Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - $$ PRIVATE SCHOOL $$ Forces Boy in SOLITARY CONFINEMENT, COMMITS SUICIDE: Says Family

Episode Date: November 15, 2022

The family of Claudio Mandia sues an elite New York school after their 17-year-old son commits suicide. Mandia was accused of cheating and admitted to having another student compose a math paper for him. The school, EF Academy, expelled Mandia and is accused of putting him in solitary confinement until his family could arrive from Italy. School officials dispute the claim. The year leading up to Mandia's death was rife with personal issues that affected the boy's academic performance. There was a bout with Covid and a close family member died after an illness. There was also the additional stress of trying to make up the mound of assignments that Mandia missed when he was sick.  The family's suit alleges wrongful death, negligence, false imprisonment and emotional distress, among other charges. The suit also alleges that the school “often recklessly disregards the psychological needs of its students." It notes that one of Mandia's classmates had tried to kill himself the year before.    A spokesperson for EF Academy says the filing contains "multiple inaccurate statements."  Mandia's family says he originally applied to the rigorous academic program to lay a foundation for him to fulfill his dream of attending a top university in Italy.   Joining Nancy Grace Today: Guy Stephens - Advocate and Founder, the Alliance Against Seclusion and Restraint Jeremy Whiteley - Survivor of Provo Canyon School; Serial Entrepreneur, Volunteer with Unsilenced, a non-profit organization that serves past, present, and future victims of institutional child abuse; Instagram: @mtbikeraz, Twitter:  @JeremyWhiteley Kelly Hyman - Trial & Civil Attorney (Miami, FL); TV Legal Analyst; Author: "Build Back Better" Caryn Stark - NYC Psychologist; Twitter: @carynpsych, Facebook: "Caryn Stark" Jen Robison - Youth Rights Advocate focusing on Institutional Child Abuse; Twitter: @JENvTTI, Insta: @jenrobison_  Alexis Tereszcuk - CrimeOnline.com Investigative Reporter, Writer/Fact Checker, Lead Stories; Twitter: @swimmie2009 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. A young teen boy. Oh, if you could see this boy. So charismatic, so smart, so handsome. Just the apple of his parents' eye. Why did Claudio end up dead? Not just dead. And no, he's not hanging out on the street selling crack or buying crack. He's not running into a Walgreens trying to steal and get away with it. He's not speeding while he's drunk and high. He's at school.

Not only is he at school, he's at a very fancy private school and he was forced into solitary confinement. Now, wait a minute. Wait a minute. What? Solitary confinement at school? Not just school where I went, public school. I'm in a fancy school where they pay 50 grand a year. Yeah, solitary confinement. Let me just go back for a moment. When I was prosecuting violent felonies in inner city Atlanta for over a decade, I would often have to go to a place called Alto. And it was a youth facility, as it was euphemistically called. It was juvie jail. And I don't mean the jail where you sit around and talk to psychologists and you do word puzzles and you cut things out with a construction paper. Not that juvie jail. This was juvie jail for 16, 17, 18, 19 year olds

that had committed offenses like rape, armed robbery, arson, trafficking in drugs. Those juveniles. Even they didn't have solitary confinement. What, are we back in the Middle Ages where people are tortured in the dungeon? Claudio is dead

at a fancy private school in solitary confinement. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us at Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111. All I can say is heads are gonna roll. Listen to this. Elisabetta and Mauro Mandia run a successful frozen Italian pizza

export firm called Fiat that generates about 15 million a year in sales in Italy. When their son Claudio told his parents that he planned to follow in his father's footsteps in the business, they elected to send their son to the elite boarding school, EF Academy in New York. The tuition runs around $66,000 a year for full-time boarders and promises a rigorous academic program that would allow Claudio to fulfill his dream of attending a top university in Italy. Sorry, correction, it wasn't 50 grand. It's $66,000 a year. Now, people often ask me, what's your

favorite case you've ever prosecuted or covered? Like, what's your favorite child? I don't have a favorite. And plus, how can you talk about murders as if they're a favorite? One's a more favorite murder than the other. I'm not saying that I expect more or less out of a school. But I do know when you're paying $66,000 a year, the last thing you expect is for your child to die in solitary confinement. Take a listen now to our friends at CrimeOnline.com. Claudio enrolled in EF Academy's two-year international baccalaureate program in New York, which provides a globally recognized elite diploma. In his first year, Claudio excelled.

