Testimony

Kurn Hattin Survivor and Witness Testimony

Social Media & Public Posts

"I believe that Kurn Hattin should be burned to the ground, and then take the ashes, bury the ashes, and put a farm on it!" Linda Johnson - Executive Director, Prevent Child Abuse Vermont at the Vermont State House in Montpelier, October 1, 2022

John Doe - Kurn Hattin made me small, once. I will never be small again.

Father of Kurn Hattin Survivor public disclosure at the 2023 Norwich Vermont Lions Club Fair – My son is the one that started the Kurn Hattin lawsuit. His name is Darren Stanley. My son got a $1.1million dollar settlement. He just got his settlement in March. He’s 19 going on 20 now. He went to Kurn Hattin 7 years ago. He got raped by another student. It’s too bad the lawyers get 40% of the money. He had to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

In 2016, a boy was sexually assaulted by another boy, who the attorney said “had already been identified … as having a propensity for sexual misconduct. Rather than removing him from the facility they put him in our client’s bedroom.” The lawyer said the house parents acknowledged they were aware of the perpetrator acting out specifically so he could be sent to bed at the same time as the victim.

Steve William Lindsey - Schools, defending their honor, and the reputations of school officials don't fool around when it comes to victims. Glad he spoke up. Made a difference. This guy's a hero. Defied a school. Helped change a law.

Susan Smallheer, Brattleboro Reformer Reporter at the 2024 Saxtons River 4th of July Parade - "I hear that the Kurn Hattin settlement money is flowing."

John Klar, Vermont farmer, attorney, writer, Republican candidate for Vermont State Governor - Yes, Kurn Hattin is a travesty for Vermont! One of many, I fear.

Gordon Hayward - Published writer for the Brattleboro Reformer, "known as the lecturer extraordinaire of all things gardening" in the region and a mainstay of the annual Westminster Cares Garden Tour for 20 years. According the Bratt Reformer, "Hayward is also a prolific writer, and not just about gardening. In the '80s, The Reformer published many profiles of students, teachers and staff at Brattleboro Union High School where he taught English. He recently approached the Brattleboro Reformer about writing a series of profiles focusing on the unsung heroes of Southeastern Vermont. ....Hayward was inspired to write about individual men and women who contribute day in and day out to the life of our community here in Southeastern Vermont." Apparently Mr. Hayward became offended by a Kurn Hattin survivor of childhood abuse working in his so-called Southeastern Vermont community advocating for survivors of Kurn Hattin's decades long trail of documented child abuse. Gordon Hayward aggressively confronted the survivor on two occasions and stated that "you are harming this community with your actions." It appears that there may be a basis for why Kurn Hattin survivors refer to the Brattleboro Reformer as Kurn Hattin's Shill.

Mother of Kurn Hattin Boy - August 2024 Westminster Vermont - My son just started last year at Kurn Hattin. My son's 12 right now. One of my concerns is that a lot of children are left with adults for a long period of time and these kids are having a hard time and these kids are probably the most vulnerable children that you can probably get, and so that's a concern for me. My son, he didn't want to go back to Kurn Hattin, and his concern is that he complained about one of the other children. I was going to go talk to him. Like one of the other children was humping him, like dry humping another child. And I wanted to see what anybody did about it, because he was concerned about having to be in a room with that child. I was going to be calling Kurn Hattin to see what they did about that, because my son reported it. I was wondering what there is to do to protect him from those kinds of activities taking place. My son is under the impression that Kurn Hattin didn't do anything about it. So, I was going to call. [According to the mother, Kurn Hattin never informed the her, or the boy's father of their son's allegation of sexual abuse, nor it allegedly appears, did they report the alleged abuse to the Department for Children and Families as required by Federal and Vermont State Laws.] He was just with his dad, and just started back to school this week and before he went back he told me that this was something that bothered him about going back. He complained about this kid, not in a sexual way before, he complained about this kid already. And he said that's what he doesn't like about the place is that he doesn't like the kids, he said. What do they have in place to make sure that this doesn't happen? You know, the thing is, is that what's more disturbing is that they don't want to acknowledge it, because at least if you acknowledge it then you can fix the problem. If you don't even acknowledge there's a problem then you're not going to fix it. I had no idea anything had happened. When he started at the end of August there were only a little bit less than 20 kids at Kurn Hattin, but they told me that was because of Covid. You'd think they should at least tell parents coming in that there's something .... His father is in Virginia, they didn't notify either of us. They just get away with it. Report Child Abuse - NH Law requires any person who suspects that a child under age 18 has been abused or neglected must report that suspicion immediately to DCYF. (New Hampshire RSA 169-C:29-31). Vermont State Police Child Endangerment Report Forwarded to Investigating Agency.

ExpiredToe, August 2024 - I went to Kurn Hattin Homes 9 years ago and it still affects me to this day. I was only there for two years and for ages 12-14 to be hard on their own, this school made it 10x worse. Six months ago my brother, who also went there and was a part of the sexual abuse, committed suicide and i had known about his thoughts since he was 11 and i did not know at the time but he was being molested by other mates. i came from an abusive household with addict parents and i would've much rather stayed home. i witnessed my roommates physically harm themselves to the point where you could see veins, i was verbally abused by KHH staff, at the time staff fat shammed little girls and starved them, we had to earn our snack time, and so much more. I never experienced children my age doing drugs, having sex, and being ‘troubled’ i guess and all i wanted was to be home and not forced to sing in choir, go to church, play in band, etc. not to mention the actual child labor. this school is run on donations and selling the kids labor. we had an apple orchard that for science and for p.e we would go out and collect the apples, bring them to the barn, “learn how to make apple cider” and then the whole school would get to sample a 5 gallon bucket and they would sell the rest. as well as those mandatory choir and band trips were for our donors and for us to make money. this school still being in business haunts me truly. i was hoping when the sexual abuse lawsuit [private out-of-court settlement negotiation] was going on it would’ve got shut down. and this is only the stuff i can remember, I’ve blocked out so much of it, but it hurts me that it caused my little brother to commit suicide.

Roald-Dahl - ExpiredToe, I’m so sorry to hear about your brother and everything you’ve been through. It’s mind boggling and astounding to me whoever worked on that case let them have the chance to stay open. That’s not something I’d tolerate in my case. In fact it would deter me from even being involved with a suit like that. Please take care of yourself and know you are always supported and loved here! I’ll also add to whoever else reads this — the horrifying and appalling NEASC “apology” to Kurn Hattin survivors was CRIMINAL levels of wrong. And again something that is and will be INTOLERABLE in ANY capacity in ANY FUTURE SUITS. I hope that doesn’t happen with the Hyde School cases [represented by the same Massachusetts law firm: Justice Law Collaborative].

Vermont Senator Cheryl Hooker - The director of Kurn Hattin talked about the number of complaints per year, which were between six and nine, I believe. Do we have documents that show this, I mean, have we seen this? How many have actually been reported?

C Deels @DeeleyVt - It's ridiculous that the state continues to allow them to operate. Same thing with the Kurn Hattin school in Vermont. Constant stories of problems and abuse that the state notes, but they never do anything.

Rama Schneider @RamaSchneider Replying to @DeeleyVt and @DanFrench - Visions to chase, needs to meet. The #CatholicChurch, Boy Scouts and such as Kurn Hattin - there is to be NO legal accountability on the part of organizations that spend organizational resources to aid & abet (cover up and deny) abuse of our children. There is a huge social problem here in my opinion. rama@ramabahama.net 802-433-5441 7:56 AM · Jun 17, 2021·Twitter Web App

NHNative, September 2023 - Yesterday I was in Vermont. There was a man standing on the side of a busy highway with a sign that said "Kurn Hattin Molests Kids". He was referring to the Kurn Hattin Home that is right across the river from NH in Westminster Vermont. How interesting. I know that, like St. Paul's school in NH, this school in VT has also been plagued with the same issues, there is a lot of local talk about abuse. There always has been. This VTDigger article explains this history.. and, given that just yesterday there was a man standing on the side of the highway with a cardboard sign attempting to tell the world the place is molesting kids-- I'd say that history is not history at all - but still current news. This article explains that a girl from Walpole NH endured abuse in that school. I'm bringing this to your attention because I do not believe that all you are writing about is limited to NH.. this evil is going on in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. That man that was holding up a cardboard sign at the entrance to Route 91 to tell everyone on a busy Saturday morning major highway that kids are being molested at Kurn Hattin - that man was pushed to that place… When people see nothing being done about any of this, when we know what is going on --because in many cases the victims of this abuse are right out here now living among us! The staff in these places are our neighbors, people do talk. Something will break at some point... it always does.

Mother of Kurn Hattin Child - September 2023 Norwich Vermont Fair - My son went to Kurn Hattin for two weeks and then he was taken out. We found out some information. We were lied to. We asked them about if there was any abuse and they told us no. They lied to us about kids coming from troubled places. And we found out about some sexual abuse that had happened. We didn't hear about it till, [REDACTED] went in August 2020, and we didn't hear about it until September of 2020. And his father, the next day, went and grabbed him and they were saying, "Oh, this and that," and he said, "No, I want my child!" and took him back. My son went there and I took him out for a reason. As soon as the child abuse story broke the next day my son was taken out of there. You didn't hear anything else. They silenced everything about it. Every day my son would call home and he'd be crying. He just asked me, you're not trying to send me back, are you? He's scared when he talks about Kurn Hattin.

