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First came news that the DCF had "serious concerns about the safety and welfare of children" who enrolled at the Victory Forge Military Academy. Then came news that the State Attorney's Office has decided not to pursue criminal charges against the academy. To those not familiar with the ways of the criminal justice system, the the burden of proof would be on the State Attorney to prove that the Colonel and his minions were guity beyond a reasonable doubt - something not easy to do in a system that is as opaque as Victory Forge. So in the end, VF lives to fight another day, but this time there will be people like us keeping them honest and telling the world of their escapades.
Port St. Lucie Victory Forge Military Academy for troubled boys out of trouble
By Will Greenlee Wednesday, June 11, 2008
PORT ST. LUCIE — The State Attorney's Office has decided not to pursue criminal charges against the operators of the Victory Forge Military Academy, a private school for troubled teenage boys, after reviewing a police investigation that began after a student ran away from the facility in shackles.
Assistant State Attorney Jeff Hendriks said in a memo released Tuesday that even though the student was in shackles for about 12 days "there is nothing that rises to the level of criminal activity at this point."
State Department of Children and Families investigators asked parents in late April to remove their children from the school while they looked into a child abuse claim, and three have since returned.
Victory Forge has adopted state Department of Juvenile Justice policies in terms of restraining juveniles, employing restraints to "secure juveniles that pose a threat of running away" as opposed to using them as punishment. Hendriks wrote while Victory Forge violated the Department of Juvenile Justice shackling policies, it wasn't a criminal matter.
Alan Weierman, Victory Forge commanding officer, said Victory Forge officials allow enrollees to have their shackles removed by asking. In the referenced case, the teen was asked that the shackles be taken off, but when Victory Forge officials asked if he'd run if they were removed, he said yes. This, Weierman said, is why the shackles were not removed.
The youth eventually ran away with the shackles on and got more than three miles away before Victory Forge staff members found him and called police.
There also wasn't enough probable cause to support allegations of a battery. Hendriks stated it would be difficult to prove another alleged case of battery in which the same student was reportedly "touched on the face with residue that has been wiped from the toilet area."
After DCF completed its probe into Victory Forge, DCF Circuit 19 Administrator Vern Melvin said, "We have concerns about the safety of the children there." The findings are confidential by state law, and while Melvin said there were several other reported victims of alleged abuse at Victory Forge, he declined to elaborate.
In spite of the allegations, Victory Forge sent out about 30 applications to parents who've requested them after seeing the recent news coverage, Weierman said.
"We're going to continue forward," Weierman said. "There is no abuse here. It's a tough program. It's made to be tough."
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Saturday, June 7, 2008
DCF Report
The Florida DCF is in the process of releasing their report of the investigation undertaken on the abuse allegation at Victory Forge. Although information is sparse, we will provide details as soon as we get a hold of one of these reports. In either case, should make an interesting read.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
CHILDREN'S HOME MIGHT LOSE LICENSE FROM STATE
COPYRIGHT 2000 The Palm Beach Post
Jim Reeder, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
PORT ST. LUCIE -- Victory Children's Home could lose its license as a shelter for abused and neglected children if a complaint from the state Department of Children and Families is upheld.
District 15 Administrator Vern Melvin is reviewing his staff's recommendation to revoke Victory's license because of alleged rules violations in its dealings with two boys at the shelter on Biltmore Street.
"Melvin said he'll delay the action for 10 days while he reviews the complaint," said Dr. Alan Weierman, president of Victory Children's Home. "That's all I've asked, is for someone with logic and common sense to look at it."
Melvin did not return a phone call seeking comment Monday.
Melvin's staff urged in a Nov. 16 complaint that Victory's state license be revoked because it abandoned a 17-year-old boy in the parking lot of another shelter and failed to protect residents from an 11-year-old the department said is a danger to others.
Weierman instructed a staff member to leave the 17-year-old in the parking lot of Wave Crest, a shelter operated by the Children's Home Society, according to the state's complaint.
Weierman denied giving such instructions but said Wave Crest would not accept the boy if its staff knew he had threatened Victory's personnel.
