Three men jailed in alleged beating at unlicensed youth camp

Associated Press

SAN ANGELO, Texas - Three of four adults associated with a Christian-themed youth camp were jailed in the alleged beating of a 13-year-old boy at the unlicensed facility, authorities said Tuesday.

Jason Brian Baker, 30, Robert James Kelly, 18, and James Edward Esther, 33, face one charge each of injury to a child, according to the Tom Green County sheriff's office. They were arrested Saturday and remained in the county jail on Tuesday. None had attorneys.

The charge relates to the beating of a 13-year-old boy at U-Turn for Christ, an unlicensed boot camp for children with discipline and substance abuse problems, Chief Deputy Truman Richey said in a story for Wednesday's San Angelo Standard-Times.

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services plans to investigate the facility, said spokeswoman Marleigh Meisner. She said operating such a camp without a license is illegal.

Eleven boys were at the camp, most of whom lived out of state. Child Protective Services spent the weekend returning them to their parents, Meisner said.

Richey said investigators are looking into allegations that some of the boys, who ranged from 12 to 17 years old, were made to stand in a field with little or no water for several hours.

Richey said he did not know when the camp, once used by adults, had been converted into a children's facility. Jail records list its address as the home of Baker, Kelly and Esther.

The camp, about three miles north of San Angelo, came to the attention of sheriff's deputies when a county resident reported passing the facility and seeing a boy sitting in a field, Richey said. The resident drove past several hours later and saw the same boy sitting in the same field.

The felony charge the three men are facing is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Kelly and Esther are being held on $150,000 bond, and Baker is being held without bond.

BELOW, ARTICLE RE FACILITY IN MEXICO THAT WAS SHUT DOWN DUE TO ABUSE, ALSO CALLED U-TURN FOR CHRIST

Center for troubled U.S. teens shut down by Mexican officials

By Sandra Dibble
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

December 6, 2005

A center for troubled adolescents operating outside Ensenada has been shut down, and 13 American teenagers enrolled there have been returned to the United States, Mexican authorities announced yesterday.

The U-Turn For Christ Youth Ranch, a behavioral modification center supported by the Perris-based Calvary Chapel, was closed Friday after Mexican inspectors said they found a range of violations. Four American adults at the center were expelled and have been banned from Mexico for at least five years.

This is the first rehabilitation center to be targeted in Baja California since crackdowns last year led to the closures of four facilities operated by U.S. citizens in the Rosarito Beach-Ensenada area. Hundreds of American youths were sent home after those raids, and none of the centers has reopened, said Mark Leoni of the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana.

"As far as we know, this was the last behavior modification facility in Baja," Leoni said.

Mexican officials said the facility primarily treated youths with drug and alcohol problems through rehabilitation and "disciplinary methods similar to those of a youth correctional facility." It was in the rural community of El Zorrillo about 20 miles south of Ensenada.

"There was evidence of physical and mental mistreatment of the minors, as well as patients with insect bites without the proper medical attention," read a statement yesterday from the Baja California Health Secretariat.

Health officials could not be reached for comment.

Other violations cited in the statement included the lack of responsible physicians and the lack of workers trained in rehabilitation.

The facility did not have sufficient showers and bathrooms and recreational areas, according to the statement. The center had no clinical records detailing treatment, the statement said, but inspectors found "a large amount of expired foreign medication."

The center came to the attention of U.S. and Mexican officials last month after four adolescents ran away and alleged they had been mistreated, Leoni said. The allegations consisted of "minor physical abuse," he said.

U.S. consular officials inspected the center Nov. 10, but "we didn't find anything to substantiate the allegations," Leoni said.

Consulate staff was on hand early Friday when an interagency group of 65 agents and inspectors raided the center. The youths, ranging in age from 13 to 17, were interviewed and taken to the border, and accompanied by a U.S. consular agent until they were delivered to church officials, Leoni said.

Church officials declined to comment yesterday, but sent a one-paragraph statement expressing hope that the center will reopen.