Miss United States 2022 - Lily K. Donaldson Supports Kurn Hattin!

Kurn Hattin Cares? - "At Kurn Hattin Homes for Children, we understand the importance of community and the strength that comes from caring for one another, especially during difficult times. To all those facing the challenges of recovery, please know you are in our thoughts. We stand with you, hoping for ...resilience in the days ahead." Virtue-Signaling: Definition

Kurn Hattin Homes for Children Director, Stephen Harrison, MDiv, Princeton Theological Seminary - We are asking all of our supporters to increase your giving this year. Perhaps this might mean giving an additional $125 on top of what you have given before or possibly increasing your support by multiples of 125, thus increasing by $250, $375, $500, $1250, or maybe $2500! While our mission has remained the same for these 125 years, the cost of operating Kurn Hattin continues to rise [because the school's annual budget was $6.5million in 2023 to care for 35 children 75% of which went to salaries for 103 employees]. A gift that was adequate ten years ago doesn’t make the same impact on a child’s life today, so please consider increasing your support today. [Mr. Harrison, allegedly, would appreciate a salarly increase from his current, approximately, $160,000 annual salary and large house furnished to him and his allegedly shrill/hysterical wife on the Kurn Hattin campus.] Grace and Peace, ~ Stephen Harrison, Executive Director

Tatiana Maslany - It costs something to come forward. I have no judgement about people who don’t speak about it. I just focus on the people who have and let their story hold the value that it has. Speaking out is re-traumatising.

Meme 123 - April 19, 2024 - This place isn’t fit for anyone to live there

Sakurarose20 - My mom would have sent me to Kurn Hattin as a 'punishment', but apparently I was too excited for it. -_-

Mystik Ashe - March 2024: Testimony of Kurn Hattin Survivor - I don't care if I'm an alumni to that school. i want nothing to do with it ever again. That place was hell on earth for me, and I'm grateful I'm out of there. The school was ...detrimental to my mental wellbeing, and I don't care if I get attacked, that school can burn to the ground for all I care.

Teddy Nichols - I did go to Kurn Hattin Homes for 7 years as a state child... Kurn Hattin is so important and I hope the people tryging to get money out of the school lose their case. I was a witness for a case against Kurn Hattin as a teen [while attending The Putney School] and did tell of the things certain staff did...

Victim - April 7, 2024 at 2:22 pm - Westminster residents have been living amongst sexual predators for years. Pete Harrison and his enabler Judy Harrison.

Nancy Bazin - April 11, 2024 at 1:12 pm - Statement of Kurn Hattin Supporter and Saxtons River resident, Nancy Bazin regarding accusations of incestual abuse by former Kurn Hattin houseparent, Pete Harrison.

Melisa Holmes 2024-04-03 - Testimony of Peter Harrison's daughter that he sexually assaulted her for years while he was employed at New England Kurn Hattin Homes for Children in Westminster, Vermont.

Julia Graff, Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law - If you want to teach a kid how to get along better in the outside world, it doesn't make sense to completely isolate, control and manipulate them, submerge them in a world with arbitrary rules and unpredictable and severe punishments and make them live in a constant state of fear. Most kids are worse when they get out.

Rachael Denhollander - They had the choice months ago to do the right thing and become leaders. They chose corruption - again - and they put the survivors in a place where they had no choice but to speak publicly.

New England Kurn Hattin Homes for Children Abuse Statement - During the summer of 2020, a number [approximately 60] of former students of New England Kurn Hattin Homes (“Kum Hattin”) raised allegations of abuse that occurred during their time as students at Kurn Hattin. The allegations included physical and sexual abuse perpetrated by former Kurn Hattin staff members... The period of the allegations covers the late 1950s to 2020. Some of the abuses were known to Kurn Hattin, including sexual abuse perpetrated in the 1980s by former staff member, Mark Wadsworth Davis. The Kurn Hattin Investigation concluded that allegations of abuse were supported by evidence... The Kurn Hattin Investigation found that some former Kurn Hattin staff were abusive toward students... Come see what Kurn Hattin is all about! A Kurn Hattin Alumni T-shirt will be sent to you as a gift for your participation. Kurn Hattin Merch: Exec. Director Stephen Harrison Cell: 603-313-2435 | Sue Kessler Cell: 802-289-7367 .... Covering Up the Sexual Abuse of Children

Trollage - Yeah, makes sense, the pedophile, far right in the photo, would love the Nazi facility at Kurn Hattin, I mean new Auschwitz!

@mikemondano3624 - It appears that Kurn Hattin was helping with the childrens' sexual development, too.

Roland Bluto - Those who did these things to the children will answer for what they did and will own their own special place in HELL! And those who knew and allowed it to happen will be there with them.....

Thomas Allen - Hope the new principal, Amanda Tyrrell, will be able to stop the abuse going on there still.

Keith Cretelle - From my understanding the guy that abused my friend's kid still works at Kurn Hattin.

Jason Croteau on Vermont Journal Facebook - Kurn Hattin was supposed to be shut down, it's abusive!

Jennifer Benedict, DCF Residential Licensing and Special Investigations Unit (RLSI) - Stated Kurn Hattin survivor’s shared experiences were “validating their own experiences” in their interactions with Kurn Hattin, and specifically, Executive Director, Stephen Harrison. She said “Kurn Hattin is always on our radar” and that “there are multiple agencies [unnamed] involved and interested.”

Vermont Center for Crime Victim Services - Kurn Hattin Homes for Children is offering virtual Peer Support and Psychoeducational Groups! If interested, please contact: Dr. Kristen Reinhardt kristen.reinhardt@gmail.com - 226-212-7649, or Dr. Lisa Cromer lisa@sportpsychdoc.com - 918-760-5243 $34,000 Vermont Taxpayer Funded Kurn Hattin Survivors Peer Support Group

John Walters, Vermont Political Observer - And then we get to the quadruple Kurn Hattin finale, which acknowledges that a non-zero number of students suffered mistreatment and that Kurn Hattin is sorry, really and truly sorry. Well, I’m sorry too, but there is nothing about Kurn Hattin’s statement that ought to be accepted as the final word. .... Also, there are many altar boys who were never violated by their parish priests.

Brenda Siegel, Executive Director of End Homelessness VT - "Letting people suffer the most catastrophic of outcomes is not who we are in Vermont. These are our fellow Vermonters." Kurn Hattin's childhood victims respond: It's exactly who Vermonters are, Brenda, and have been since Vermont's inception. Vermonters themselves are exactly why Vermont has so many dehumanizing social ills. Such injuries as Vermont society intentionally cultivates are well documented to be rooted in childhood trauma.

Mark Bodin, Savings Bank of Walpole and Kurn Hattin Homes President - The theme of this year’s Kurn Hattin Annual report is IMPACT. Impact is defined as “having a strong effect on someone or something.” In these challenging times, I often find myself focusing on negative impacts... It is easy to understand feeling that the weight of the world is on my shoulders. I am a believer that you reveal your true self during hard times. I can say with full confidence that the Kurn Hattin community persevered during the 2020/2021 school year. While we all learned lots of lessons over the past 16 months, I hope we can identify those worth keeping and flush the rest away forever.

Kurn Hattin President Mark Bodin of Savings Bank of Walpole, lauded the staff for adapting and adjusting through the difficult times of the last couple years, and through it all, “Mission Accomplished!”

Kurn Hattin Director - "Just as in the broader world, the dangers and unpleasantness of life has at times intruded into life here ....This is the true Kurn Hattin Homes!" In the service of children, Stephen B. Harrison, Executive Director

Stephen Harrison, Executive Director, Kurn Hattin Homes for Children when asked about child abuse that was perpetrated during his tenure on watch as director of the Vermont residential school up until as recently as 2019: Well, that was just peer-on-peer abuse!

Steve Harrison, Dir., Kurn Hattin Homes - February 2019 - Additional to the external celebrations for the 125th anniversary, there is much going on internally and perhaps behind-the-scenes regarding this milestone year. As we prepare to celebrate the milestones and high-points of our history, I do feel a need to address certain issues that are particularly relevant in our #metoo influenced world of 2019. In any youth-oriented residential organization with a history as long as ours, there are elements of its past which, in the light of modern standards, would likely not be acceptable. We cannot change the laws and the cultural milieu of the past, but we can unequivocally state that we at Kurn Hattin express sorrow and apologies to any individual who may have suffered in any way from the practices of KHH staff in the past. Many blessings on you

Kurn Hattin Alumni – Kurn Hattin director Stephen Harrison is quoted in the DCF Residential Treatment Program Licensing Special Investigation referring to the State’s child wards enrolled at the school as possessing inherent "Character Flaws" in a bizarre attempt to place blame upon young victims. They are not character flaws Asshole! They are children! They are children from marginalized, dysfunctional homes and poverty, who have suffered deep trauma, and who now deal with profound, and likely lifelong psychological challenges. Their care, and treatment is your responsibility Asshole! It's why you have a job!