"He was threatening my staff and refused to follow the rules," Weierman said. "We had to get him out of here. They said we failed to do a prerelease plan."
Weierman said the 11-year-old attempted to involve another boy and two girls in a sex game of "truth or dare" in January.
Six months later, state officials asked Weierman to sign a "family safety agreement" calling for close supervision and other steps to ensure sexual activity wasn't repeated.
State officials said the boy should have a bedroom separate from other children.
"If the child is a danger to others, why did they wait six months?" Weierman said. "There have been no other complaints about him."
He said staff members check on the boy's activities every 30 minutes during the day and every 15 minutes after bedtime.
Victory Children's Home moved to Biltmore Street in 1993 after St. Lucie County evicted it from a building on Selvitz Road because it lacked a state license.
Weierman said no license was needed because the home was affiliated with a religious organization.
But Weierman obtained a state license about a year ago, and six of 12 children there are under state supervision.
Those children would be removed and no more state money would be paid if the license was
revoked.
History littered with abuse and shady behavior.
Jim Reeder, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
PORT ST. LUCIE -- Victory Children's Home could lose its license as a shelter for abused and neglected children if a complaint from the state Department of Children and Families is upheld.
District 15 Administrator Vern Melvin is reviewing his staff's recommendation to revoke Victory's license because of alleged rules violations in its dealings with two boys at the shelter on Biltmore Street.
"Melvin said he'll delay the action for 10 days while he reviews the complaint," said Dr. Alan Weierman, president of Victory Children's Home. "That's all I've asked, is for someone with logic and common sense to look at it."
Melvin did not return a phone call seeking comment Monday.
Melvin's staff urged in a Nov. 16 complaint that Victory's state license be revoked because it abandoned a 17-year-old boy in the parking lot of another shelter and failed to protect residents from an 11-year-old the department said is a danger to others.
Weierman instructed a staff member to leave the 17-year-old in the parking lot of Wave Crest, a shelter operated by the Children's Home Society, according to the state's complaint.
Weierman denied giving such instructions but said Wave Crest would not accept the boy if its staff knew he had threatened Victory's personnel.
"He was threatening my staff and refused to follow the rules," Weierman said. "We had to get him out of here. They said we failed to do a prerelease plan."
Weierman said the 11-year-old attempted to involve another boy and two girls in a sex game of "truth or dare" in January.
Six months later, state officials asked Weierman to sign a "family safety agreement" calling for close supervision and other steps to ensure sexual activity wasn't repeated.
State officials said the boy should have a bedroom separate from other children.
"If the child is a danger to others, why did they wait six months?" Weierman said. "There have been no other complaints about him."
He said staff members check on the boy's activities every 30 minutes during the day and every 15 minutes after bedtime.
Victory Children's Home moved to Biltmore Street in 1993 after St. Lucie County evicted it from a building on Selvitz Road because it lacked a state license.
Weierman said no license was needed because the home was affiliated with a religious organization.
But Weierman obtained a state license about a year ago, and six of 12 children there are under state supervision.
Those children would be removed and no more state money would be paid if the license was
revoked.
History littered with abuse and shady behavior.
CHILDREN TELL POLICE OF ABUSE AT VICTORY
The Palm Beach Post (West Palm Beach, FL) (June 25, 2002)
Byline: Nirvi Shah, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
PORT ST. LUCIE -- About a year after Victory Children's Home surrendered its state license while under fire from state welfare officials for violating rules for caring for children, youths staying at the home for abused and troubled teens accused their caretakers of abusing them, according to a police report.
Some of the 15 children now staying at the home at 602 S.W. Biltmore St. told police Friday "they had been struck with metal pipes and a wooden paddle as methods of punishment. . . . Shackles were used if children attempted or had 'thoughts' of running away from the home."
The home's president, Alan Weierman, and several members of the board of directors could not be reached for comment Monday. No charges have been filed, but police and the Department of Children and Families are investigating the allegations.
