skin left from my heels, the entire bottoms of both my feet, or on the tops of my toes.
When i was finally allowed to leave I was put in a pickup truck and smuggled back across the US border through Tijuana. We stopped at a subway restaurant and ate before I was taken to LAX in Los Angeles and put on a plane bound for Jamaica.
I was in Casa by the Sea from 2003-2004. I was 15 years old.
During that time, Miguel Rodriguez was a staff shift leader. Aside from the general abusive nature of the program itself, Miguel Rodriguez personally forced me to sit indian style against a wall for over a week, only breaking that position to eat and sleep. I’m a tall guy and it was hell on my knees after a while.
There came a point where I just couldn’t do it because of the pain.
Miguel demanded that I get back into this position, and when I “refused” he bumrushed me, I did attempt to defend myself, but I was 15, and miguel was too strong, he and two other staff members pinned me on the ground with my arms behind my back, picked me up my arms dislocating my shoulder, then slammed me back into the concrete face first.
I was so banged up in the process, that when I was finally allowed out of solitary a week later, other kids commented on how badly I was still beaten up. A week later!
Miguel Rodriguez belongs in jail.
The experiences here are similar to my time at High Impact. Miguel, Ali and Brenda all abused me as a child in Fall 2000. Miguel forced me into a hog tie position then sat on top of me until I couldn’t breathe. This is just one example of the abuses experienced there. My heart aches for everyone who suffered at the hands of these abusers. #iseeyousurvivor