Sherri Keefe - Where is the transparency that you have promised? What about accountability for those that have harmed children under your care? Where is your compassion for those who have been harmed? Where, oh where has your heart and conscience fled? Policy has never protected children. People who take action do. Your lack of action and pursuit of accountability is sending a clear message to perpetrators that children can be abused in our schools with little or no consequences. You have once again failed the most vulnerable and those who have suffered unspeakable harm. Yet, they have finally had the courage to speak at your invitation, only to be silenced once again.There is no excuse for the course you have taken and no good reason, except perhaps to protect yourselves. And, that is unconscionable.

Sherri Keefe, Guilford VT - It is very hard to heal in a community where there is so much denial and deception about the abuse of students in our schools, and the failure of the institution to address it.

Mindy Haskins Rogers - My husband was an assistant in the Kurn Hattin music program for a couple of years, 15 years ago when he was first geting his license. He was never in the residence halls and never heard about abuse - he was just in the music room, then home.

Westminster Vermont resident on the Brattleboro Union High School child abuse investigation: I drive thru Kurn Hattin all the time because it's the most direct route for me to Westminster Village & Bellows Falls and I never pass thru there without thinking about Kurn Hattin's darker history.... I hadn't realized there's not much empathy across the child abuse spectrum in Vermont. That puzzles me. Brattleboro does have it's thoughtful, good people like [REDACTED] but Brattleboro is also a living example of the "Banality of Evil" as Hannah Ahrendt once termed it. As I understand the situation, investigating attorney Amy Goddard came back with a damning report & Pietro Lynn told the board not to even look at it because under subpoena they'd have to dish. My take is that's a tacit acknowledgment by BUHS board members that a crime did occur and not only are they guilty of being participants in the cover up, they're culpable for aiding and abetting that cover up. [REDACTED] has told me that Pietro Lynn is behind the lockdown. He's an attorney in Burlington who I've dealt with when I ran the show ... My take on that one is that if the Windham Southeast board has substantial reason to believe that that Amy Goddard found factual evidence and at Pietro's suggestion they're trying to deep six it, then I'd call it covering up knowledge of criminal activity. That rankles me.

Advocate for Kurn Hattin Survivors - While evidence suggests school leadership knew about the abuse over the years, little action was taken to stop it or remove the accused abusers. A culture of abuse permeated the school and caused a decades-long cycle of child abuse that many of the school’s alumni are still dealing with today.

John Kings - Vermont law protects predators and pedophiles. VSA 12§522 is the only statutory law of its kind in the US. For all its liberalism, Vermont loves sexual abusers!

Bill Schubart, Howard Center Ambassador who advocates for the return of institutional asylums - I have watched this trend endlessly [decades of alleged abuse at Kurn Hattin is a trend?] in organized religion as well as any institution where there is intrinsic power over women or children. Dismal that we sit by and watch. Sign up to receive Bill's VTDigger column. Bill@Schubart.com - Schubart@gmail.com

Vermont Governor Madeleine Kunin - Wisdom dispensed to Kurn Hattin children.

Juli Miller Anderson - September 11, 2000 - The story of Kurn Hattin does need to be told. My parents were house parents [farm] there for 10 years. Kurn Hattin does have an impact on the town of Westminster, at least it did when I lived there. The staff kids attended the local schools (Westminster Elementary and Bellows Falls Union High) and a lot of the staff were part of the local church. The kids that lived at Kurn Hattin deserve to be acknowledged. It may not be a pretty story, but none the less it does exist.

Karen Wolfe - My son was there 1986 through 1988. He along with 16 other boys were molested and sexually assaulted by a house parent's husband [Mark W. Davis] and a couple other staff. My son was in there for serious mental health issues. He has never been the same since. A lot of those kids had drugs put In their bedtime snacks and could not resist the attacks. My son is in denial to this day! The offender wrote a list of kids names he had harmed. My son's name was on that list. When I confronted the staff about stories told to me about abuse from my son and several other kids, I was told that all those kids are troublemakers and liars. I withdrew my son soon after. One of the young boys set one of the cottages on fire because he did not want to be with a certain house parent that night. Another kid was in and out of the E.R. for severe asthma attacks. He was one of the victims of a house parent. Not to mention the time I brought my son back to the campus and discovered a house parent's husband inside one of the cottages drunk and with a loaded gun! I ran to the director's home [David Maysilles] and was told by his wife to not disturb him as he was having a dinner party!! The assistant director [Chris Barry] met with me and told me to go home and he would handle it. And there are alot more stories like that and still haunt me and my traumatized son!

Alexis Henry - Karen Wolfe I'm so sorry to hear that it was and still is a terrible place. I went there for a short period of time and witnessed a lot of abuse I’ve behavior by staff or “house parents” as we were told to call them I reported it multiple times and got dismissed every time!

Jonathan Queen Sr. - Heather Hunter I'm not necessarily defending KH here as much as I'm pointing out the reporting [VTDigger, NBC5, WCAX, Brattleboro Reformer, Bennington Banner] seems to be malicious. That said, I know others were victims of staff and peers.

Heather Hunter: Kurn Hattin Homes Incorporator - Jonathan Queen Sr. 👍

WESTMINSTER — The Keene Lions Club has awarded New England Kurn Hattin Homes for Children a $500 grant to support the installation of new flooring on the main level of the Mayo Memorial Center. Caitlin Rose Scott - Donate to a school that abuses children and was just part of a class action lawsuit? My significant other is a survivor of the abuse. The class action lawsuit was 55 victims. My significant other, his abuser is still out free. Anthony DeFabiis - Caitlin Rose Scott, 100% agree with you I think they be shut down for reasons I'd rather not discuss and for the nature of the school's reputation and crimes also for the sake of the victims. My son was- 5 years ago. He's 12 years old today. I'm very sorry that anyone has to go through such horrific events.

Child of Kurn Hattin Employee - A pay off and silence has never healed anyone: The Harvey Weinstein Effect. It all started with non disclosure agreements and payoffs. There was really no personal justice for those who settled. After all does Justice really mean keeping someone elses dirty little secret.... If you had peter Harrison at kurn hattin in the 60s and 70s. Did anyone go to him for protection from predators that were lurking around? Well, I can only hope that he wasnt harming the children at Kurn Hattin. There were many people that knew what was going on in his own home. Peter Harrison chose to have an affair with a women named Judy. It was in the sixties. He was working at kurn hattin. The abuse his family suffered at the hands of the two of them is unimaginable.

Ismah Tanzil Al-Aziz - I'm one of the students from 83-88. If you want the real inside story of the madness, I will tell you. Former Kurn Hattin director Mr. Morse, houseparent Duane Miller, Gordon Danserau, and assistant director Mr. Fisher. Just a few who physically, verbally and mentally abused former students.

Massachusetts Attorney Kimberly Anne Dougherty, Esq., a.k.a. "Trauma Informed Super Hero Attorney" of the Justice League Collaborative, who represented approximately 48 childhood survivors of Kurn Hattin Homes for Children in a private out-of-court $10million-plus settlement negotiation for 55 of the over 60 survivors who came forward, discusses the unique pain inflicted by the FBI's failures to protect USA Gymnasts, describing it as “a different kind of betrayal.” We are honored to have played a role in this historic resolution and to have stood alongside survivors in their fight for justice and accountability against an organization seldom held responsible. Lance Williams, Kurn Hattin Survivor responds here to his former attorney, who Lance allegedly alleges, told him that she 'could no longer help him' in regard to obtaining a settlement. - And how about how the Vermont State Police failed to protect the lower class Kurn Hattin children and actually in one case even committed a felony kidnapping and aggravated assault on a minor? I guess only wealthy princesses count?

Mystik Ashe - This place was abusive for me and they don't stop bullying when it happens. The adults harassed me and made me feel bad about myself, especially academically and for 6 years I suffered.

June Brink - This was very hard to read, I actually could not get through it all, got about halfway and was so angry and disgusted that I just had to stop reading. Thank you for writing this, and thank you to all the brave people who came forward and shared their experiences. I run a community page and posted this, the comments quickly got out of hand and I decided to turn off commenting, which angered some people. There were people who actually were defending this school, which I find hard to understand, they were claiming their children went and succeeded there and had no problems, but my response was that they were lucky, and if even one child was abused, that was too much and this place needs to be held accountable. We are hearing of a lot more children which had spanned decades. Everyone who worked there and knew this was going on and said nothing, needs to be held accountable and publically shamed. Sorry, but if we do not protect our children things like this will keep happening. Bring as much attention to this as possible, even if things happened over decades, we need to know about it, it just shows the years of abuse that went on as Vermonters kept quiet.