His teacher said he was a very good math student, a great joy to have in class, and respectful and honest. Claudio liked EF Academy so much, his sister joined him at the school for his senior year. COVID delayed the return of Claudio and one of his sisters to EF Academy, causing him to fall behind in class. When Claudio and his sister finally returned to the campus on January 25th, he was inundated with assignments that had accumulated while he was quarantined and all had impending deadlines shortly after Claudio suffered the unexpected loss of a close family member who died of a heart condition.

The loss upset him terribly and led him to seek counseling from the school's director of mental health services, Chelsea Lavise. Claudio had begun seeing Lavise for mental health counseling more than a year earlier after witnessing the suicide attempt of another student who was expelled and placed in solitary confinement okay wait we've already had another student who was expelled and placed in solitary confinement and had a suicide attempt and you know when i first heard about the story and this was an italian family I thought this happened in Italy somewhere where in my mind this just couldn't happen here in the U.S. and I just airbrushed it away thinking well they don't have regulations and rules concerning schools. I had it all wrong. Joining me in all-star panel

to make sense of what we know right now but I want you to have one thing in your head remember this the teacher said very good math student a great joy to have in class respectful and honest he loved the school at the beginning so much his sister joined him there respectful honest great math student joy that's what he was called. Okay, this is what I don't understand. Alexis Teres Chuck joining me from Crime Online. You know, I know you have an apple of your eye. You're, as I say, baby. He's not a baby anymore. You're a little boy. And of course, you and I both, like so many parents, would do anything within the law to advance them one step further, make their life one bit easier so they can have happiness and success as they grow up. And here are these parents working to send their child what they think is the ticket to a great life. $66,000 a year.

Where is this place, Alexis? It is in Thornwood in New York. It is the ES Academy. It is an internationally recognized school. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Where's Thornwood? I've lived in New York for years and years. Where is Thornwood?

I believe it is in Westchester County. Oh, okay. Hey, I know about Westchester. That's where all the rich people live. Yes, I'm very familiar with the ilk that live in Westchester. Okay. So, Alexis Tereschuk, Thornwood EF Academy in Westchester. Internationally recognized schools.

Is that what you're saying? Yes, EF Academy. Elizabeth F. as in Frank Academy. Yes. Let's take a listen to more of what we know about what happened to Claudio. Take a listen to our friends at Crime Online. Soon after learning of his relative's death, Claudio admitted to hiring a classmate to draft a math paper for him. As punishment, school officials expelled him and forced him into solitary confinement on February 14th

until his parents could pick him up from Italy. Officials told Claudio not to leave the isolation room and they decided that all of his meals would be delivered to him. Okay, let me just analyze what I'm just hearing right now. Karen Stark joining me, renowned New York psychologist joining us from Manhattan. You can find her at karenstark.com. That's Karen with a C. You know, Karen, the other night, and I hate this because I feel like it was my fault, but I know it wasn't, but I can't help but feel that way. Lucy, my little girl, the twins, just turned 15 this past weekend,

was up at 10.15, still trying to finish an AP World History DBQ. What is that? Data-based questions, and they're very involved. She was tired. She had been sick, and she just burst into tears and she's not one that cries none of us really cry a lot and I felt so bad for her I tried to help her of course I couldn't answer the questions or help her find the answers and the stress and I'm thinking about Claudio He was out for a while because of COVID. He,

his mother, his sister, I've forgotten who, they all had COVID. He gets back and he's behind and he's trying to catch up. And Karen Stark, I have told the twins 500 times, listen, I don't want you to make an F. I don't even want you to make a C. But if you do, it's not the end of the world. Whatever you do, don't cheat. A, you'll get caught. B, if you don't get caught, you'll get a horrible reputation. You don't want to be at work one day and somebody go, oh, there's Lucy Lynch and John David. They cheated their whole way through school. No, take the F and then do better next time. It's not the end of the world. But the stress here, and this is a great student.