When a DCF investigator tried to look into the allegations on Friday, staff members would not allow her to go inside, despite a court order allowing the agency to enter the home and interview the children, according to the police report.
Weierman eventually allowed the investigator to question youth at the home but only under conditions the DCF investigator found unacceptable. So police took all 15 children to the police station, questioned them, then released them to their parents. More than one youth made the accusation, police spokesman Chuck Johnson said.
Victory Children's Home works with children of all ages up to 17 who have behavior problems that are the result of abuse, neglect and drug and alcohol addiction. It also hosts a residential boot camp-like program that, according to its Web site, will push boys' bodies to their limits. Boys spend hours in the home's physical training area. They may not call home for the first two weeks after joining the program.
"Your son may complain to you about unbearable pain, crying that it's too hard. DON'T BE FOOLED!" the site states. Photographs on the site show young men wearing fatigues crawling in the sand and crossing shallow water walking on narrow logs.
"You've come to the right place for help for your daughter or son," writes Weierman in a message to people thinking about using Victory Children's Home. "Our professional staff work hard to insure that your confidence in us is never betrayed and I personally pledge the very best therapeutic care available. You will find our methods unconventional and unorthodox. Our expectations are very high, but I know that you will be very pleased with the progress you see in your child over the course of their stay with us."
Although the state no longer licenses the home, the Web site states it is a member of the Florida Association of Christian Child Caring Agencies, National Association of Christian Child Care Agencies and the Florida Coalition for Children. The Department of Children and Families no longer refers children to the home, spokeswoman Betty Robinson said.
Victory Children's Home opened in Fort Pierce in 1984, then moved to Port St. Lucie in 1993. Weierman has been president since 1987.
In a 2000 complaint, DCF wrote that that Victory officials left a 17-year-old alone in the parking lot at another children's shelter run by the Children's Home Society. Another alleged violation involved allowing an 11-year-old with a history of sexual offenses to share a bedroom with another child. The home surrendered its license without a hearing about six months after the complaint was filed and as the license was set to be revoked.
Byline: Nirvi Shah, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
PORT ST. LUCIE -- About a year after Victory Children's Home surrendered its state license while under fire from state welfare officials for violating rules for caring for children, youths staying at the home for abused and troubled teens accused their caretakers of abusing them, according to a police report.
Some of the 15 children now staying at the home at 602 S.W. Biltmore St. told police Friday "they had been struck with metal pipes and a wooden paddle as methods of punishment. . . . Shackles were used if children attempted or had 'thoughts' of running away from the home."
The home's president, Alan Weierman, and several members of the board of directors could not be reached for comment Monday. No charges have been filed, but police and the Department of Children and Families are investigating the allegations.
When a DCF investigator tried to look into the allegations on Friday, staff members would not allow her to go inside, despite a court order allowing the agency to enter the home and interview the children, according to the police report.
Weierman eventually allowed the investigator to question youth at the home but only under conditions the DCF investigator found unacceptable. So police took all 15 children to the police station, questioned them, then released them to their parents. More than one youth made the accusation, police spokesman Chuck Johnson said.
Victory Children's Home works with children of all ages up to 17 who have behavior problems that are the result of abuse, neglect and drug and alcohol addiction. It also hosts a residential boot camp-like program that, according to its Web site, will push boys' bodies to their limits. Boys spend hours in the home's physical training area. They may not call home for the first two weeks after joining the program.
"Your son may complain to you about unbearable pain, crying that it's too hard. DON'T BE FOOLED!" the site states. Photographs on the site show young men wearing fatigues crawling in the sand and crossing shallow water walking on narrow logs.
"You've come to the right place for help for your daughter or son," writes Weierman in a message to people thinking about using Victory Children's Home. "Our professional staff work hard to insure that your confidence in us is never betrayed and I personally pledge the very best therapeutic care available. You will find our methods unconventional and unorthodox. Our expectations are very high, but I know that you will be very pleased with the progress you see in your child over the course of their stay with us."