Barbara Boutin McQuillan, 1969-1973 - Very good to hear. The goal is not really money per say. I was devastated by several things that occurred at Kurn Hattin and carry the pain with me still to this day. Now I feel the pain again and I only stumbled on this. I read my files at Kurn Hattin that were open for anyone in a file cabinet. I sat in a field and cried all day. Fear can be crippling.

Kristen McDaniel - I went to this school in 87-91. I heard the boy's campus was pretty rough back then and the boys were abused in different manners.

Heidi Nichols - 4 March 2001 - Very interesting website. Found some useful information. I think more should be said about Kurn Hattin. I grew up close to there and knew some of the girls at that time. Sometimes it is more painful to hide the truth than to let it out.

Rachel Duffalo - 23 March 2001 - As author of this Westminster history website, it has come to my attention that there have been some people offended by the use of the page guest book as a forum for issues regarding the Kurn Hattin home. I have had to make a decision on this and it has not been easy. I would like to request that from now on this guestbook not be used to discuss personal experiences, good or bad, unless they deal directly with historical or genealogical research.

Michael Crowley - 19 May 2001 - Kurn Hattin is part of your history, like it or not. Why does that offend people? Truth is reality.

Lewis Oliver - I hated it there also and definitely do not want to go back. I have few to no memories there as I have blocked most them out.

Shane Richardson - I know some of us boys at Turrel were consistently abused by Mr. Beau/Bo (sp), on several nights he filled in for the Kinville’s and Mr. Clint Plante. From verbal abuse, to physical. Middle of the night wake ups, to being forced to stay awake late at night, to only get up shortly for school. He dumped milk on students in the Cafeteria, jammed toothbrushes into students mouths, sexually gawked at female students and teacher. Dude is a real piece of shit. Even forced me into IHS for no reason, several times - only to try and defend myself against Mrs. Basin and her slaughter of anger towards people. I very specifically remember being thrown down the stairs by him, then having a vacuum tossed at my head while I was at the bottom. It took me stealing the phone, and hiding in a laundry cub under blankets calling my parents to get help.

Shane Richardson - Unfortunately it’s many years too late. I was there in 2005. I was physically and mentally abused, for nearly a year by a house parent. I was thrown down stairs multiple times, hit over the head with brooms, spit on, grabbed by the throat, wrists, and arms, and many other things. It started a couple months after I started there, and my mother never listened - always said I deserved it. Well it took a 3am phone call of me hiding inside a dryer with the phone calling my Grandparents for help, because the house parent dragged me out of my bed at 2:15 am and made me scrub the bathroom floor with my toothbrush, with bleach. The whole time he was smacking me with a broom handle. I was out of there a week later. Mr. Fahner tried to help, guidance counselor Mr. Parrick, and other house parents never listed to us. They said they’d “handle it” but it kept going. Surprised this guy never killed one of us. I hope he’s still not there.

Cat Moonsong - I know from personal experience, and from the stories of my Kurn Hattin "sisters" (who were there longer than I was and experienced far worse than I did) that the 80s (and early 90s?) had a lot of abuse at the Girl's campus. There were abusive houseparents, and there was abuse done to younger girls by the older girls. I can personally say that at least the headmistress knew about, and covered up, many things reported to her. I don't know if she reported to the upper administration and was covering things up under their direction or if she was acting on her own. I'm also certain many abuses never got reported to her at all. The youngest girls were scared to death of being a "tattletale" and what would happen if anyone found out we told. I'm not one of the people that came forward for the article posted, I had put this all behind me years ago. But I won't let people say it didn't happen. I'm proud of whoever it was that did come forward.

Heather Dow - The teacher's use to force me to pray or I wouldn't get to eat at all.. if I didn't eat they would give me a vitamin instead, which that's not breakfast/lunch/or dinner.. on top of being locked up all the time n they always allowed perverts around the children. The only person that was kind to me was the art/horse back riding teacher. This school is a joke n does nothing to prepare you for life (you come in a child n leave a child if your there your whole life) I got lucky, I was able to convince my uncle to get me outta this school.. why would you want to send your kids away anyways?

Dick Ryan - That said, no straps at Dickey Cottage, but at Ainsworth and Main yes - getting hit with “Old Betsy” was normal and expected if you were way out of line. For any clinicians out there - my trauma came from having to take cold showers while washing out my sheets in front of everybody after I had wet the bed - something out of my control- and not being able to eat breakfast six days a week because I wouldn’t take three bites of hot cereal(for five years) - also out of my control as it made me vomit. I’m assuming the standardized punishments I received in the 50’s were gone by the 60’s or 70’s.

Theodore Nichols- I was the kid that was badly picked on for 7 years, 66-73. It was so hard i counted backwards from 850 days left to go right up to graduation.

Theodore Nichols -well the new house parents at Dickie where a bunch..1966. Very abusive. Kicking seemed to be the husband thing. I watch one kid (Michael Crowley) go flying into a shoe box and the nail ripped his nose right open. He kick a kid in front of me in 2nd grade cause he had to go pee during our punishment excersises. He couldnt keep his pjs up and they fell to the floor. When went to pick them up Mr Shepard scream leave them down. So for several minutes he keep trying to keep his arms straight out while butt naked. He then let out a 'I got to pee'. No response from the staff by now his arms so tired and his albows nearly touching his sides he pees. Mr Shepard sees it and kicks Tim so hard that he flew into the air..and made him come back to clean it up. Poor kid was only 6 years old. Now thats abuse and i could tell much more. Getting knocked side the head is nothing.

Theodore Nichols - oh my goodness. That would be sad. I ran into robin bishop back in 1984 at the bellowfalls boat dock. I used to visit Timothy Powers and even his older brother Jeff. Jimmy came up from Arazona and we had a ball talkin about all the crazy times at Answorth cottege. He has never felt good about his experience there and continues he say to persue his angerr. I know we had a few bad staff and back then we was to scared say anything. Sure wish we could go after the shepards i have never seen such cruel people an to think they even adopted a baby there.

Theodore Nichols - Christina Lagace i know a classmate who has tried 2 times to sue the school. He was a very popular kid and seems to be staff favorite. He also had 2 other brothers that went to the school. He is out to make lots money and with many of us that do have daily pain and reminders from horrific abuse I would block every effect to shut down this so important school. Not one school, not one milary barraks, not one family has ever gone with out something bad happening. Its just part of life. People are trying to shut down police for just a few bad ones..where do we draw lines! If only there was a big island somewhere where we could put bad people that can not come back....

Theodore Nichols - Its so hard to run something like this. I noticed things got a little crazy and though it brought up some deep feelings i think this can be a good safe outlet. I just hope this is not abused later since there is so much personal. Its like losing a family and then trying to find it back. I have had that happen so many times over the years and its so heart breaking when things just dont seem to work. I am so happy in my life right now but the people trying to get some kind of compensation out of the school have no clue that what they are doing is more destructful then all the abuse that went on there.

Theodore Nichols - This sure is bring out as much drama as the Floyd killing. I just hope people dont throw way this important school just to get something in their pocket. I am actually communicating with the worker investagating and they better not abuse my info. I only will help them if they garrentee that there is no monetary law suit. I had horrible experiencs too living there but not so bad to have it shut down! i dont mind if u share this

Theodore Nichols - Having spent from 1966 to 1973 i was abuse by staff members personally... I hated them that hurt me ... some bad people where abusing us behind their backs and we did not know how to deal with it.

Theodore Nichols - We had a very hard time with a few. 1966 Dickie cottage had the shepards that were very cruel. Anyone getting into trouble had to do excersizes for over any hour. If you pjs dropped you would be dropped for touching them. We would get tons of head nuggies. There also has been some child abuse but I can understand why that is keeped down.

Theodore Nichols - It took me over 5 years to even drive by...U later guys had it made. A new swimming pool. Small bedrooms instead of sharing 18 in one. No more getting black coal dust up the nose [from shoveling coal]. No more head nuggies from staff for any kind of noise.

Theodore Nichols - Crimson Oreilly I went to Job corps in Virgennes. It was the old grounds of the Juvinile prison. They actually had a Metal roof building they use to put kid in if they were bad. I never had that kind of punishment. Once in 2nd grade Mr Shepard made me spend weeks digging out a tree trunk over to the left side of the baseball field. That was cruel..i can tell lots more.

Ellen Adams - I know kids who went here even 25 years ago that expirenced horrific things.

Dori Frechette - Anybody remember mrs. stevens, and the yardstick? How could u forget the yardstick diva!!!

Theodore Nichols - Gosh she hit someone on the back of there hand one day with a fork or a butter knife. Whats really strange is she would take me to her home and was the nicest person there. She and her husband owned a farm and they had a civil war sword with blood still on it...

Jerry Bardwell - OMG...how could I forget her. HERE I COME!!!!!!!! We used to call her Babe Ruth!

Dori Frechette - JERRY, u just gave me a flashback!!! Mrs. Moore was a great teacher and so very nice!!! Mr. Benjamin, he was a perv, SORRY, made all of us girls VERY UNCOMFORTABLE!!! EWWW!!! I did forget about the Babe Ruth thing!! She hit me with that damn yard stick because I was twirling my hair in my fingers!!!!! It was a nervous thing I did back then! Mrs. charleton tried forever to get me to stop!!!!

