PRESS RELEASE

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS: LEGALIZED CHILD ABUSE

Most recent death: Giovanni “Joey” Aletriz

Remembering all of the children who have died in the name of treatment

What:     17th Annual Victims’ March – Sacramento, CA

Why:     Our purpose is to raise public awareness about children who have died in the name of treatment in residential treatment facilities

When:     Monday, April 24, 2006; 10:00 a.m. - Information Exchange; 1:30 p.m. - Program

Where:     California State Capitol, West Steps - 10th Street, Sacramento, CA

Who:     Victims of violent crimes, their families, and those who support them


On Monday, April 24, 2006, Crime Victims United of California is holding its 17th Annual Victims’ March sponsored by the California Correctional Peace Officers Association.

Child advocates Isabelle Zehnder, Catherine Sutton, and Jordan Riak, will be in attendance to raise awareness that children are abused and are dying in private, for-profit residential treatment programs – a multi-billion dollar, rapidly growing industry:

  • Wilderness programs

  • Boot camps

  • Behavior modification programs

  • Residential therapeutic facilities

  • Residential boarding schools
We also wish to raise awareness that children are being abused, and are dying in state-funded juvenile justice systems as well as in private and state-funded mental health facilities.

This industry, largely known as the tough-love industry, has gotten too tough. Some children die in the name of therapy, at the hands of those who are supposed to help them. In a period of only two months – December 12, 2005 to February 14, 2006 – three children died under suspicious circumstances – James White and Giovanni “Joey” Aletriz died in the same facility, SummitQuest, in Pennsylvania. The prone restraint death of Joey Aletriz is still under investigation with autopsy results revealing chest compression, bleeding, bruising, among other things. Martin Lee Anderson died in a boot camp in Florida following a beating by six guards that was captured on video. (WARNING: This 8-minute video clip showing the fatal beating of a teenager may be deeply disturbing to some viewers. Do not play if children are present.)

Submitted by:

Isabelle Zehnder
President
Coalition Against Institutionalized Child Abuse (CAICA)
Tel: (360) 903-3951
E-mail: izehnder@comcast.net
Website: www.caica.org

Catherine Sutton
Founder and President
Michelle Sutton Memorial Fund, Inc.
Home: (530) 458-7803 (please try this number first)
Cell: (209) 602-8348
E-mail: msmemfund@hotmail.com

Jordan Riak
Executive Director
Parents and Teachers Against Violence in Education (PTAVE)
Tel: (925) 831-1661; Fax: (925) 838-8914
E-mail: ptave@nospank.net
Website: www.nospank.net


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