Although the state no longer licenses the home, the Web site states it is a member of the Florida Association of Christian Child Caring Agencies, National Association of Christian Child Care Agencies and the Florida Coalition for Children. The Department of Children and Families no longer refers children to the home, spokeswoman Betty Robinson said.
Victory Children's Home opened in Fort Pierce in 1984, then moved to Port St. Lucie in 1993. Weierman has been president since 1987.
In a 2000 complaint, DCF wrote that that Victory officials left a 17-year-old alone in the parking lot at another children's shelter run by the Children's Home Society. Another alleged violation involved allowing an 11-year-old with a history of sexual offenses to share a bedroom with another child. The home surrendered its license without a hearing about six months after the complaint was filed and as the license was set to be revoked.
Victory Forge Abuse Allegation
The Palm Beach Post (West Palm Beach, FL) (June 26, 2002)
Byline: Nirvi Shah, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
PORT ST. LUCIE -- When a single mother from Lake Worth enrolled her son at Victory Children's Home more than a year ago, she was delighted by the thought her unruly, disobedient son would be surrounded by other boys in a structured, Christian environment.
"I wanted him to be around other Christians and learn about the Word," said the woman, who did not want to be identified. "We knew it was going to be kind of strict. . . . (But) I felt safe. I slept at night."
For a while it seemed the regimen was working. Then, she said, something changed. The home began its boot-camp-like program that tested her son's and other boys' physical limits.
On Friday some of the youths living there with the woman's son told police they had been hit with metal pipes and wooden paddles and shackled if they tried to run away. Port St. Lucie police and Department of Children and Families investigators took all 15 teens staying at the home for abused and troubled teens and released them to their parents, pending the outcome of an investigation.
The case may be turning cold, however.
"It does not appear right now that the other children substantiated any of the allegations," Port St. Lucie police spokesman Chuck Johnson said Tuesday, although he said Monday that more than one child made the allegations. Police and DCF still are investigating, however.
Victory Children's Home President Alan Weierman did not return several phone calls placed Monday and Tuesday.
The Lake Worth mother said while she notices improvements in her son - he's more obedient, polite and smarter - after hearing from him how the program has changed in the last few months, she is glad he is home and wouldn't want to send him back.
"I just don't feel comfortable," she said. "I don't know if I'm putting him in danger."
DCF was on the verge of revoking Victory's state license in 2000, but the home surrendered its license without a fight about a year ago. DCF no longer places children at the home.
Then DCF said in its 2000 complaint that Victory officials abandoned a 17-year-old at another children's shelter run by the Children's Home Society without advance arrangement. Another alleged violation involved allowing an 11-year-old with a history of sexual offenses to share a bedroom with another child.
On the Victory Children's Home Web site, it says the home is a member of the Florida Coalition for Children. However the group said Tuesday Victory is no longer eligible because it is not licensed by the state.
This 2002 incident seems very similar to the current incident, doesn't it? The kids who did not substantiate the allegations were afraid back then, as they are right now, to speak out against the Colonel and his employees. It is simple - most of these kids know that they are going back and if they say something against the program, no matter how truthful, they will pay the price back in school. So they clam up in fear.
Byline: Nirvi Shah, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
PORT ST. LUCIE -- When a single mother from Lake Worth enrolled her son at Victory Children's Home more than a year ago, she was delighted by the thought her unruly, disobedient son would be surrounded by other boys in a structured, Christian environment.
"I wanted him to be around other Christians and learn about the Word," said the woman, who did not want to be identified. "We knew it was going to be kind of strict. . . . (But) I felt safe. I slept at night."
For a while it seemed the regimen was working. Then, she said, something changed. The home began its boot-camp-like program that tested her son's and other boys' physical limits.
On Friday some of the youths living there with the woman's son told police they had been hit with metal pipes and wooden paddles and shackled if they tried to run away. Port St. Lucie police and Department of Children and Families investigators took all 15 teens staying at the home for abused and troubled teens and released them to their parents, pending the outcome of an investigation.
The case may be turning cold, however.
