 |
| HT to Chuckles Travels: "Your Kids" or your prey, Mr. Duke? |
This episode highlights the procurement
activities of Charlie Duke who gains access to children through his
employment as a truant officer in Olney, IL and arranges with the
court to have students sent out of state to Pinehaven in Montana,
some 2000 miles away from parents where parents are largely denied
access to their children. The court apparently decides without a
hearing or investigation of parents and without their knowledge or
approval to deem their homes unfit so that they have cause to send
children out of state to Pinehaven. CNN's Gary Tuchman dubs this the
Illinois Pipeline. (Read
more here at Chuckles Travels.)
Since the airing of these episodes, the
Pinehaven
Abuse (vicitm advocate and support) website notes that the young
woman featured in the CNN investigation (transferred from an
inpatient mental health facility for post-rape suicidal behavior because of
Charlie Duke's intervention as a “procurement agent” for
Pinehaven) has been ordered to be released from the IFB boarding
home to return to her mother's care in Olney, IL at the end of this
school year in June of 2012.
Addendum 31Mar12 5PM: Since this initial posting, I've been made aware that though the IFB does run boarding homes like Pinehaven, the facility in Montana is not directly affiliated with the the IFB in the same way as homes like Hephzibah House. Apparently, the home is subsidized as a missionary effort in the same way that the IFB homes are and practice the same types of discipline and heavy labor as a "Christian ministry" but receive donations from a variety of sources including funds from many evangelicals including Baptist and Catholic sources. Like the homes directly affiliated with the IFB, Pinehaven does operate without oversight from anyone under the laws protecting private homes and religious liberty.
Addendum 31Mar12 5PM: Since this initial posting, I've been made aware that though the IFB does run boarding homes like Pinehaven, the facility in Montana is not directly affiliated with the the IFB in the same way as homes like Hephzibah House. Apparently, the home is subsidized as a missionary effort in the same way that the IFB homes are and practice the same types of discipline and heavy labor as a "Christian ministry" but receive donations from a variety of sources including funds from many evangelicals including Baptist and Catholic sources. Like the homes directly affiliated with the IFB, Pinehaven does operate without oversight from anyone under the laws protecting private homes and religious liberty.
Part III of III as it appears on
the AC360 blog entry:
March
29, 2012 transcript not included in video:
COOPER: Well, tonight, part three of
our report on allegations of abuse at a small Christian boarding
school in Montana. You're going to meet an Illinois mom who says her
daughter was sent to the school against her wishes after a truant
officer gave her daughter a form to sign. She was just 15 years
old.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She called me, she was crying, she said, mommy, I just made a mistake.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was her mistake?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I asked her what happened, and she said, I just signed the papers to go to Pinehaven.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Tonight in our "Ungodly Discipline" series, the disturbing link between a truant officer in Illinois and a small Christian boarding school nearly 2,000 miles away in north western Montana.
Now over the last two nights, we've told you of allegations of abuse at the school, which is exempt from state oversight. In part three of his report tonight, Gary Tuchman exposes what amounts to a pipeline between five counties in Illinois and Pinehaven Christian Children's Ranch.
Dozens of kids from Illinois have ended up at Pinehaven, steered there by the same truant officer. It happened to a teen named Cassie against her mother's wishes. Now, her mom wants to pull her out of Pinehaven, but can't. Here's Gary's report.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She called me, she was crying, she said, mommy, I just made a mistake.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was her mistake?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I asked her what happened, and she said, I just signed the papers to go to Pinehaven.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Tonight in our "Ungodly Discipline" series, the disturbing link between a truant officer in Illinois and a small Christian boarding school nearly 2,000 miles away in north western Montana.
Now over the last two nights, we've told you of allegations of abuse at the school, which is exempt from state oversight. In part three of his report tonight, Gary Tuchman exposes what amounts to a pipeline between five counties in Illinois and Pinehaven Christian Children's Ranch.
Dozens of kids from Illinois have ended up at Pinehaven, steered there by the same truant officer. It happened to a teen named Cassie against her mother's wishes. Now, her mom wants to pull her out of Pinehaven, but can't. Here's Gary's report.
(VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Gary, I mean, it's such a fascinating report that you've done over the last three nights. What is the state of Illinois and child welfare experts have to say about this?
TUCHMAN: You know, we've talked to child welfare experts who work for the state and who work in private practice and they all tell us this is unorthodox and upsetting. They say it's standard procedure to try to take a kid if the kid has to leave their parents to a place close to their home.
But interestingly, we also talked to the top legal official in the state, the attorney general of Illinois, and this is what's fascinating. This has been going on for many years. The attorney general's office says they knew nothing about this whatsoever.
They did some investigating, and they, too, say it was disturbing, but during their investigation, they discovered that this is not their jurisdiction, that only the local state district attorneys can deal with the situation.
So, therefore, the Democrat is the attorney general in the state of Illinois, Lisa Mattigan, says she can't do anything.
COOPER: And just so I'm clear, they have no trained counselors, certified counselors at this school to help troubled kids?
TUCHMAN: What Bob Larsson will tell us is he believes these people are good and they're trained and they know what they're doing. But the fact is, they are not licensed whatsoever. The counselors or the teachers, not licensed by the state of Montana, it's unaccredited, unlicensed, and uncertified employees.
COOPER: That's even ignoring the abuse allegations, which you've documented in the previous nights. Gary, appreciating the reporting. Thanks. We'll continue to follow it.
COOPER: Gary, I mean, it's such a fascinating report that you've done over the last three nights. What is the state of Illinois and child welfare experts have to say about this?
TUCHMAN: You know, we've talked to child welfare experts who work for the state and who work in private practice and they all tell us this is unorthodox and upsetting. They say it's standard procedure to try to take a kid if the kid has to leave their parents to a place close to their home.
But interestingly, we also talked to the top legal official in the state, the attorney general of Illinois, and this is what's fascinating. This has been going on for many years. The attorney general's office says they knew nothing about this whatsoever.
They did some investigating, and they, too, say it was disturbing, but during their investigation, they discovered that this is not their jurisdiction, that only the local state district attorneys can deal with the situation.
So, therefore, the Democrat is the attorney general in the state of Illinois, Lisa Mattigan, says she can't do anything.
COOPER: And just so I'm clear, they have no trained counselors, certified counselors at this school to help troubled kids?
TUCHMAN: What Bob Larsson will tell us is he believes these people are good and they're trained and they know what they're doing. But the fact is, they are not licensed whatsoever. The counselors or the teachers, not licensed by the state of Montana, it's unaccredited, unlicensed, and uncertified employees.
COOPER: That's even ignoring the abuse allegations, which you've documented in the previous nights. Gary, appreciating the reporting. Thanks. We'll continue to follow it.
with transcript not
included in the video.