Theodore Nichols - i have been sitting on what u where saying for a while..thinking back to his class.. Mr. Benjamin was a jokester with you girls...I remember he would say a girl could go to the bathroom and then she turn to go and call her back..i think he did that over 5 times once..

Dori Frechette - teddy, can u imagine, she would be arrested in todays world for the crap she did to us!!! I always wondered if the staff knew what she did!!

...5th grade teacher Mrs. Stevens. Anyone, and everyone you talk to from Kurn Hattin will tell the same things about her, and share similar experiences. She was foul, angry, physical, and vulgar. One of our favorite experiences with her was when a classmate called her a “Fucker.” She went absolutely NUTS! She screamed, “That’s true, I am a FUCKER! I have children! I Fuck my husband!” You have never a more silently stunned and mortified group of young boys and girls than appeared at Kurn Hattin Home for Boys on that day. Curiously, maybe her procreation laden outburst was the greatest lesson she could have possibly offered us in the world as it existed during the early 70's on the hills of Westminster, Vermont. Suffice it to say, …. no one ever called her that again.

Theodore Nichols - "Back in the late 60s some one donated a 12 land racecar track. It was put in the top floor of the infirmary and Mr Brown set it up. It had seats with real stering wheels and gas pedals. One time when i was sick in the infirmary me and someone else had a pea shooting contest. I guess we lost because the nurse gave us relaxitives and then took away the toliet paper all those memories ...

Jerry Bardwell, Kurn Hattin Board Member - That was you and me Ted...there was a bunch of us, Brian Babineau being one, where we were all sick as dogs...something had hit the school really hard. In any event, I remember being stuck in that bed for about 2 weeks. Mrs. Moriglioni was the nurse at the time. She was big on stuffing vitamins down us...could have done without that.

Theodore Nichols - I got an interesting pill after 2 of us had mumps. We ended up having a pea fight and then the old nurse, Mrs. Moriglioni came in saw the mess, gave us some pills and then went over to the bathroom and walked out with the toilet paper..It was very mean. Thank god we got through it ok..

Kim Moriglioni - Theodore Nichols I will agree with you I saw a whole lot of it in the time we lived there.

Lance Williams - If A law firm is suing A boarding school (Kurn Hattin) for abuse and the victims, who are also clients, name non client victims as witnesses is it unethical for the law firm to contact them because it is 1) solicitation 2) unethical and 3) traumatic? A school in Vermont for at risk children, grades 1-8 called Kurn Hattin has A campus that Harvard would be proud of and only graduates 12 children per year. With millions of dollars going to this school are these children merely props? My opinion is that with millions of dollars going into this agency and graduating only 12 students per year these children are indeed merely props. Many of the teachers there drive nice cars and they all have country homes. The children who attend Kurn hattin come from disadvantaged backgrounds and when they graduate obviously go back to the disfuncional families that they came from. In other words they come from the gutter and they go back there to fail. Confucious said that `A child without A family is like A ship without A rudder`. They go back to where they came from with no effort to help them post Kurn Hattin. They can`t win. Kurn Hattin has also allegedly abused children in various ways from the 1940s through the 1980s my question is why is such A place allowed to exist and should something be done about it?. Kurn Hattin is being sued by victims of the alleged abuse. I believe that the children at Kurn hattin are, for the reasons stated simply props used for the enrichment of the teachers, director and board of directors etc.

Penny George - BA Information Technology, Harvard University - Local Vermonters, like me, who live close to the school, know what a horrific place that “school” really was. The school lost it’s license to operate in August of 2020, due to decades of allegations of physical, and sexual abuse of students. Many of the allegations have been proven to be true. There is, currently, a class action lawsuit in court. Many former students are suing the school because they were victims of some pretty awful abuse by staff members and other students. Thank God, it is no longer in operation.

Joshua Gross - Assistant Professor of Computer Science at CSUMB: Lance Williams, I think you're asking the wrong question. As a society, we have suddenly realized that certain kinds of systems create opportunities for sexual predators. As we individually uncover each case, we gasp, then pat ourselves on the back for having discovered it. We celebrate when an individual predator ends up in jail, or some victims receive compensation. In the 1980s, we started talking about sexual assault on children. Many television shows featured a "very special episode", which was almost invariably about either drug abuse or child molestation. Now, we look at certain people showing attention toward children, and then pat ourselves on the back again. We are being monstrously stupid. This has had zero effect, other than portraying some completely innocent people as "monsters in waiting" while hiding other instances of abuse. You assume that there is something special about Kurn Hattin, when there is no evidence to support that. Our moral panic has not resolved the issue, and history will not look up on it kindly. I don't have a solution to suggest; I'm a computer scientist, not a psychologist. However, I am unwilling to accept that our moral panic is either a legitimate response or sufficient.

Jack Bryar - Lived in Vermont (1998-2019): Kurt Hattin was one of the great, privately financed charitable institutions that gave abandoned and abused children a last chance. It was favorably compared to the Hershey School for many years. The problem with such places is they operate under the radar and their leadership starts to believe they are heroes, to the point that they stop paying attention to what is going on in the shadows. I have known many of the teachers there and most of them are heroes you’d be thrilled to have in your public school. But when administrators stop being vigilant about who they hire and when they fail to do proper background checks, then bad things can happen when abusers find their way in. And they do find their way in unless administrators are extremely careful. I had a bad experience with a funny priest at a parochial school many years ago. Truly great schools like Phillips Exeter have had abuse scandals come to light in recent years. And then there are the absolute horrors that have recently been revealed about the schools for Indian children in Canada. In a place where the halls are full of children that have been abused themselves, there is going to be abuse and bullying if administrators take their eye off the ball. This is not to excuse what happened at any of those institutions. But it is a reminder that problems of this kind were once all too common at private schools and all the hyper vigilance we see at today’s schools comes from a realization that reform was badly needed.

Jinger Tylee Ertel - Former CNA: But places like this still exists it doesn’t change very much over the years other than when the law forces it to.

Lance Williams - Reads A lot: Something is being done about it. Kurn Hattin is being sued by many former victims.

Stephen Phillips - MA Physics, University of Cambridge: It is not ALLOWED to exist. You are not ALLOWED to snort coke. You are not ALLOWED to beat your wife. If it stopped 40 years ago it is a bit late to do anything.

Timothy Richards - I remember mr. Miller very well! He slapped me across the face so hard it dropped me to my knees for not doing something I was told.

Randy Logsdon - I had many memorable moments both good and bad at KHH. Kurn Hattin is always on my mind. It's a pot of bittersweet. Mostly bitter. On the one hand, they provided me with a home, clothing, food, medical, dental, education, band, sports, and more. On the other hand, they provided me with fear, discipline, possibly breaking child labor laws even for the 60's. I watched daily as I and other children were abused by both staff and other children. Who am I? Where do I fit? Who do I trust? How better off I could have been with a much better support system. That's were Kurn Hattin let me down, but then, so did my family. Every day I wish I am dead. I'm old enough now and have thankfully past the days when I wanted to destroy to make things even. Thank God I did not destroy anything. I consider myself to be in poor health. Mostly mentally, but it affects my physical abilities.

Benny - There was a song we had to sing at Kurn Hattin. One of the lines was, 'Cheer for Kurn Hattin, to us so dear, we'll cherish fond memories so far we rove.' One of those many 'fond' memories was girl's department director Eleanor Ward admonishing me after being returned to the girls campus after a visit from my mother, who drove two hours to see me. I was crying. Mrs. Ward leaned down towards my face and hissed, 'Don't cry, or your mother won't want to see you anymore!' Thank you for that 'fond' memory Kurn Hattin.

Autumn Hensley - Chris Grullon Duane Miller was a child molester. Im glad that was the worst of it for you.

Chris Grullon - Autumn Hensley I was never alone with him. He gave me really bad vibes

Autumn Hensley - "I dont remember him that well, but my younger siblings do. All of the complaints were defended by Tom Fahner, and with over 25yrs as the Director... Im not convinced that Miller acted alone or that it was an isolated case. They're both dead now, so we won't hear their side and I really don't care to. I just hope something is done about it so it doesn't happen to anyone else.

Prudence Williams - Well.. she IS right.. Professionally, that wasn't the best way to go about the situation.. Unfortunately, Mr. Miller was seen as an "untouchable" (ironic term) by many of the staff considering his very long history with Kurn Hattin. But he was, in fact, a weirdo.. and had many complaints against him that were always overlooked."

Prudence Williams - Well.. just maybe take a minute to think about the situation of the person you're saying is being "insensitive".. A young man had to carry that weight around with him his entire life, all because of one deranged man.. and his superior who failed to look into it. Two people, whose mission was to better the lives of children in need.. that failed miserably in the case of this helpless child.. Two people that happen to be dead now. What should she apologize for?"

