Location:

Abbeville, South Carolina

Status:

Open.

Licensed as a residential treatment center by the Department of Social Services.

Marketed as a boarding school.

History:

1998: Carolina Springs Academy opened.

Many of the students were transferred from Morava Academy, a WWASPS/Teen Help facility located in the Czech Republic.

Morava Academy was closed after officials found evidence of child abuse and "torture."

In December, South Carolina found the facility to be operating without a license.

A subsequent investigation revealed evidence of abuse and neglect including the use of handcuffs and duct tape on children, allowing children to "decide" not to take prescribed medications, forcing students to make repairs on the building, and threatening to send children to Tranquility Bay or Paradise Cove if they did not behave.

1999: Carolina Springs Academy was licensed as a "child caring facility."

2003: officials banned owner Narvin Lichfield from the property and ordered the facility to make more changes if it wanted to renew its license.

Noteworthy:

Narvin Lichfield also owned Dundee Ranch Academy.

Dundee Ranch was closed by Costa Rican authorities after they found evidence of child abuse.

The facility has since reopened under the new name Pillars of Hope.

Narvin Lichfield is the brother of WWASPS Founder Robert Lichfield.

When Carolina Springs Academy was under investigation for child abuse in 1999, South Carolina Senator Ernest Passailaigue called the Director of the Department of Social Services to explain how the facility had helped his son.

Passailaigue claimed he was not trying to influence the department's decisions.