"It does not appear right now that the other children substantiated any of the allegations," Port St. Lucie police spokesman Chuck Johnson said Tuesday, although he said Monday that more than one child made the allegations. Police and DCF still are investigating, however.
Victory Children's Home President Alan Weierman did not return several phone calls placed Monday and Tuesday.
The Lake Worth mother said while she notices improvements in her son - he's more obedient, polite and smarter - after hearing from him how the program has changed in the last few months, she is glad he is home and wouldn't want to send him back.
"I just don't feel comfortable," she said. "I don't know if I'm putting him in danger."
DCF was on the verge of revoking Victory's state license in 2000, but the home surrendered its license without a fight about a year ago. DCF no longer places children at the home.
Then DCF said in its 2000 complaint that Victory officials abandoned a 17-year-old at another children's shelter run by the Children's Home Society without advance arrangement. Another alleged violation involved allowing an 11-year-old with a history of sexual offenses to share a bedroom with another child.
On the Victory Children's Home Web site, it says the home is a member of the Florida Coalition for Children. However the group said Tuesday Victory is no longer eligible because it is not licensed by the state.
This 2002 incident seems very similar to the current incident, doesn't it? The kids who did not substantiate the allegations were afraid back then, as they are right now, to speak out against the Colonel and his employees. It is simple - most of these kids know that they are going back and if they say something against the program, no matter how truthful, they will pay the price back in school. So they clam up in fear.
So Who is Alan Weierman
The person who runs Victory Forge Military Academy is an unknown entity to most parents. He is a self-proclaimed Colonel and a Phd. Based on interviews with former employees, we have the following facts for you.
1. Worked as an employee, at a now defunct youth home, called Brinkhaven. The founder, William Brink was charged with sexual abuse and imprisoned. Brink's daughter is Molly Weierman who is married to Alan Weierman. So a checkered professional history to start.
Note: The Rev. William Brink didn't find just a wife among the residents of his Brinkhaven Homes for Youth. He also found a daughter. Both the wife and the daughter say Brink, sexually abused them, and their allegations are being investigated by the Stark County Sheriff's Department. Richard Tobias, a former member of the Brinkhaven board of trustees, said he gave local police copies of statements detailing allegations of sexual abuse written by 16-year-old Kathryn Brink. A Stark County jury took less than 2 1/2 hours, to find the Rev. William Brink guilty of sexually abusing two former residents of Brinkhaven, the home for troubled youths he founded in Lawrence Township. At this point, we are unsure if Molly is Brink's biological daughter.
2. Alan Weierman met Molly at this facility while he was incarcerated at the facility for being a troubled child himself.
3. While working at the facility, Alan had several abuse allegations levied against him. The most promising one was when a girl charged that she had sex with Alan Weierman, a Brinkhaven staff member, more than 30 times between August 1985 and June 1986. She was a minor at the time, while Alan was an adult.
4. Victory Forge was an offshoot of the Brinkhaven home. This was taken over by the daughter of the founder after Brinkhaven declared bankruptcy as a result of its founder going to jail on sexual abuse charges.
5. So Alan and Molly did not start Victory Homes as they so often have claimed.
Open questions for Alan Weierman:
1. Why do you call yourself a Colonel, when you are not one?
2. Where did you get your PhD?
More to follow.....
1. Worked as an employee, at a now defunct youth home, called Brinkhaven. The founder, William Brink was charged with sexual abuse and imprisoned. Brink's daughter is Molly Weierman who is married to Alan Weierman. So a checkered professional history to start.
Note: The Rev. William Brink didn't find just a wife among the residents of his Brinkhaven Homes for Youth. He also found a daughter. Both the wife and the daughter say Brink, sexually abused them, and their allegations are being investigated by the Stark County Sheriff's Department. Richard Tobias, a former member of the Brinkhaven board of trustees, said he gave local police copies of statements detailing allegations of sexual abuse written by 16-year-old Kathryn Brink. A Stark County jury took less than 2 1/2 hours, to find the Rev. William Brink guilty of sexually abusing two former residents of Brinkhaven, the home for troubled youths he founded in Lawrence Township. At this point, we are unsure if Molly is Brink's biological daughter.