Autumn Hensley - "As a KH alumni, I had a great experience during my time there (1995-1998). However, as a sibling to a sexual assault victim whom was molested by Duane Miller in Ball cottage at KH, I'm disgusted by the administration! There were repeat complaints about Mr. Miller, but no formal investigation ever took place. Miller was a former KH alumni, and I find it very telling of the the KH history, sad & disgusting really. A place that was once called home to so many, is now forever tarnished by stories and articles such as this. Duane Miller has met his maker, but I pray for the victims and hope that anyone reading the article or posts comes forth with their report in effort to prevent it from happening to any more innocent children.

Bruce Merrill - Autumn Hensley Duane Miller was a terrible human being!! I'll never forget him telling me that I'll never amount to anything on graduation day. What a motivational message for an 8th grader! I hope he is rotting in hell!

Randall Reed - Mr. Miller was a physically abusive fuckin' douchbag, but he's faced his ultimate judgement! He had hit me quite a few times when I was there. Yes! I was a really hyper kid that had adhd, but it wasn't his place to lay a hand on me in aggression. Favoritism was played a lot by staff members when I was there!

Theodore Nichols - Out of curiousity. Dwyane Miller as a great friend for me during my divorse and his too talked with me about a time he did a dorm party raid at the girls with some of the boys and how he was trying to keep things at school fun level. Is this part of what you folks are talking about. He did tell me he had to resign after that...

Theodore Nichols - I would wonder what on earth happen. I grew up with Dwayne never seen him upset at anyone. If Dwayne was around others kids did not hurt me. Years later I was there for him going through his divorce and worked with him on some painting jobs. For a guy going through a divorce he never showed anger. He did have to do his job. When we were kids Mr Rogers would take his middle knuckle and bam u had a 1 inch bum and seeing stars. Usualy it was kids being me to me behind me and i would tell them to knock it off and bam i got it. If Dwayne had to get after someone they must have done something for him to need to stop what was going on..

Cecilia Gomez-Bingham - Christina Pratt girls had a much different experiences than the boys...I went there to in the mid 90's and had a safe experience. Come to find out years after that my friends that were boys there opened up and said they experienced abuse. The abuse that they experienced happened before I came. So I assumed happened to them at younger ages, maybe 3rd-5th grade. I was there between 93-95.

Cecilia Gomez-Bingham Sarah Thompson unfortunately it wasn't the girls that got abused. It was the boys. I went to KH, the girls I went with never had experiences like this but the boys weren't so lucky. This is not info we knew when there, I found out after I left when talking to my friends who were boys who went there.

Cecilia Gomez-Bingham Susan Nadeau ❤❤❤❤ so sad. Those children already went there because their homes were not safe and KH was supposed to be a safe haven and for some it was not.

Cecilia Gomez-Bingham Susan Nadeau I get your point but it didn't mean it didn't happen. I'm sure certain kids were targeted vs other kids. I was sad and horrified to find out abuse happened to my friends who were boys. They never said anything when we were in school together..it was years later that they choose to speak. I don't know all the details and don't which house parents it was as I didn't want to push to much as it was brave to even acknowledge it happened. But I has a great experience there, sad to know the experience some boys had was a nightmare.

Nancy Giroux - Becky, I guess your memories of our time there are much happier ones then mine. Linda Nay was the meanest person I have ever met and she made my life there a living hell. I do not wish to be a part of this site.

Alvin Ashlaw - I could say that corporal punishment worked, ..... look how we all turned out!

Mike Butler - Cecilia Gomez-Bingham I started working at Geka Brush in Brattleboro. I noticed the he was the maintenance guy so I quit. It was [Kurn Hattin houseparent] Mark Davis and he should of served life in jail. He damaged their lives and gave them a memory that will haunt them forever. The court system needs improvement.

Adam Pearson - He [Mark W. Davis] was in one of the cottages for younger kids. I don’t remember him at the farm. Anybody tried that at Farm he would have gotten his hiney kicked. I had to be interviewed because during the investigation he named me as a possible victim. He couldn’t remember all he affected I guess. I told the investigators he tried smooth talking me when I was in the laundry room folding clothes at Hubbard, but I just thought he was trying to be funny and laughed at him. He said quite a bit about boys in his cottage. Typical of predators. It’s all manipulation and euphemisms. Towards the end of our convo he basically offered to teach me how to “perform” something and I was like, “haha ok man, whatever.” I was about 6 feet tall at the time. He may have thought I was into that. He thought wrongly. He used to grab our butts in the pool if you recall. He’d say he would throw us in the air (by pushing us up in the air by our butts), in reality he was playing graba$$.

Adam Pearson - I read the article and the comments. I find the article highly unfair, as it paints the school out to be something it isn’t. My initial feeling is the people writing this are jumping on the everybody’s a victim bandwagon. The paper is only happy to dramatize things. This could really hurt the school. I don’t mean to say things didn’t happen to them. I’m just saying, why now? I was there from 89-91. I recall the infamous Mr. Davis abuse case. I was interviewed by detectives about it. He “tried” some of that weird stuff with me, but it was just talk at that point; I got an ugly glimpse of the homosexual predator, man - boy manipulation and grooming phase. I actually thought he was just joking around making dirty jokes, trying to be funny. Luckily, I was too old for him. Sick. Vermont is WEAK on sexual crime sentencing. That’s the main problem, not how KH reacted. From what I recall the school acted swiftly. In a different case, another house parent was removed very quickly for allegations of abuse; threatening to make us kneel on corn kernels. Haha, ok hoss. He was gone like the wind.

Adam Pearson - I do recall rough housing at the Farm. It was a different time back then, but the main guy, I’ll call him Mr. B [Bazin], could be a bully, and is the main reason I ultimately left Farm cottage. I spoke to Mr. Fahner about this years later just before his passing. From what I understand corrective steps had been made. While I do encourage former students to speak out, just remember that any newspaper will take what is said and amplify it beyond recognition.

Adam Pearson - Jennie Filiault True, but we can’t always hold people from 30 years ago to standards of today. Mr. B used to dangle us halfway outside a two story window and slap our chests. Or stick us in the manure spreader waist deep in cow sh*t. Thing is we felt it toughened us up and was in good fun (for the most part). The turning point for me was when I was really sick and couldn’t get up at 4am to do chores. I remember he kicked my bed and flicked his cigarette ash on me and said, “get up pu$$y!” That was cold.

Jennie Filiault - Adam Pearson I think that as I said before, time shows that we were wrong. Toughen us up or not, children who went there didn’t need to “toughen up” because they had already been through enough. What they needed and continue to need is love and support and a stable environment.

Jennie Filiault - I do remember each child having their own personal issues coming in, and some houseparents playing favorites and very clearly pointing it out... it didn’t help children especially like me who had abandonment and neglect issues. Hopefully some of that has stopped, and I’m so so sorry for those who have experienced any sort of abuse at the homes.

Stephyn O'Leary - I was an outsider among most things, mostly due to my own making but bullying was a huge issue that was widely over looked, especially when the largest of the bullies were often the obvious favorites of certain staff. Favoritism ran rampant there, especially if you were a star member of the sports teams.

Randall Reed - When I was there, there were some house parents and staff that loved playing favorites knowing that each individual student was dealing with their own issues. They would just confine you to your room just so they didn't have to do their job or deal with you. Also Dick "Head" Long can go fuck himself! No wonder Lisa divorced your drunk ass! Like I said if you weren't one of his favorites, he would run his big fat fuckin cocksucker behind your back to other students and staff.

Eryn Kainu - They need to stop locking children in a tiny room for hours on end they did that to me. It is abuse!

Melisa Taylor - Sadly, I’ve heard of allegations of people that still working there today!

Lou Capo - Melisa Taylor. Please speak up to someone. This article was about past abuse. if you know of something going on currently or a staff member that is working there this is what needs to get out and to be known. Thank you for speaking up.

Bobby Guthrie - I did have one bad incident at KH, nothing like what they’re talking about. I did have a staff member crank my arm so far back it pulled nerves in my left arm. I still have issues with the arm today. That staff member also never worked another day for KH after that.

Christian Gordillo - Thanks to kurn hattin I'm an atheist. Forced to kneel and forced to go to church that was my wake up call. Thanks to kurn hattin never step foot in a church again, god bless.

Brenda McLean Thomas - Laurie A Pawelczyk was my sub... I reported her as being too aggressive and that something was OFF about her. The Girl's director did NOT want her gone as she turned out to be their SPY on all the house parents. Unfortunately, she LIED about ALL of us and I BEGGED the psych department at KH NOT to allow her to stay but they would NOT listen to me. She ended up doing so much damage to my girls... I should have gone to the police but it was only a gut feeling and rumors and I trusted KH to investigate. After Laurie's death, I met with her husband Andy who confessed that she indeed had SERIOUS MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES and he was sorry that no one discovered that earlier. When all of the teachers, the assistant psychologist, other house parents AND some parents all came forward to defend ME when I was to be put on probation via Laurie's spying... Dr. Maysillas told my then husband and me that he KNEW I did nothing wrong but he was "the General and Laura Blair (the director) is my person on the front lines" so shortly after serving out the three months of probation... I QUIT my position. Some of us house parents tried desperately to protect our charges and grew to love them like our own. Often Peter and I stayed on campus to keep an eye on our subs as well. But the administration closed ranks quickly in these situations. My heart breaks for those who slipped through the cracks because of those in charge.