Claudio was behind and he got another student to write a paper and he got busted, Karen Stark. It's not just that, Nancy. He had recently lost a family member. So there was a really stressful life event that occurred. Not that it was okay for him to have somebody do the paper, but it was such an extremely harsh and isolating punishment that he suffered. And if you look at the warning signs of suicide for children, for teenagers, that's one of the things you have to watch for is a recent loss and a situation where you have no contact with your friends or your family being excluded that way. I mean, Karen, they don't even treat you like this on death row. And if you're in max security, you still get to get out of your cell and exercise for an hour a day or however long it is. They don't even treat hardened criminals in the U.S. like this.

I work with a lot of teenagers, and there have been incidents like this before where kids are uh it's a first time offense so i'm really surprised that he's expelled from the school to begin with and then such a terribly harsh isolating punishment it really is is. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, with me, an incredible panel. I want to go now to two of our panel members. Let me just tell you who all is here. Jeremy Whiteley, who survived an allegedly extremely abusive school, Provo Canyon. You can find him now at unsilenced.org or on Twitter at Jeremy Whiteley. Jen Robinson, also a survivor of Provo. Advocate focusing on institutional child abuse. You can find her at youthindisorder.com. Also on Insta at Jen Robinson underscore. Guy Stevens with me. Advocate founder Alliance Against Seclusion and Restraint. And Kelly Hyman, trial lawyer joining us out of

Miami, author of Build Back Better. First to you, Jen Robinson, what do you make of what you're hearing happened to this young teen boy, Claudio? Well, it was a heartbreaking story and I sadly resonated with this. Does it remind you of Provo? Oh, for sure. I was in Provo for about two years, starting at the age of 14 and a really big part of my experience there that I've had to unravel as an adult. Why were you at Provo at 14? For depression. I, similar to Claudio, I witnessed the death of a loved one when I was about nine years old. And that, along with some various other traumas in my early life, just kind of turned into this very young depression. Jen, you know what?

Jen, I am not a shrink. I've never been, no one's ever accused me of knowing that entire area. But it seems to me, if you're depressed, the last thing you need is to be away from your family and a loving home. But that said, I would tend to agree with you. Tell me what happened to you at Provo. So while I was at Provo, I was actually there twice. I went for about 15 months when I was 14 and it was very difficult, but I wouldn't say very eventful. They did shave my head, which was, you know, difficult. And it kind of told me what the tone of the stay was going to be right away. I hope you can hear yourself because everybody in this studio just went, what? You said it wasn't too bad.

They shaved my head. I mean, right there, I think that's bad. Yeah, I, you know, I've had to put all this in perspective more and more as I've gotten older, and especially when I became a mother myself and really understood the gravity of the harm, you know, not just to me, but to all the children around me. And, you know, that's something that we all carry is knowing what happened to us in layers. You know, you don't get it when you're a kid. Children don't understand abuse as abuse when it's happening.

They're just trying to adapt. And so, you know, I went home after my first day. don't understand abuse as abuse when it's happening. They're just trying to adapt. And so, you know, I went home after my first day, it was very, you know, rigorous, militaristic. They run it with a kind of behavioral modification focus. So this is not an elite academy. This is not an academic focus. This is behavior modification focus that they promised the parents,

we're gonna fix your kid in a matter of months if you send them here. Or they're taking kids from foster care and juvenile justice. So after 15 months, I went home. It did not do well because the treatment doesn't work. And then they sent me back. And that's when I was placed in isolation a lot. They had a cement cell that they called observation. They actually had four of these in the building. And at any given time, there was usually at least one child being

left in that cell. And I spent, I mean, countless hours, you know, left in there. You know, I'm just thinking about my children right now, Jen, thinking of putting my son or my daughter in a cement cell at that age. Jeremy Whiteley with me, also a survivor. What do you make of what happened? It's a tragic demonstration on how misunderstood mental health care can be, especially in schools. And it seems like you didn't meet anyone qualified enough for help. And the school provided discipline instead of the appropriate necessary mental health care. Jeremy, I know we're talking about Claudio right now, but what happened to you at Provo? Well, I went there because, you know, I was dealing with depression. I told my parents I'd rather die than live with them.