2. Alan Weierman met Molly at this facility while he was incarcerated at the facility for being a troubled child himself.
3. While working at the facility, Alan had several abuse allegations levied against him. The most promising one was when a girl charged that she had sex with Alan Weierman, a Brinkhaven staff member, more than 30 times between August 1985 and June 1986. She was a minor at the time, while Alan was an adult.
4. Victory Forge was an offshoot of the Brinkhaven home. This was taken over by the daughter of the founder after Brinkhaven declared bankruptcy as a result of its founder going to jail on sexual abuse charges.
5. So Alan and Molly did not start Victory Homes as they so often have claimed.
Open questions for Alan Weierman:
1. Why do you call yourself a Colonel, when you are not one?
2. Where did you get your PhD?
More to follow.....
Shackled teen 'was running for his life'
By ANA X. CERON
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 02, 2008
PORT ST. LUCIE — When her son ran away the first time from Victory Forge Military Academy, she thought she understood why.
It was a strict place, there was discipline and rules, she thought. Maybe he wasn't used to it.
But when he fled again from the boot camp-style boarding school - this time in leg shackles - the woman says she knew something was wrong.
The 16-year-old Port St. Lucie boy said "he was running for his life," his mother, who declined to give her name or his, said Friday.
Academy staff found the boy and called the police. Port St. Lucie officers who responded saw the boy wearing the shackles.
Police questioned whether using the leg restraints was legal, said Victory Forge school commander Alan Weierman. So police decided to contact the Department of Children and Families, he said.
As a result, both police and DCF are investigating whether the use of the shackles was child abuse.
Although police officials say they can't discuss the case because it is still open, the case has been forwarded to the state attorney's office for review, a spokesman said.
DCF officials also declined to discuss their investigation.
But DCF did contact parents last week informing them of the accusation and telling them to remove their sons from the school.
By Monday afternoon, all 16 boys had left the academy.
Weierman says the shackles are not abuse. They're used only to restrain the boys and are removed as soon as the student agrees not to run away again. The head of the academy also says parents are told what they could expect if their son ever ran away - he would be placed in shackles, and an extra three months would be tacked on to the 12-month commitment they make when they enroll their teen.
But the mother of the Port St. Lucie boy says she never knew her son was being shackled. She learned about the restraints, she says, when her son was found in early April.
By that time, Weierman has said, the boy had been wearing shackles on and off for 10 days.
The teen's mother called the shackles "child abuse" during an interview Friday.
"To shackle a kid, hey, that's abuse," she said.
The woman said she sent her son to the academy because, as a single mother, she was looking for a way to discipline the boy after he had been showing her disrespect.
A friend of hers suggested Victory Forge and since the boy had expressed an interest in one day joining the military, she believed the academy would be a good experience, she said.
The teen's first day at the school was Feb. 26. He ran away about two weeks later.
At the time, she thought he wasn't used to the discipline. Then the boy called and told her he had been called names, including a racial slur.
The mother says the boy returned after she talked with the school. But during his return, she says, she began having regrets.
The woman says she was about to pull her son out of the school when police contacted her on April 6 asking whether she had seen the teen. He had run away again, police said.
When she discovered her son had been shackled, she began to regret making him go back to the academy.
"Right there and then, I felt so guilty putting him there," she said. "It really hurt."
She says the boy later told her that while at the school he had also been punched in the face and choked.
The woman said she and her son both gave statements to police about their allegations. She says she's now talking with attorneys to fight the contract requiring her to pay the academy the rest of the $28,600 she agreed to pay for her son's enrollment.
On Friday, Weierman said the woman's claim that she didn't know about the shackles is a lie. He denies that the teen was ever punched or choked. Had it happened, he would have called police, Weierman said.
"To my knowledge, that never took place," he said.
Weierman says the mother is making the allegations because she wants to back out of her contract with the school. "To me, it's rather suspicious and convenient," he said.
