Utah’s Mount Pleasant Academy Will Close Next Month After Closing Red Rock Canyon School UPDATED

“A company that runs treatment centers for troubled youth is closing a second Utah facility as officials investigate claims of sexual abuse, violence and several other issues with staff at a different facility.

Mount Pleasant Academy in central Utah is one of several youth psychiatric treatment facilities run by Sequel Youth and Family Services. Sequel representatives said in a statement last week that the school will be shut down within the next month, the Salt Lake Tribune reports.

The decision comes days after the company announced the closing of the Red Rock Canyon School in St. George after reports of sexual abuse and violence between students and staffers surfaced.

But Sequel said its decision to close Mount Pleasant Academy is not connected to Red Rock or staffing issues, rather it was due to low enrollment. “We are considering how to repurpose Mount Pleasant to serve the needs of a broader population of clients,” the company said in a statement.

Mount Pleasant Academy advertises itself as a 16-bed residential treatment center for boys ages 12-18 struggling with sexual issues and addiction. Red Rock Canyon School is a larger psychiatric facility that houses a mix of teenagers sent by their parents and the foster care system.

Sequel acquired its four Utah treatment centers in 2016 during a time when state investigators threatened to revoke Mount Pleasant Academy’s license after they found reports of child abuse and neglect. That sanction ended in 2016.

In April, Red Rock Canyon School served about 100 teenage boys and girls suffering from mental health-related issues, including about two dozen from Oregon’s child welfare system. Sequel said it will work with families and case workers to transfer residents from the two facilities to other programs.

Oregon Sen. Sara Gelser told the Tribune she is concerned the foster children from her state are not safe, at Red Rock and other Sequel facilities.

Red Rock Canyon School has been the focus of a number of lawsuits in recent years, many concerning staffers who have allegedly physically or sexually abused residents.

St. George police reports detail allegations of staff verbally abusing young residents and using excessive physical restraint on youth.

Two lawsuits filed last year accuse the school of overlooking the sexual abuse of two youths by a former employee who is now a registered sex offender. The school defended its actions in court filings, saying it had no reason to believe the employee was a danger to students when he worked at the school.

A massive brawl broke out on April 28. Officials have said staff escalated the brawl by making “humiliating and degrading comments” to residents. The fight sent five people to the hospital and injured a total of 20 people.

Sequel facilities in other states have faced similar scrutiny in recent years. Washington officials pulled their foster children from a treatment center in Iowa after a 2018 report by an advocacy group detailed incidents of verbal and physical abuse by staff.”

Second Utah facility for troubled teens to close in a month

[KUTV 7/16/19 by AP]
“A youth residential treatment center in St. George will close its doors after reports of sexual abuse and violence.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports that Red Rock Canyon School’s parent company said Tuesday the facility will close within 60 days.

Sequel Youth and Family Services says they’re closing to address problems identified by state regulators following a riot that left a number of teenagers injured in April. Five juveniles and one staffer are also facing charges in the brawl.

Police in California and Utah are also investigating sexual assault reports, including at least one involving a student and a staffer.

The 49 students still at Red Rock Canyon School will be transferred to other facilities, including 11 foster children from Oregon.”

After riot and State investigations, Red Rock Canyon School to close Doors
[St George News 7/10/19 by AP]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

Update: “Prosecutors have dropped a child abuse charge against a staff member at a now-shuttered school for troubled youth who had been accused of assaulting a girl during a riot.

Gino Sanchez, 39, was charged last June with the class A misdemeanor. Prosecutors allege he punched a 17-year-old girl in the face and pulled her hair during an April riot that broke out at Red Rock Canyon School, which closed in August amid intense scrutiny over its treatment of youths.

The 128-bed facility provided residential treatment for youths ages 12 to 18 — a mix of teens whose parents pay for them to stay there, out-of-state foster children and some who are ordered to be there by a judge.

Red Rock had also been frequently visited by police investigating staffers for child abuse, drugs and sex crimes, according to a Salt Lake Tribune investigation.

Sanchez was the sixth staffer in 2019 alone who had been charged with child abuse — and the only one to have his case dropped.

Washington County Attorney Brock Belnap said Wednesday that prosecutors asked for the case to be dismissed because they have lost contact with the victim. Without her testimony, he said, the case could not move forward.

Sanchez’s attorney, Daniel Tober, said in a statement Wednesday afternoon that his client was grateful that prosecutors dropped the charges.

Tober wrote that they believe the evidence would have exonerated his client, and said Sanchez was not at fault for the riot. Sanchez became the fall guy, the attorney said, for school owners and operators who were “happy to allow blame to fall on him in hopes of taking the focus off them.”

“Mr. Sanchez believes the school was not following mandatory state safety guidelines which created the opportunity for the youth to riot, and did not provide the staff with enough resources, including personnel, to stop it,” Tober said. “When the riot started, Mr. Sanchez only defended himself and others, sustaining multiple injuries in the process. He did not assault or seek to hurt anyone.”

The April 28 riot left five youths injured. Several students and staffers later told police that violence had escalated that evening after Sanchez called a group of young girls “thirsty hoes,” “bitches” and “horny little girls” before ordering them back to their rooms, according to nearly 100 pages of police reports released to The Tribune.

These comments upset the girls, they later told police, and they confronted Sanchez.”

Charges dropped against ex-Red Rock Canyon School employee accused of child abuse

[Salt Lake Tribune 01/8/2020 by Jessica Miller]