And that's what got me sent to Provo. And it wasn't anything like the brochures and stuff that I watched, that I saw. When I was there, Provo was marketed as a therapeutic boarding school. So, you know, it emphasized academics, but it also heavily, heavily incorporated behavioral and psychological therapies into the school program. It was a little bit different from, you know, Jen's experience for me. There was a lot of isolation. You know, if we cheated on a test, you know, we would be put in a place called investment and we'd have to stand up against the wall for hours to days at a time as punishment. A lot of kids that went to Provo also went to some of these elite schools.

You know, they would get in trouble there. And when they came to Provo, some of my friends that happened to. Some of them would get handcuffed in the middle of the night, and they were brought to Provo. This is horrible. I just can't imagine a young teen like my children or Alexis, yours soon to be, being handcuffed in the middle of the night. Guys, I want you to hear more about Claudio. Take a listen to our friends at Crime Online. According to a lawsuit, Claudio screamed and cried for help while being held in solitary

confinement, while school officials allegedly ignored his pleas and refused his parents' request that they allow him to leave the room they were keeping him in. The day before he was expected to depart, Claudio interacted with at least three school staff members while displaying signs of attempted suicide on his neck, according to the complaint, which notes that up to 15 of his classmates may have also seen the marks when they visited him to say goodbye, and many asked him questions about it. The complaint states that Claudio said he fell in the shower. So he covered up a suicide attempt. There are now up to 15 witnesses.

If the other students saw it to the point where they were saying, what happened to your neck? Do the teachers and the administration didn't see it? Joining me, Guy Stevens, advocate, founder, Alliance Against Seclusion and Restraint at endseclusion.org. Guy, you've got to jump in, man. Yeah, absolutely. This is heartbreaking to start with, to hear a story like this and to understand what happened and what the result is. Unfortunately,

I'm not surprised. I'm not shocked, as some of your other guests have expressed as well. You know, unfortunately, I learned the hard way that kids are sometimes physically restrained, secluded, you know, have a lot of other really adverse discipline practices that are subjected to them in the name often of behavior, in the name of discipline, in the name of rules, in the name of a lot of things. I have a son who's neurodivergent who was being restrained and secluded in a public school. I would have never even imagined that something could have happened. Hearing the word solitary confinement in the context of a school, it's mind-blowing. Again, who would imagine the kids might be put into solitary confinement?

Absolutely mind-blowing to hear something like that happening. Unfortunately, these kinds of things happen more frequently than a lot of people realize. And they happen in public schools. They happen in private schools. They happen in behaviorally focused schools. They happen in elite schools like this where kids are restrained secluded suspended expelled subjected corporal punishment we solve 19 states that allow you to hit a kid in public school and again unfortunately these things are often happening in the name of behavior i totally got hit in school i got hit in the first

grade for getting it yeah and you were supposed to circle the right answer and i circled it and finished and then i started drawing flowers on the circles. My first grade teacher, Miss Willis, hit me so hard I fell over on a stack of books. I can tell you this. I never drew another flower in that class again. So you're right. That was public school. Kelly Hyman, high-profile lawyer joining us out of Miami, author of Build Back Better. Kelly, what I'm hearing with the backdrop of what Guy, Jeremy, and Jen are saying,

the school had noticed. They knew that he was trying to commit suicide. He had these bruises all around his neck. You don't get that from a fall, for Pete's sake. Nancy, you bring up a really good point, and thank you so much for having me on your show. Absolutely, and I think that's something that's going to come out if this case actually goes to trial. I think that they will reach some kind of resolution and try and resolve this matter. But we also have to think about the consequences

for other children going forward. As you noted, he had a friend who tried to commit suicide. And the school knew that. And also that he was dealing with COVID. And a lot of kids are suffering from mental health issues because of COVID being isolated and not around their friends and then he also had a family member that had some health conditions as well and he's dealing with all this. Now we also have to remember that the school has said that allegations made in

the complaint that they are not factually accurate and that he wasn't locked during the time that he was there. But I think notice is key. If they notice that something he has marks on his neck and didn't do anything, it didn't act anything. Then there's a really strong argument that there was negligence on their behalf. Absolutely. Of course, they're saying that's not true, but of course they are. And I guarantee the last thing they want, the school EF Academy, 66 grand a year is a trial because, you know, we're going to be on row one front and center hearing everything and talking about them. It didn't end there. Take a listen to investigative reporter Dave Mack.

