Inside £600 a day 'beyond cruel' therapy camp after child in 'suspicious' death
A controversial £600 a day therapy camp labelled "beyond cruel" by children has reported another "suspicious" death - after a 12-year-old boy died.
The Trails Carolina camp in Lake Toxaway claims to "help struggling teens and their families reconnect, heal, and thrive" by taking children away, following their parent's consent, for weeks of outdoor therapy.
The children's mobile phones are taken away from them and throughout the wilderness program, they are expected to "restore and rebuild" relationships with their parents.
However, the camp has attracted criticism from previous teens who were enrolled in the North Carolina therapy including Kathleen Reilly who was woken up in the middle of the night in July 2012 to hear her dad say he loved her and that these people from the camp would take care of her now.
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Kathleen Reilly was 16 at the time of her visit (wbtv)Kathleen, who was 16 then, had no idea where she was going and immediately reached for her mobile phone. However, she was stunned to find it had disappeared. Moments later, a man and a woman dressed in uniform stormed into her room.
“The man said get the f*** up, you’re going to camp,” she recalled in an interview with WBTV3 in 2021. “Then he said we can do this the easy way or the hard way and he had restraints and he said the police have been notified that you’re a danger to yourself and others. If you run, I will tackle you. Your flight leaves in two hours.”
In November 2014, 17-year-old Alec Lansing ran away from his group (wbtv)She has driven away and flown to North Carolina, where she joined the therapeutic wilderness program that intends to improve the lives of children and teens. It is licensed by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services as a residential therapeutic camp.
However, many participants have described their traumatic experiences at the camp who were made to survive weeks in the wilderness without access to showers or basic hygiene. Kathleen claims it was "emotional and psychological trauma" with little time with a trained therapist.
Kathleen revealed the participants are accompanied by three staff members, who are not trained as therapists work for minimum wage, and are responsible for their daily activities.
“We went once 17 days without showering,” Reilly recalled. “We were denied basic hygiene all the time. It’s just, that was, again… ‘it’s just part of the process, yeah, I’m in the woods.’
Kathleen Reilly has spoken of her experiences at the camp (wbtv)Meanwhile, one participant who attended for three months in 2017, said they experienced similar traumas to Kathleen and was even forced to defecate in his pants and wear the same pair for two weeks.
The participant, who spoke on the condition his name would not be used, told WBTV staff and therapists would change behaviors through negative reinforcement and ridicule.
"There was a lot of shaming,” he said.
“Quote, unquote ‘therapy’ revolves around building resilience through, you know, physical hardship, sort of like a military, uh, boot camp or like seal training or something. But the problem was, you know, there are still safety measures in those sorts of environments. Not here.”
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Jonathan Hyde, a former employee at Trails, was stunned at what he saw (wbtv)Jonathan Hyde, a former employee at Trails, said he took a job in the 2021 summer due to his background being in outdoor guiding. However, he was stunned at the level of care the teens would require.
“I had kids that were vocally suicidal. I had kids that tried running away. I had kids that would try and fight you,” Hyde said.
Children are taken away from their parents to stay at the camp (Trails)“One of the issues of the place is that the people that spend the majority of the time with them are not trained therapists.”
The camp says it focuses on repairing family relationships and is dedicated to helping pre-teens work through emotional difficulties, and achieve academic success. The camp, which has different prices depending on the age of the child, also states it has a track record of "proven results" with "compassionate methods" informed by "the natural healing benefits of outdoor behavioral care."
However, in November 2014, 17-year-old Alec Lansing ran away from his group while on an excursion climbed up a tree, and fell. He broke his femur and was left unable to move in the team. 12 days later he was found in the stream.
According to the DHHS report, the company waited five hours before reporting him missing. They were fined $12,000 (£10,000) but were allowed to continue operating.
The controversial camp is being probed by police following a "suspicious death" (Trails)And just this week, a 12-year-old boy who was assigned to a cabin and slept with other minors and members was found dead at around 8.10 am on February 2. Officers said the boy had been "dead for some time."
According to officials, an autopsy showed that the child's death appeared "suspicious" since he had arrived at the camp less than a day before his unexplained death. A forensic pathologist said the death appeared not to be natural, with the manner and cause of death still pending.
"We are shattered by the tragic loss of a young life and our deepest sympathies are with the student's family and loved ones," the camp said in a statement. "Our priority is to acknowledge and respect the unfathomable impact on their lives and maintain the integrity of the investigation into the cause.
"While we understand the need and value of keeping the public informed, protecting the family's privacy and the privacy and well-being of our students and staff is our primary concern."
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