American boys at a Jamaica school for troubled teens have told how they were allegedly beaten, put in stress positions for hours, forced to exercise until they vomited and even waterboarded.
Details of the accusations against staff at the Atlantis Leadership Academy have emerged after five people were arrested on suspicion of child abuse.
Eight American boys aged 14 to 18 were removed from the school in February after a surprise inspection uncovered the allegations.
The teens have now described the hellish treatment they say they received at the Treasure Beach facility, located along the island’s south coast.
‘There were things that caused constant pain or suffering,’ one 15-year-old former student told NBC. ‘Like starving; When you’re hungry to the point that you’re in pain, or so thirsty that you’re about to pass out, that’s worse than a beating, in my opinion.’
Families of American boys at a Jamaica school for troubled teens including Cody Fleischman, 16, (pictured with mom Tarah) have told how they were allegedly beaten, put in stress positions for hours, forced to exercise until they vomited and even waterboarded.
The Atlantis Leadership Academy is located on Treasure Beach, located along the island’s south coast
Atlantis Leadership Academy founder and director, Randall Cook, has denied the abuse and has not been charged
The school’s founder Randall Cook has not been charged. He previously defended the institution and denied the boys’ accusations.
But several students have since described being forced to sit on a stool for hours on end without bathroom breaks and being hit if he moved.
Staff dumped buckets of water on his face, according to the 15-year-old. Another child described having a garden hose sprayed up his nostrils so violently he could not breathe.
Boys were also forced to work out for two hours every morning by running continuous laps or performing hundreds of pushups, with beatings doled out if they stopped, according to the former students.
‘You got whipped, you got pipes beaten on you,’ said James, 18, one of eight teens removed from the school. ‘But if I told someone, I was afraid of getting jumped by the other staff.’
He added that food portions were routinely cut as a form of punishment and described the school as ‘living hell on paradise.’
The teens added that 16-year-old Cody Fleischman, who has Tourette’s’ Syndrome, ADHD and OCD was routinely singled out for some of the worst treatment.
Haunting images show the teen’s dramatic weight loss during just seven months at the school.
Paris Hilton who has fought against the troubled teen industry since she experienced it herself, flew to Jamaica to support the boys and spoke out against the school
‘There’s no place to go,’ said Michael McFarland, an attorney representing his family. ‘You’re in this remote part of this country where you don’t know anyone and you’re being monitored at all times.’
In December 2023, James said some of the boys attempted an escape to the US Embassy, but were quickly picked up by staff who they say then beat them.
His mom along with Fleischman’s said they were notified their children had been removed from the school on February 11 when they received a call from the Embassy.
Fleischman then reached out to Paris Hilton’s 11:11 Media Impact which campaigns for greater scrutiny over the kinds of institutions that Hilton was herself sent to.
The heiress flew out to Jamaica to show her solidarity and demand the closure of the school.
‘When I heard about what eight American children had endured in the hands of a troubled teen facility in Jamaica, I knew I had to drop everything to show my support of their testimony,’ she said.
She said the boys had reported being ‘violently beaten, whipped, water-boarded, and starved.’
‘It outrages me that it is taking months to bring these children back to the United States and mere moments to send them away in the first place,’ she said.
Pictured: Generic images of young people at the academy. The faith-based school specializes in helping teens overcome anger, depression, substance abuse
Eight boys aged 14 to 18 were removed from the school in February after a surprise inspection uncovered allegations of abuse
However, parents who sent their kids to the school as far back as 2021 have echoed the allegations of abuse.
Their sons told them staff forced boys to stay alone in a small shed referred to as ‘The Box’ for days on end, consuming only rice and water, and urinating in a bucket.
One Florida mom claimed kids were choked if they misbehaved.
‘We thought we were sending our son to paradise, on the beach every day, away from the problems of American culture,’ she said. ‘The place wasn’t on the beach. They did zero to help us. All they did was create more problems.’
Another California parent told how she received pictures of her son hauling sand and cleaning an empty pool.
Images showed the boy smiling at dinner, but McFarland who is also representing the family, dismissed the photo as ‘propaganda.’
‘They take photos of these feasts they would have once in a blue moon, but the kids were being starved,’ McFarland said. ‘A lot of the parents had no idea because it was designed that way.’
The families say contact was strictly limited and monitored by staff. Flesichman said she did not have a phone call with her son for a whole year while he was at the facility.
Former students claim they were forced to exercise for two hours every day sometimes until they vomited. Pictured: Promotional images of the school seen on Yelp
Starvation was also a regular punishment, according to the boys, some of whom lost significant amounts of weight during their stay
But Cook said: ‘The manner of our parental interactions and updates have never been an issue.
‘Those who have passed through ALA continue to express appreciation for the services rendered to their families.’
Employees Eddison Morris, 39, Courtney Wiggan, 51, Carson Cox, 33 and Odane Maswell, 31, along with a fifth worker have since been charged with assault occasioning bodily harm, cruelty to a child and assault at common law.
The faith-based school claims to specialize in helping teens overcome anger, depression and substance abuse.
According to its website, it prides itself as an ‘affordable, structured, boarding academy serving young men who possess strong leadership skills, though they’ve taken some wrong turns in their lives.’
But critics claim it is part of the controversial troubled teen industry that has been rife with allegations of abuse and neglect.
Cook pushed back at this characterization in a statement to NBC.
‘The result of this activism and narrative is simple and approaching fast; families will soon be left with short-term acute inpatient psychiatric services and/or Juvenile Hall,’ he said.
He previously described the allegations as a ‘hatchet job’ designed to smear the school’s reputation.
The ALA did not immediately respond to the DailyMail.com’s request for comment.
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