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Investigation of graves at former Florida reform school ordered...

Florida Governor Charlie Crist has ordered an investigation to determine whether the remains of 32 students were buried decades ago in shallow graves on the grounds of what was known as the Florida School for Boys, a former reform school for boys. CNN News story here

In a letter Crist asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate the graves and determine whether any crimes were committed. Authorities are only now beginning their investigation, so no one can say for certain who, if anyone, is buried in the 32 graves with the white metal crosses.

Four former residents of the school asked Crist to launch the investigation. They call themselves the White House Boys after the concrete building, where, they claim, the beatings and torture were carried out.

The White House Boys–Roger Kiser, Michael McCarthy, Bryant Middleton and Dick Colon–found each other on the Internet, after Kiser started a Web site. They began to talk about experiences at the reform school and eventually decided to go public, and call for an investigation.

The four believe many of the boys who were sent to the White House were killed and their remains buried on the grounds of what is now known as the Dozier School for Boys.

Middleton told CNN he was "an incorrigible youth of 14 or 15" when he was sent to the reform school for breaking and entering. During a 30-minute phone interview, he recounted story after horrific story about his time there.

Middleton said he took six trips to the concrete White House, where he endured brutal beatings. He says boys were regularly struck with a metal-reinforced double strap with a long wooden handle. "You could hear it coming through the air and when it hit your body, the pain was unbelievable," he recalled. "They just beat you to the point of unconsciousness, or you could no longer understand what was happening to you."

Colon said he remembers entering the laundry one day, and his life, he said, has never been the same. Inside a large tumble dryer, was a black teen. The White House boys, who are all white, told CNN that black kids at the school were beaten even more savagely than white kids.

"I said to myself, 'What's going to happen to me, if I take him out?'" he told CNN. He recalled being about 15 feet away from the boy in the dryer. He thought about helping him, but was afraid. "I said to myself, I can't do it, cause I'm gonna be the next one in the God-d-- dryer if I take him out," he said. "I turned my back and walked out and it torments me every day of my life."

"I witnessed them killing a boy, OK. They beat him to death. The state of Florida beat him at the White House. And I watched it; I seen it," recalled Don Stratton. My Fox Tampa Bay story here Stratton, now 63 years old, was a student at the reform school. He said they kept the boys under control through fear. Young boys ages 9 to 16 were sent to the state-run school. Stratton was there from 1958 to 1960. He was just 13 when he got there.

"Justice always cries out for a conclusion and this is no different," Crist told reporters. "If there's an opportunity to find out exactly what happened there, to be able to verify if there were these kinds of horrible atrocities ... we have a duty to do so." AP News story here

The Department of Juvenile Justice has no records that explain what's in the cemetery near the 108-year-old reform school.

"This is a big occasion for the state of Florida," Michael O'McCarthy, 66, who was sent to the detention center when he was 15 for stealing auto parts, said of the investigation. "Rarely do state or federal governments like to admit that they have committed this type of egregious, destructive kinds of crimes, especially to children."

Chained boy kept in fireplace, another arrest...

Detectives say a 16-year-old boy who escaped from a Tracy, California home last week was forced to stay in a wood-burning fireplace and endure violence such as strangulation with a belt. KCRA News story here

A search warrant obtained from the Tracy Police Department shows that several knives were taken from the home, along with bricks from a fireplace hearth, chains attached to punching bags and bottles of hard alcohol.

Police said that the boy appeared much younger than his age due to malnourishment and that his body was covered with soot, sores and scars. See vol6_iss75 for more on this story. The teen said one of the suspects lighted the fireplace on purpose one night as he was chained there asleep, and he suffered a burn to his left arm. Officers said they found a blanket inside the fireplace.

His sprained ankle has a permanent indent from a chain that was used to keep him attached to the fireplace or a heavy table at all times, according to the search warrant. Detectives also said that the teen told them he was forced to consume unknown pills, drink alcohol and smoke marijuana in order to keep him in a lethargic state.

The boy's brother claims he suffered similar abuse by the boys' guardian. CBS News story here I was going through the same thing," Austin, whose last name was withheld to protect his brother's identity, told CBS' The Early Show regarding Caren Ramirez, who was the one-time guardian for the two boys and was arrested last week on child abuse charges. Austin said Ramirez beat him and his brother often "for no reason."

Asked what he hoped the outcome of the case will be, Austin was blunt: "For them not to see the light of day, ever."