According to the complaint filed by Claudio's family, EF Academy kept Claudio in solitary confinement without the necessary intervention, counseling, guidance, medical care, mental health care, and supervision. The next morning, Claudio's sister asked Lovise to check on her brother after she hadn't heard from him that day. Lovise told the girl that she knocked on the door, but nobody answered, leading her to believe

that he was asleep. When she stopped by the room again later, she found him dead by apparent suicide. Karen Stark, the sister was asking and asking and asking about him

and then he's found dead. Why did the little sister have to be asking about her brother? If she's concerned about him, shouldn't the authorities at the school be concerned about him? Are there no regulations?

I mean, the sister has to find her brother dead? It's unacceptable that this is happening in a school where they should be much more aware of what happens to their children, the children that they're entrusted to take care of. Did you get the gist of this? He was, quote, it was either the sister or Lovis who was the person in charge. She, quote, found him dead.

I heard Guy Stevens jumping in. How do you find somebody dead? Didn't we learn even in jail? Remember in the case of Jeffrey Epstein how they have monitors and you do safety checks how do you just find somebody dead how long had he been in there without being checked on yeah well you know let's let's be real clear about this the use of solitary confinement should never have been considered never should have been an option never should have been a legal option you know the fact

that we have kids that are kids and youth that are restrained secluded put in isolation in in public and private schools across the country is just absolutely mind-blowing not only in isolation guy not only isolation but not checking on them even hardened criminals like like Jeffrey Epstein, like killers are checked on routinely and have monitors to make sure they're okay. Take a listen to our friends at News 12 Westchester. Claudio was in his senior year at

EF Academy when he hung himself on February 17th after he was put in solitary confinement for nearly four days for cheating on a math assignment. Had Claudio been treated under the same standards that apply under New York state law in the Department of Education, Claudio would be here with us today. The lawsuit points the finger at school officials for isolating Claudio, knowing his mental health was suffering,

saying he was enduring serious personal and academic hardships. Completely irresponsible and frankly reckless in the disregard for the safety, the well-being and the mental health of Claudio Mandia. Have you ever wondered why inmates are walking around in those athletic slip-on shoes? Because they can't have shoestrings. Why can they not have shoestrings? So they can't kill themselves or somebody else. My question is, you put this very depressed boy, very upset.

He's leaving the next day. He's had a death in the family. He's behind because of COVID. He had somebody else work on a math paper he got busted for cheating he's at the end of his rope and i don't mean that as a pun my question now is not only was he improperly placed in isolation he also had the materials with him to hang himself. How irresponsible is this? I mean, the school might as well have just hung him themselves.

What do the parents say? They are devastated. I don't want to be presumptuous saying that Claudio was a he has a charisma he had the charisma he was a very handsome guy that always helped and lots of friends he was very open guy okay with his attitude is very positive characters and he was far away millions of miles from a concept like a suicide not because he's he was our son the parents devastated saying he was handsome he was charismatic he was very open to the world he was a million miles away from a thought of suicide yet a couple of months back at EF Academy and he's dead, placed in solitary confinement at a nearly $70,000 boarding school. Solitary confinement.

He's had a suicide attempt before. 15 students knew about it. Nobody's checking on him. And he has the materials to hang himself. It's not the first time that similar treatment has occurred at a so-called elite private school. Paris Hilton. That's right. Paris Hilton, the star, made headlines when she described what happened to her. Listen to Paris speaking to our friends at CBS. Paris Hilton, heiress to the storied Hilton Hotel legacy, was born to wealthy but working parents, Richard and Kathy.

She says they were strict, no makeup or dates allowed. But as a teen, Paris had a wild streak. So wild that mom and dad sent her to a series of behavior modification schools. How did your parents get to the point where they thought that that was the answer? What were you doing? I wasn't really doing anything. I just moved from L.A. to New York, and that's when my life completely changed. And basically, I was just sneaking out, going to clubs and not going to school and ditching class. And that's when my parents thought it was time for me to go away. Then 17-year-old Paris wound up at the Provo Canyon School in Utah, a place for treatment of young people with mental and behavioral challenges.