But the woman says she's concerned about what happened to her son. "As a parent, as a mother, I'm still angry," she said. "I'm upset."
There have been several other students who have claimed that they were punched and choked by a certain employee of VF. The students could not bring it to antibody's attention for fear of reprisal and the vindictiveness of the Colonel.
ARE THERE OTHER PARENTS OUT THERE WITH SIMILAR STORIES? If so, please contact us so that we can start civil or criminal proceedings. In addition, we want to present a united front to the Florida State's Attorney.
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 02, 2008
PORT ST. LUCIE — When her son ran away the first time from Victory Forge Military Academy, she thought she understood why.
It was a strict place, there was discipline and rules, she thought. Maybe he wasn't used to it.
But when he fled again from the boot camp-style boarding school - this time in leg shackles - the woman says she knew something was wrong.
The 16-year-old Port St. Lucie boy said "he was running for his life," his mother, who declined to give her name or his, said Friday.
Academy staff found the boy and called the police. Port St. Lucie officers who responded saw the boy wearing the shackles.
Police questioned whether using the leg restraints was legal, said Victory Forge school commander Alan Weierman. So police decided to contact the Department of Children and Families, he said.
As a result, both police and DCF are investigating whether the use of the shackles was child abuse.
Although police officials say they can't discuss the case because it is still open, the case has been forwarded to the state attorney's office for review, a spokesman said.
DCF officials also declined to discuss their investigation.
But DCF did contact parents last week informing them of the accusation and telling them to remove their sons from the school.
By Monday afternoon, all 16 boys had left the academy.
Weierman says the shackles are not abuse. They're used only to restrain the boys and are removed as soon as the student agrees not to run away again. The head of the academy also says parents are told what they could expect if their son ever ran away - he would be placed in shackles, and an extra three months would be tacked on to the 12-month commitment they make when they enroll their teen.
But the mother of the Port St. Lucie boy says she never knew her son was being shackled. She learned about the restraints, she says, when her son was found in early April.
By that time, Weierman has said, the boy had been wearing shackles on and off for 10 days.
The teen's mother called the shackles "child abuse" during an interview Friday.
"To shackle a kid, hey, that's abuse," she said.
The woman said she sent her son to the academy because, as a single mother, she was looking for a way to discipline the boy after he had been showing her disrespect.
A friend of hers suggested Victory Forge and since the boy had expressed an interest in one day joining the military, she believed the academy would be a good experience, she said.
The teen's first day at the school was Feb. 26. He ran away about two weeks later.
At the time, she thought he wasn't used to the discipline. Then the boy called and told her he had been called names, including a racial slur.
The mother says the boy returned after she talked with the school. But during his return, she says, she began having regrets.
The woman says she was about to pull her son out of the school when police contacted her on April 6 asking whether she had seen the teen. He had run away again, police said.
When she discovered her son had been shackled, she began to regret making him go back to the academy.
"Right there and then, I felt so guilty putting him there," she said. "It really hurt."
She says the boy later told her that while at the school he had also been punched in the face and choked.
The woman said she and her son both gave statements to police about their allegations. She says she's now talking with attorneys to fight the contract requiring her to pay the academy the rest of the $28,600 she agreed to pay for her son's enrollment.
On Friday, Weierman said the woman's claim that she didn't know about the shackles is a lie. He denies that the teen was ever punched or choked. Had it happened, he would have called police, Weierman said.
"To my knowledge, that never took place," he said.
Weierman says the mother is making the allegations because she wants to back out of her contract with the school. "To me, it's rather suspicious and convenient," he said.
But the woman says she's concerned about what happened to her son. "As a parent, as a mother, I'm still angry," she said. "I'm upset."
There have been several other students who have claimed that they were punched and choked by a certain employee of VF. The students could not bring it to antibody's attention for fear of reprisal and the vindictiveness of the Colonel.
ARE THERE OTHER PARENTS OUT THERE WITH SIMILAR STORIES? If so, please contact us so that we can start civil or criminal proceedings. In addition, we want to present a united front to the Florida State's Attorney.
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