CHILD-ABUSE

Majestic Ranch Academy Majestic Ranch Academy is located in Randolph, Utah. The facility is one of several facilities operating according to the guidelines of the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASPS) and affiliated with Teen Help. Majestic Ranch Academy takes children as young as 7. Former "students" have complained of brutal and unwarranted physical restraint as well as verbal threats of violence from Director, Wayne Winder. In 2002, Wayne Winder was charged with sexually abusing several students and banned from being alone with any of the children at the facility. Information obtained by ISAC indicates that the children who made the accusations against Winder were transferred to Tranquility Bay, a WWASPS facility in Jamaica. Tranquility Bay is owned by the son of WWASPS President, Ken Kay. Criminal charges against Winder were subsequently dismissed. During a visit to the facility in October 2003, ISAC investigators witnessed young boys shoveling manure at 10:30 am on a school day. The children were dressed in light jackets while the supervising staff member, who was leaning against a fence, was wearing a heavy winter coat. Majestic Ranch Academy is owned by Dan Peart, brother-in-law of Robert Lichfield, founder of WWASPS and Teen Help. In 2005, ISAC received a complaint from a staff member who made the following allegations against the facility: In early 2005, staff members demanded better food and safe drinking water for children, better healthcare for children, and better housing for staff members. They threatened to quit unless their demands were met. Instead of providing these things, officials at Majestic Ranch threatened to report the staff members for child abandonment if they quit their jobs. Some girls at the facility have scabies that has not been treated. Raw meat is left unrefrigerated all day, but is still fed to the children and staff. Expired milk is served to children. The milk is sometimes "watered-down. Food and water are making children and staff members sick with vomiting and diarrhea. Staff must bring their own food and water to avoid serious intestinal problems. One child's tooth broke because of decay and the remaining portion is black. The child is in pain and as of the time that ISAC received this complaint, the child had not yet seen a dentist. At least one child is severely traumatized due to sexual abuse suffered before entering Majestic Ranch. Many children have night terrors and nearly all of them talk in their sleep. One girl was ill for a long time but was not seen by a doctor until she had developed pneumonia. There is no nurse on site. The eyeglasses of one child were broken for at least one month. Children are being mentally abused. Children look depressed and listless. Children are fed a minimum amount of poor quality, high-carb food consisting mainly of oatmeal, toast, peanut butter & jelly, beans, and canned soup. Children are given no between-meal snacks and are always hungry. As punishment, children are forced to stand on top of milk crates in the middle of the yard for long periods of time in sub-freezing temperatures. On one such occasion, the high temperature for the day was 10 degrees. Children are forced to pick up maggot covered carcasses of dead ranch animals. Boys drink shampoo in hopes of getting sick enough for their parents to withdraw them from the facility. Children are forced to shovel snow after dark in below-freezing temperatures. Children who refuse to shovel manure are forced to do so with their bare hands. Girls were made to clean Dan Peart's personal guest house which is located across the road from the facility. The mother of one child died while he was in the facility. The child was not allowed to attend the funeral. It was deemed "not in his best interest." As of the date that this complaint was filed with ISAC, there was a sewage backup and raw sewage was flowing on the property. The "girl's cabin" is actually a double-wide pre-fab trailer split into 2 "dorms," one side for younger girls, the other for older girls. One side has no smoke detector. Windows have nails in them so they will only open about 2 inches. Some girls receive only 2 pair of underwear per week. When they complained that their underwear was dirty, they were told to turn them "inside out." A female staff member was required to sleep with the boys due to a staff shortage. The staff member witnessed a top bunk fall onto a boy lying on the bottom bunk. Bed sheets had not been washed in over a month, even though some children wet their beds at night. In the girl's trailer, the bathroom door is propped open at all times. If the children touch any of the dogs on the ranch, the dogs are shot by owner Dan Peart. Ranch dogs feed on the carcasses of dogs and other animals. Sick animals are shot in front of the children. Hired ranch hands sleep in trailers that are only 100 yards from the boy's dorms. In recent news articles, Tammy Johnson claims to be the Director of Majestic Ranch. However, after receiving the above complaints, an ISAC volunteer called Majestic Ranch and asked to speak to the Director. The man who accepted the call identified himself as Wayne Winder.