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Lucedale academy subject of previous abuse complaints
By Kevin Walters
American Staff Writer
kwalters@hattiesb.gannett.com
Hattiesburg American
October 29, 2004
George County authorities say they interviewed more than 100 students Thursday at a Lucedale home for troubled youth that has been investigated in the past by the state.
Mississippi Department of Health officials and the George County Sheriff's Department investigated a complaint Thursday afternoon at the Bethel Boys Academy in Lucedale.
Sheriff Garry Welford said a complaint was made to the state by a child and interviews were conducted with the 102 boys at the home.
Welford wouldn't specify the nature of the complaint.
He said no wrongdoing was found at the home and no arrests were made. He said interviewers spent all afternoon at the facility conducting the investigation. "There's no signs of physical abuse or anything like that," Welford said.
Bethel Boys Academy is operated by John Fountain, who could not be reached for comment Thursday.
"Bethel was very cooperative," Welford said. "They opened up their records and whatever we wanted to see was available."
The Lucedale boys home has repeatedly come under scrutiny.
In 1988, 72 students were removed during a raid and in 1990 a judge closed the facility.
Herman Fountain Sr. later reopened the home as Bethel Boys Academy.
In 2003 authorities removed 13 boys from the Lucedale academy. The investigation was conducted after allegations that teens were denied medical treatment, were beaten and shocked with a cattle prod.
The probe resulted in a consent decree reached with Fountain Sr. that among other things prohibited the school from disciplining children with electricity and provided guarantees that youths in the program would be allowed to have water breaks during exercise periods.
The home's operators denied wrongdoing.
As part of the consent decree, Herman Fountain Sr. was prohibited from taking an active management role in the boys academy.
The pastor of Bethel Baptist Church in Lucedale, Fountain Sr. as recently as May acted as a spiritual advisor to the Lucedale home and to Bethel Academy for Girls, operated by Herman Fountain Jr. near Petal. Both facilities adhere to a biblically-based regimen of strict discipline.
Bethel Academy for Girls was the focus of a state probe in May when 38 students were taken from the facility amid allegations of abuse.
Documents obtained by the Hattiesburg American detailed accusations by whistleblowers and students who said they saw Herman Fountain Jr. verbally abuse girls there, make them exercise until they collapsed and throw a table at students.
As a form of punishment, one girl said she was confined to a room where she had to listen to tapes of preaching from 5 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. for eight days.
Fountain Jr., who runs the Petal home, denied the abuse allegations.
Fountain Jr. said Thursday the girls academy is still open as he awaits the state Department of Health to sign off on an agreement he says he's reached with the agency.
Fountain Jr. says the agreement calls for two major changes:
The creation of a community advisory board.
The hiring of a state-appointed monitor to observe the operations at the girls academy one or two days a week.
"We're in limbo," Herman Fountain Jr. said. "We don't know what to do. My lawyer's been e-mailing them and calling them."
He said he signed the memorandum detailing the changes in late August or September.
The agreement also puts in writing some regulations that Herman Fountain Jr. said he was already doing such as conducting stricter background checks on staff members and keeping better records.
The state Department of Health on Thursday said a statement was being prepared but did not release it.
Herman Fountain Jr. said the agreement calls for him to have 180 days to put the changes in place after the state signs off on the changes.
One of the whistleblowers who tipped authorities to the abuse allegations at the girls academy told the Hattiesburg American that the agreement doesn't go far enough.
"There needs to be someone there full time," the whistleblower said. "The state needs to control Bethel or they (Fountain family) will do what they want."