30-JAN-2008
Mitt Romney has recently appointed Robert Browning Litchfield, owner of WWASPS, to co-chair his Utah campaign finance committee.
Robert Browning Litchfield is the owner of WWASPS, the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools, a Utah based company incorporated in 1998. WWASPS runs several “behavior modification” programs for troubled teens throughout the US and abroad. On the surface these programs appear to be a great alternative for kids suffering from disciplinary problems or drug or alcohol abuse. The full color brochures distributed by WWASPS to prospective parents make the programs appear like a vacation to an exclusive resort with photographs of kids laughing and playing and running along a sandy beach. However once soft underbelly of this crime syndicate is sliced open, the stink begins to pour out.
Following is a tiny sample of WWASPS related legal troubles:
20-JUN-2007: Lawsuits hit a Romney money man – Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) has collected hundreds of thousands of dollars through the fund raising efforts of a supporter targeted by several lawsuits alleging child abuse.
28-JUL-2006: 25 PLAINTIFFS FILE $100,000,000 LAWSUIT AGAINST WWASPS ACADEMY OF IVY RIDGE FOR FRAUD
6-NOV-2006: WRONGFUL DEATH LAWSUIT FILED AGAINST SPRING CREEK LODGE IN MONTANA
26-JUN-06: WWASPS SUES FLORIDA MOM FOR SPEAKING OUT AGAINST THEM
26-SEP-2006: TOUGH-LOVE CAMP OWNER, NARVIN LICHFIELD, TO STAND TRIAL
28-JUL-2006: Ivy Ridge Academy sued for $100 million
27-JUL-2006: WWASPS BACK IN COURT: 25 Parents File Class-Action Law Suit Alleging Fraudulent Tactics
MOTHER WHOSE CHILD WAS ABUSED AT WWASPS PARADISE COVE IN WESTERN SAMOA SUES
Multiple families file suit against Bethel Boys Academy
I spent about a year investigating these abusive programs which culminated in launching a website to act as a hub for organizations fighting to get them shut down, as well as to educate people and offer ethical solutions to parents of troubled children. In the end, I took down the site and completely abandoned the community. I couldn’t cope with it emotionally any longer.
One of the more memorable stories is that of Kerry Lane Brown who was tortured multiple times each day, at the hands of Randal Hinton, for months while at Tranquility Bay, a WWASPS facility in Jamaica. Besides being beaten and pepper-sprayed, he was forced to defecate in a garbage that was duct-taped to him like a diaper. He died shortly after his release.
If you find yourself asking how this industry, which I call “child torture for fun and profit in the US and abroad”, can remain in existence in light of the blatant abuse and legal troubles, the answer is fairly simple: First you must understand that there is a huge amount of money at stake. This is a 60 billion dollar annual business with a 25% growth rate and that is according to a modest estimate made several years ago. WWASPS alone takes in 90 million annually. Secondly, people like Litchfield can afford to lobby heavily in order to ensure their survival. These programs rank among the top contributors to political parties. Thirdly, a lot of the parents just don’t care; their kids are little more than an obstacle in the path of their careers, their social lives and Monday Night Football. With costs running around 30K per year, it isn’t cheap to enroll a kid and the term can last several years. Most of the kids are white and are from upper to middle class suburbia.
In my opinion, it is impossible for Mitt Romney to not know about the history of people like Melvin and Betty Sembler and Robert Litchfield and organizations like WWASPS, Straight and the Drug Free America foundation. It is likely his own supporters have made it know to him since this is an ongoing relationship. Regardless however, there is one fact that cannot be argued; Robert Litchfield would not stand behind Mitt Romney if he were perceived as a threat to the child torture industry.
For more, see: the COALITION AGAINST INSTITUTIONALIZED CHILD ABUSE website at: http://www.caica.org/ — ZDN
Following is a documentry about the origins of WWASPS and what happens inside their programs.