There's no getting out of there. But in her film, This Is Paris, she describes the place as more of a prison camp with solitary confinement and physical abuse. So they made an example of you. And they would choke you? No. And hit you? No. And hit you?

Yes. It's so weird to think now because I buried this for so long with my emotions. So now to think about it, what happened, it's so weird for me to even be like, how is this really real? To Jen Robison and Jeremy Whiteley, survivors of a Provo Canyon school, Jen Robison, I keep thinking about Claudio, this young teen boy, just lost a family member, dead, busted for cheating on a math paper,

he was behind because of COVID trying desperately to catch up, and placed in solitary confinement. I'd like to hear what you and Jeremy have to say. Well, it definitely, it rings a strong bell because I know what that feels like to be in a place of crisis as a kid. And instead of help, you are completely left alone. Did your parents know what was happening to you at Provo? They knew that there was an isolation room and they certainly knew that it was used,

but they were not told every time that I was placed in that room at all. And they were not told why I was placed in that room because it was, there's so many ways that these schools skirt laws and try to avoid accountability for the use of seclusion and isolation. They find so many different ways of just not reporting. You're supposed to only use seclusion in Utah if the child is a clear and present danger to themselves and others. I would be put in isolation for curling up under my desk. Which leads me to why would you have to be curled up under your desk? And the parents are far away and they have no idea what's happening.

They think they're helping their child jeremy jump in yeah my parents didn't know at all i mean i wrote them letters and told them about the abuse that they saw that happened that happened to other kids you know 300 pound staff members would you know tackle a kid you know punch them you know throw them in insulate in isolation rooms for hours to 24 hours to 48 hours. I told all my parents that in letters, and the school just destroyed them and never forwarded them to my parents. So they were not getting your letters? No.

There's no way to have honest communication with your parents. Yeah. Because they were taking your letters and monitoring your phone calls? Yeah, they're with you on the phone they're with you on the phone i mean it kills me when my twins go to scout camp and their phones don't work in the mountains i can't imagine them being in a place where they cannot communicate with me i want you to hear what another victim has to say j Jen Robinson, this is you and you're talking about what happened, not only to you, but other victims as well. Listen.

For many, this is the first time hearing about Provo Canyon School. I'm realizing more and more that I'm confronted with it every day. For people like Paris and Jen Robinson, it's haunting. The issues that occurred when Paris and I were there are still occurring today. Jen was admitted to PCS in 2003 for childhood trauma. Basically, they brought me in, they strip searched me in a utility closet, and soon after they shaved my head, they gave me a number. Little did she know, the facility would create trauma of its own.

It's so abrupt and it's so frightening and it's so confusing that you're just like, well, this is my life now. Jen says she still has vivid memories of having to earn off-campus visits, alleged verbal and physical abuse, and isolation. Paris Hilton agrees. Here she is with ET. In an interview with People magazine, Paris claims that the 11 months she spent at a boarding school for troubled teens at the age of 17 was, quote, torture. It was supposed to be a school, but classes were not the focus at all. From the moment I woke up until I went to bed, it was all day screaming in my face, yelling at me, continuous torture. The DJ goes on to detail the alleged verbal abuse she endured, explaining, quote, the staff would say terrible things. They were constantly making me feel bad about myself and

bullying me. I think it was their goal to break us down. And they were physically abusive, hitting and strangling us. They wanted to instill fear in the kids so we'd be too scared to disobey them. Paris recalled another student telling the staff that she planned to run away. As a result, the heiress says they placed her in solitary confinement. Ferris also claimed she was only allowed to speak with her family once every two or three months and that when she tried to tell them about what was going on, she was punished. Quote, I was having panic attacks and crying every single day. I was just so miserable.