Jennifer Capo - Mrs pawalzic was extremly mentally abusive to us. She got a thrill out of scaring us, torturing us and making us cry. I will never ever forget how she treated us and how i cried myself to sleep every night because she was so incredibly cruel to us. She would force feed us until we threw up, make us sit in a room together on our hands in complete silence for days on end and not let us use the bathroom, and if we moved or our hands got numb or we tried to readjust how we sat because our hands hurt, she would scream at us and call us names, tell us we were there because we were little pieces of shit and our parents didnt want us, the list is endless of the way she went out of her way to make us suffer. She made me stay up all night once forcing me to eat and when i told her i couldnt do it and i was trying but it was making me sick, she went and got another spoonful and added it to my plate and told me now i had to eat more. I sat in the dining room at cone cottage till 1 am as she continued to force me to eat and everyone else had gone to bed.. when i got sick at around 2 am and i knocked on her door she ignored me for several hours, then came out and called me a little pig, refused to give me anyrhing to clean up with and told me to go sleep in it. I went in and slept on the floor instead Then she finally gave me a towel hours later as the sun was coming up, i guess because she didnt want anyone to know what she did. I slept on the floor and she refused to help me. I was in second grade.

Brenda McLean Thomas - Jennifer Capo I am so so sorry that you went through this, Jennifer. I did BEG the Psych Dept NOT to hire her and in fact FIRE her before I quit KH for the last time in the '80's. Later, I discovered from her husband that she was indeed seriously mentally ill. She should NEVER have worked there! Mrs. Blair used her as her "spy" when she subbed but there was never any reason to hire such a crazy person. I am sorry, also that you won't be able to punish Ms. Pawelczyk as she died in a car accident some time ago. You should contact the lawyers investigating KH's cover ups... Again... I can't tell you how my heart aches that they refused tp listen to me and hired her to torment you vulnerable girls.

Jennifer Capo - Brenda McLean Thomas thank you . I was so young i just thought thats what boarding school was like and i never even thought to speak up . I just thought it was normal and I began to believe her, that we were there because our parents didnt want us because we were bad and we deserved it. What happened with mrs pawalzic wasnt punishments for not behaving. It was just her fun to torture us and make us feel horrible and sad. I blocked this out for so many years until now all this coming up ...she left a devastating impact on my self esteem, my sadness, and my well being. I was always so sad.

Marcia Day - My sisters and I were at kurn hattin,back in early 1960. When we went there we had long hair,they cut it real short like a mens haircut. durning the winter they would have a window open,and we only had 1 blanket on the bed. we wernt alone to close the window if we were cold. When it came to mealtime ,if there was something we didnt eat,it was save for the next meal until it was gone off our plates. There was a girl there ,who had problems of wetting the bed,they would get her up and make her sit in a tub of cold water. I remember one time when I didnt eat something off my plate, It was on my plate for 2 days,they would not give me anything else to eat. On nights in the winter when the window was open it was freezing,I got up and shut the window. They punish me and made me sit up all night in a chair in the dark in the dining room all by myself. I hated it there,I wanted so bad to run away from there,but couldnt leave my sisters. I am glad they are invesigating this place.

Ray Upton - There are around a total of more than 80 known victims. Within the last 5 years, more than 20 boys and girls were involved in the above-listed abuse. From 1940 to 2019 there have been over 60 known victims. Research has shown that the known victims only represent a portion of the total. Men especially very rarely talk about abuse of any kind in any setting. If and when they do talk it can be 50 to 70 years after the abuse. It was 60 years ago that my own abuse and my many secrets started at KH. I experienced multiple forms of abuse all four years I was at KH. The most common threat that is used to keep boys quiet is that the abusing boy says I will tell everyone you are gay. Also, some boys just stay quiet without the threat because they know that just doing sexual things with other boys can make everyone else think they are gay or bisexual. That alone is why a lot of boys never say a word. I can tell you that from my own personal experience.

Leila Shāe Crosby - Not that my opinion matters - but as a person who WAS assaulted - amongst others that I know who were at this place with me - its still wrong... Maybe it hasn't been going on as long as this article is stating - but as a victim - know that it has happened before.

Leila Shāe Crosby - Jennifer M Ellis I was there in 2013 - 2014 - i got assaulted - and they gave me an OCS for 4 months because the girl was lying and saying i assaulted her - when i didn't - thankfully, they figured out the girl was lying and they let me back - but put me in a different dorm - which led to my roomate molesting me with 2 other girls in the bathroom - after she had made me self harm with her - and proceeded to tell me if i told anyone she would kill me, she hid that sharp in my dresser before we walked up to the school in the morning - without me knowing - and when we got up to the school i told on her - and they proceeded to contraband our room - and found the sharp in my dresser that my roommate had hid - and they ended up kicking me out of the school - forcing me to go back to my abusive bio mother - and the girl totally got away with everything.

Leila Shāe Crosby - Not alot of the staff cared for me because they either taught my mother or went do school with her - and didnt like her and i guess and didnt really get time to know me because they were probbably afraid I was just like her... Only to find out - I'm nothing like her.

Ashley Rich - Had a housemate try to flush my coat down the toilet and because it was my coat I was blamed. Totally set up. Along with our house parent having a sexual relationship with one of my housemates that a lot of people knew about but no one ever did anything.

Roberto Villalba - I sound ignorant...lol. so tell us, what do you know about KHH?? Since you absolutely know what goes on and are glad this is coming to light.

Christa Harty - Roberto Villalba You sound ignorant. If you know anything you should know sex offenders don’t like audiences.

Roberto Villalba - I attended decades ago and rhose who have attended know how small the community is, everyone knows each other. I can't fathom to think such a thing happened. I refuse to believe it..

Christa Harty - I’m so glad this is coming to light.

Roberto Villalba - Christa Harty we don't even know if its true!!! This is one of the worst piece of generalism I have read in a while. It literally looks like they're casting bait to see if someone bites. This is awful.

Bill Gorsky - So I just read that article for the first time and my mind's kind of blown. I don't know why I keep letting myself get sucked into this group where it just becomes so stressful. so according to that article and I know not all the article may or may not be correct it's Vermont digger I don't know anything about them but I do know that as a state mandated reporter you do have 24 hours understate law to report something and if it's not reported you broke the law so if the school broke the law it needs to be shut down straight up. you know it's too bad that all of the amazing things at Kern hatton has done for so many children gets totally erased by these bad things that are have happened and continue to happen. do you have people from the 50s and 60s coming out saying this stuff people from the '80s coming out saying this stuff people from the '90s 2000s and 2015 this place needs to be shut down.

Heather Hunter – Bill Gorsky well I know today’s laws are very different and school have to report all cases of abuse [Vermont DCF Special Investigation found that KH did not in fact report all instances of abuse.] and neglect. So, hopefully we all can move forward from this and get mad when news media falsely reports on a license. It’s a great school and I had a great experience there and it helped me become the woman that I am today. It’s sad what happened back then. But, I also know it happened everywhere and does not make any of it right. Society likes to cover things up and now we want everything in the open. But, skewing the actual facts [Do you mean the 55 victims who settled with KHH?] is concerning. It was common practice in families and communities alike to “spoil the rod and spare the child”. Heck even catholic schools practice this and we all know that they certainly had abuse within their walls. But, now as a society we call it out and declare it’s not right! “Spoil the rod and spare the child” is not healthy for any child. I believe children today can call the hotline as we are more open about abuse and neglect. Back when it was consider family matters, not so much, Hell, my Grandfather abuse my mother and his wife but went to church in Sunday’s and act like they were a perfect Christian family. [Is that fact why you are so full of hate and blame victims of institutional child abuse?] It’s a good thing that victims come forward as this will bring on change. But, I also worry about false reports [Which false reports, Heather?] as this darkens the true victims. However, it does not make the school and it’s current staff evil. Evil is everywhere and unfortunately evil [What Evil is that, Heather?] has darken the door steps of Kurn Hattin. Kurn Hattin, like many Alums, is my home and my family and like many families, there are members we would rather keep arms Length and others we want to hold on tight because they show us respect, love and caring.

Bill Gorsky - Heather Hunter I will give you an example: a child refuses to eat his eggs because he doesn't like them and he goes to his bedroom The house parent comes storming out of his apartment runs down the hallway and we see the child being pulled by his hair down the hallway literally being pulled he slammed to the table and then he's force-fed the eggs. I'm leaving all names out and all parties involved I will say that the house parents were gone a few days later this is an example of physical and emotional abuse that may or may not have been reported to DFS. But we can't sit here and say without knowing for sure oh well every instance was reported to DFS because I know very well that my broken arm wasn't reported to DFS and I know that other things that happened were not reported so were they known about Yes where they handled internally.