Meanwhile, a youth football coach and neighbor, Anthony Waiters, 29, of Tracy, has also been arrested in the case. San Jose Mercury News story here He was arrested Tuesday morning at his place of work in Pleasanton and was booked into San Joaquin County Jail on suspicion of torture, conspiracy, child endangerment, corporal injury to a child and false imprisonment.

The arrest of Waiters came after police served a third search warrant on the Schumacher home Tuesday. Due to a gag order placed on the case by a San Joaquin County judge, police referred all questions to the District Attorney's Office.

A copy of the criminal complaint in the case is available online at CNN shackled boy complaint.

In other news...

Children in highly developed countries suffer abuse and neglect much more often than is reported by official child-protective agencies, according to the findings of the first in a comprehensive series of reports on child maltreatment, published December 2 in the British medical journal The Lancet. TIME story here Based on a review of research conducted on child abuse between 2000 and June of this year, researchers estimate that 4% to 16% of children are physically abused each year in high-income nations, including the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Canada. As many as 15% are neglected, and up to 10% of girls and 5% of boys suffer severe sexual abuse; many more are victims of other sexual injury. Yet researchers say that as few as 1 in 10 of those instances of abuse are actually confirmed by social-service agencies–and that measuring the exact scope of the problem is nearly impossible. "The official statistics agencies produce are conservative estimates of probably the lowest level of child maltreatment," says Dr. Cathy Spatz Widom, a psychology professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, who specializes in the long-term effects of child abuse and is a lead author on one of the Lancet studies.

Prosecutors will not seek the death penalty against the Florida mom charged with killing her 3-year-old daughter, according to court documents. Fox News story here The Orange County State Attorney's Office announced in a news release Friday that "it is not in the best interest of the people of the State of Florida" to pursue the death penalty for Casey Anthony. The 22-year-old mother pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder, child abuse, aggravated manslaughter and four counts of lying to investigators about the disappearance of her daughter. She faces life in prison if convicted. Meanwhile, defense lawyer Jose Baez says in a court filing that a photograph taken from the a mall surveillance video shows a girl who resembles Caylee Anthony playing at a Florida mall five months after she was last seen. AP News story here The photo was submitted to a tip line in the ongoing search for the 3-year-old. Baez wants the Florida Mall in Orlando to turn over the video. He asked a court to subpoena the tape but no decision has been made yet. The Orange County Sheriff's Office has released seven DVD's containing more than 300 minutes worth of video from Casey Anthony's jail visits. My Fox Orlando story here

Texas investigators took DNA samples from a baby born to a teenage member of a polygamous sect months after a high-profile raid, trying to determine the father's identity and whether he is an adult. AP News story here Jerry Strickland, a spokesman for the state attorney general's office, confirmed that investigators had a search warrant and gathered a DNA swab. Child welfare authorities have said in court filings that investigators believe the girl, now 17, was married to a man in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints when she was 14. In Texas, someone younger than 17 generally cannot consent to sex with an adult. Authorities previously tried to examine and collect a sample from the baby, born June 14, but the mother refused to disclose the child's whereabouts. A standoff in court in November led to an undisclosed agreement between the two sides, but the search warrant forced the issue. For more on this story see vol6_iss27, vol6_iss40, and vol6_iss64.

Santa Clara County, California prosecutors have learned of the existence of an estimated 3,000 videotapes of medical examinations in child sex-abuse cases dating to 1991 that never were provided to defense attorneys–evidence that in many of the cases could provide a basis to challenge convictions. San Jose Mercury News story here Prosecutors said the trove of tapes came to light after medical experts hired by two convicted defendants belatedly discovered videotapes in their cases and concluded they contradicted medical findings that sexual abuse had occurred. In those cases the new evidence proved crucial–one conviction has been overturned, and the second is in jeopardy–but prosecutors say they do not expect the new videotapes to raise doubts in many cases. Still, the case files must be located and reviewed — a daunting task whose extent became clear only last week. Mary Ritter, coordinator of the Center for Child Protection at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, told the Mercury News last week that she has carefully stored videotapes in 3,000 other cases dating back to 1991. "I have pack-rat tendencies," she said. Chief Assistant District Attorney Marc T. Buller said his department will review the newly found videotapes to determine which cases ended in convictions, and added that he hoped defense attorneys can be notified by early next year of the new potential evidence.

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