I felt like a prisoner and I hated life. I think it is important to correct one piece of the record with Provo Canyon School that however they may have billed themselves to Paris' parents, they were never an elite boarding school. They take kids for any reason from all walks of life. And I think it's just interesting, too, to see the difference between a place like Provo Canyon School that's kind of this catch-all,

we're going to fix your kid behavioral modification program, but you have the same types of problems happening in an elite academic school like EF Academy. And I think a huge part that's important for parents to understand about the safety issue here is that when you send your child far from you and far from the eyes of the people that love them, they no longer have an advocate. This counselor that was supposed to be taking care of Claudio and watching after his well-being and mental health, that should have been his advocate,

but she's not his parent. She's not somebody in his community who truly loved him and so he didn't get somebody standing for him the way that they should have and saying that this treatment should not be happening to any child especially a child who's going through what claudia's going through crime stories with nancy grace to guy stevens joining us from the alliance against seclusion and restraint guy stevens they the students don't have a chance to tell the parents what's happening. Their letters are destroyed or monitored. That has been proven in other cases. And someone is there from the school

when they speak to the parents. If they try to tell the parents, they're then punished after. These systems are based on compliance and control. And what children need, any children, any youth, is they need connection and they need compassion. You know, often we're talking about kids that are having a hard time, kids that have been through trauma.

You know, you think about the loss of a relative and the trauma that that might be leading. But we have many institutions, many schools, many elite facilities, you know, across the country that are focused on compliance and control. I think both, I think Jen had mentioned kind of, and Jeremy as well, this idea of these behavioral approaches that are honestly, you know, over 100 years old. I mean, there's a lot of emphasis on this idea of behaviorism. It's all about kind of rewarding consequence. And it's leading kids into more trauma i mean i really feel for jen and jeremy and i appreciate your willingness to continue to speak on this issue because i know you know i know from being connected with you and others that this is

traumatic even even decades later well when they go in for a behavioral issue and then you're treated this way and in this case claudio just went for a better future guys they're not the only ones we're cutting forward to our cut 33 and 34 take a listen to another famous name kat von d and jen listen they did a strip search which was completely degrading um i remember having to get naked in front of this person who i don't know if they had credentials i had no idea who they were and basically they were just um just degrading me the whole entire time and uh i you know i was 15 years old i was still a kid and um they put me into a um like some hot pink sweats and um gave me some sandals and then they took me into another room and then shaved my head um the mistreatment and the shaving

of the head seems to be a common theme at schools like this. Right now, EF Academy on the hot seat because this young boy, Claudio, is dead. Sixty-six grand a year. In our Cut 38, I want you to hear our friend that joined me, Chris Hooker. When Trevor was there, he constantly reported that he was left in a room for days with them. Basically, they just would leave him, feed him, let him out, made him pee in the jug, tackled by staff constantly, which was always denied. It was always his fault. I asked them to view cameras.

Every time it happened, it was somewhere where there wasn't cameras. You know, he used to, when he got home, he told me, he told me that he had lots of nightmares about that place, about the way he was treated, how staff let kids pick on him, staff picked on him. And he got into a little bit of trouble when he got home nothing major but a week later he took his life i think he thought he was going to end up back there

another boy dead at a so-called elite private school that boy tre Trevor Hooker. What is the answer? Why are these so-called elite academies and behavioral modification schools repeatedly, reportedly facilitating abuse, sex assault, mistreatment, and ultimately suicide? The case is going forward. Kelly Hyman joining me, high-profile lawyer out of Miami. What do you expect to come out of a trial? Right. Well, first, I wanted to say my thoughts and prayers go out to the family that lost a loved one. And thank you for our other people speaking about what they went through.

I think it's really important to bring about change. I know that the attorney advocating for the family says that he wants to pass Claudia's law in order to bring about change. But I do believe, I don't think that there is going to be a trial. I think that they're going to try and reach some resolution before that, because it's a high profile thing and a lot of stuff will come out. But I definitely think it's important for people to speak out. Without speaking out, there cannot be any change. Without people telling their stories of what they went through, there can't bring about any change at all from that standpoint,

and also legally about making changes and making a difference to help people. Kelly Hyman, you're right. I don't think there's any way that EF Academy is going to let this thing go to trial. They will do anything to stop a trial. That's my legal analysis. But bottom line, this teen boy, Claudio, is dead. And EF Academy has a lot of explaining to do. Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.