3 convicted for child abuse at religious Alabama private school

3 convicted for child abuse at religious Alabama private school
By Anna Claire Vollers January 24, 2017

In the end, three leaders of a religious Alabama bootcamp for troubled teens were convicted on multiple counts of aggravated child abuse for what they did to the children in their care.

The convictions were thanks in large part to the testimony of five former students, who told the court about the physical and mental abuse they suffered at the school.

Despite multiple investigations by the Mobile County DA’s office, local law enforcement and the Alabama Department of Human Resources, it took officials five years to close down the school and another seven months to arrest the employees accused of the worst of the abuse.

On Jan. 13, 55-year-old pastor John David Young was convicted on five counts of aggravated child abuse at the Saving Youth Foundation, a bootcamp-style residential school in Mobile for troubled teens that was associated with Young’s Solid Rock Ministries church.

Two other school leaders, boys’ instructor William Knott, 48, and girls’ instructor Aleshia Moffett, 42, were convicted on three counts each of aggravated child abuse. None of the attorneys for Young, Knott or Moffett have returned AL.com’s calls or emails asking for comment.

Punishment and abuse

The prosecution built its case around specific instances of abuse involving isolation, handcuffs, and excessive exercise.

“We were able to put in front of the jury a lot of good testimony and evidence about what these people were doing to these teenagers at the Saving Youth Foundation,” said Blackwood.

“The jury got to hear about the isolation chambers, kids being put in restraints for punishment and transport, and the excessive physical training over several hours with no breaks.”….

Students talked about being locked in isolation cells for weeks at a time, with little or no clothing, a single bulb burning overhead day and night.
They shared stories of other students being handcuffed to beds as punishment, and being forced to exercise outdoors in the south Alabama heat for hours…. http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2017/01/three_convicted_for_child_abus.html

11 children, some tied to beds, removed from Texas home, some suffered abuse

Deputies: Children found tied up in Liberty County home
21 people were living in house Feb 21 2012

DAYTON, Texas –

Eleven children removed from a Liberty County home are in the custody of Children’s Protective Services.

Investigators said 21 people were living in a home on Ford Avenue in Dayton.

The children, ages 5 months to 11 years, were removed from the home on Jan. 24. Detectives said some of them were found tied up to a bed. Some of them suffered physical abuse and physical and medical neglect, officials said. The children belonged to seven separate families, officials said.  http://www.click2houston.com/news/Deputies-Children-found-tied-up-in-Liberty-County-home/-/1735978/8815936/-/iy2v6az/-/index.html

11 children, some tied to beds, removed from Texas home

Eleven children, some of whom police say were tied to a bed, are removed from a Dayton, Texas, home north of of Houston where at least 21 people were discovered living. KPRC’s Ryan Korsgard reports.

By NBC News, msnbc.com staff and news services  2/21/02

DAYTON, Texas — Authorities said Tuesday they removed 11 children from a crowded home used as an address by a registered sex offender after they found eight confined in a small, dark bedroom with restraints tying some to their beds.

Along with the children, 10 adults were living in the one-story, 1,700-square-foot brick home in Dayton, about 30 miles northeast of Houston, Child Protective Services spokeswoman Gwen Carter said. One month after a raid on the house, authorities are still trying to determine how the children are related and why they were there, she said.

The children, belonging to seven separate families, ranged in age from 5 months to 11 years, said NBC station KPRC of Houston.
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/21/10469420-11-children-some-tied-to-beds-removed-from-texas-home