Bill Gorsky - Adam Pearson not all kids had blissful status at kh the abuse from the 80's is real. For some of us, we lived the horror movie that was kh. For others it was the best. Please be careful not to judge what you don't know. I'll take this offline and message you.

Bill Gorsky - Dana Mylott I remember that shit pile well. Adam Pearson, I remember Mark Davis well as I was there 83-87. Victims do need to come forward but not here. Where would victims go to tell there story?

Bill Gorsky - Mike Butler the article was written because the state of limitations no longer applies. That means that as abuse victims come forward, the truth can finally be told.

Bill Gorsky - Randall Reed I never saw Dwayne Miller raises voice or hurt a soul but at the same time I never saw Mark Davis abuse anyone either and he's in jail or was in jail for it so each one of us have a different experience but that doesn't mean it wasn't any more true for you or for me or for anyone else. we shouldn't discount our brothers and sisters just because it seems unbelievable because like I said I never thought Mark Davis could hurt a soul or would hurt anybody.

Bill Gorsky - I am not surprised to see this finally come out. It's been too long for those who have been abused.

Bill Gorsky - Heather Hunter so .I agree with most of what you said Heather. I don't think that the response that kurn hattin gave was sufficient and it is definitely not an apology. I have yet to see an official apology to the victims and maybe that's because victims are still coming forward. More and more victims are making their voice heard. There are people who have had absolutely horrifying experiences and there are people who had an absolute amazing experience and then there are people who have had a mix. I think an effort needs to be made to encourage abuse victims both physical and sexual to come forward in a private forum or maybe a private one-on-one form with an investigative team. Changes have to be made in the future to safeguard children. Those of us who went to KH did not come from model homes model parents and the best situations. The last thing that these children needed was to be victims of more abuse. I love my school KH will always be in my heart. It was home and it was family but at times it was terror and frightening for a lot of us but at times it was loving and friendship and brother and sisterhood.

Bill Gorsky - I know that mandate reporters have a hotline that they can call well maybe children should have a hotline that they can call and anonymous hotline that they can call and say hey I've seen this or hey this happened to me. I can tell you back in the '80s nothing like that was ever offered to us kids.

Michael Kirkey - 2021-10-02 13:48:15 - Hi. I'm a survivor. I'm sorry I get a little crazy sometimes but the memories control your soul, or so it seems. I have a great state of anguish from the abuse. I'm still angry. And it's hard to operate in life with those assaults. I've killed myself twice. Got brought back twice. And I try. It sucks, so bad, that's why we kill ourselves. It's to hard to deal with.. ya know? But children please don’t take yourselves out of the games because good will always conquers over negative energy. Replace that hurt with positive thoughts. I've been in between life and death. It's not really the death, its moving from one state to the next state of being. No matter what!! I LOVE ALL OF YOU FOREVER AND FOREVER. DONT DIE BECAUSE of them. Live for a family of your chosen. Peacepeople MJK INFJP

Carolyn Blake Bashaw - Rhema Word for the Whole World ! When the sun goes down, the earth cools, the mist forms around it to cover and protect its greenery and inhabitant population....I see a must around my people...you cannot see as I for I am the living restorative father of the whole earth ! I am he that has come to save the lost! As all things heat up upon the earth, shall reveal more....I see Trump standing in awe as he moves into his rightful place! I see an explosion of truth spilling across America! I see an emblem on the forehead of Trump...he will stamp out the vulgar escapades...a major search coming to locate all illegal immigrant people who have tresapassed against your land! I see Biden failing in health...I see Marxism thrown out! I see a major revival coming to your land ! It will spill over as my people awaken to my truth ! Be not confused or full of fear! I have a need to draw my flock to me ! Truth will reign...I see stumbling and bumbling in your White House gov’t! I say “Down with the Aristocrat who lord it over my people! I see the Police Depts coming out from the radical agenda they have come under. Confederacy will March in!!! Trump will rise up in power ...The effects of side effects will fuse up in the fall...Germ warfare has put fear into your people...now the tide will turn...it will sweep over the land of the Puritans! It is the color of your soul, not your skin I see !rise up my people, follow me and we will conquer the evil forces that are attempting to rule in the place of Jesus my son!

Bob Neale - I’m sorry, but that’s crazy talk Carolyn.

Carolyn Blake - I’d rather be alive than dead. I would give anything, anything at all, to go back and live again – to be young again, no matter what I went through as a child.

Jerry Bardwell, Kurn Hattin Homes Board Member - Todd Leclair ... The other houseparent you are thing of was Mrs. Kondrot. She had a daughter Druscilla...not so pleasant memories of those two.

Todd Leclair - Also I think I have similar memories of Mrs. Kondrot. I remember the little doors in the dorms that opened from the houseparents apartments and she would yell at us to go to sleep from the third floor. What were there, 24 kids in two bedrooms?

Heather Hunter - Official KH response... sad that people rather believe the worse instead of finding out things... fake news is a thing! Please read the official Kurn Hattin response.

Heather Hunter - Also, since when did the cottages in Westminster have 22 students? I saw that and was like... ummmm???!!!??? Again VT digger in this article is “fake news” and obviously not checking ALL its sources nor honoring those that wished to be not mentioned or taking “sound bites” to make their article fit their agenda.

Fact Check - Heather Kampfer Hunter, President Kurn Hattin Alumni Association and Kurn Hattin Homes Incorporator - "Fake News?" "Not Checking Sources?" "Fit Their Agenda?" Who's agenda? Heather Hunter's agenda? Kurn Hattin's agenda? A Kurn Hattin Incorporator's agenda? A Grafton, NH tax collectors agenda? Dickey Cottage had 24 boys in addition to multiple children of houseparents and co-houseparents, totaling up to at least 27 children in total in Dickey. Ainsworth crammed 18 boys into a crowded dorm, stinking locker room and moldy gang shower, in addition to houseparent's children. Main Building housed 28 boys in addition to houseparents children. Those are what are known as facts Heather Hunter. You may want to confirm a few facts yourself before denying the truth and experiences of survivors and spewing your venomous, victim-blaming, vitriol all over the internet.

Heather Hunter - But evil is everywhere.

Heather Hunter - Bill Gorsky it’s mostly about the issue and false reporting of how the DCYF license was relinquished. We all know there are evil people in this world and unfortunately some ended up working at KH throughout the years.

Jewels Wilson - I understand the victims pain 100%, but bringing it up again is only serving to hurt the amazing work that tons of staff have done to help hundreds of kids like myself become better and have better situations. And it threatens the ability for them to keep helping children in the future. It makes me so sad that one terrible person can denigrate and demonize the amazing work of hundreds of people.

Jewels Wilson I completely agree. I went there for 7.5 years (2000-2007/8) and had nothing but good experiences. And I am definately not saying these victims are lying. I never would. Im just saying there is no way i will ever believe it ...

Stacey Michelle - They abused my son years ago.

Amanda Pike - I had an unprofessional and horrific experience with this boarding school in 2018. After ME reaching out to multiple social services for supports for my sons and within my home THIS was my last resort.

Randy Wade - Amanda Pike unfortunately my child encountered the same thing when she was there. I trusted them in the beginning and I pulled her out of there when she revealed to me what they did at that school. I filed a report to the police, DCF and the family court and they didn't even do anything. They knew this was happening and they still didn't do anything. I can say more but it's way too much to type on here.

Randy Wade - They abused my child and I told DCF about it in 2014 and they did nothing

Jessica Lee Smith - Why the hell aren’t they shutting it down permanently?! You’re gonna tell me especially in today’s day and age, in the midst of extreme cancel culture , the children coming forward isn’t proof enough ?!!! How disgusting! And THIS is just one school...

Klara Charlton - Textbook predators of the vulnerable who have no voice. This is not just Vermont, nor simply KH, and every institution should be examined.

Paul Cannistraci - Sick

Jacquie Simoneau - I guess I don't see how it's a burden if children's lives have been effected by what happened to them while at KHH... How rude, just saying!

Lucy Katharine Baldwin - So sorry Kurn Hattin is burdened by this challenge. Caring for children at this time of Covid is hard enough.

Nan Bigelow - DEVASTATING: young innocent children were abused & molested.......they were helpless. A child treated well does not negate the damage to the abused children......KURN HATTEN ALLOWED CHILDREN TO BE ABUSED.

June Hardy Sumner - This was a very hard article to read, I actually could not get through it all, got about halfway and was so angry and disgusted that I just had to stop reading. Thank you to all the brave people who came forward and told their stories. I run a community page and posted this last night, the comments quickly got out of hand and I decided to turn off commenting which angered some people. There were people who actually were defending this school, which I find hard to understand, they were claiming their children went and succeeded there and had no problems, but my response was that they were lucky, and if even one child was abused, that was too much and this place needs to be held accountable. We are hearing of a lot more children which had spanned decades. Everyone who worked there and knew this was going on and said nothing, needs to be held accountable and publically shamed. Sorry, but if we do not protect our children things like this will keep happening. Bring as much attention to this as possible, even if things happened over decades, we need to know about it, it just shows the years of abuse that went on as people kept quiet.

Scott Frank - They covered up for child sexual abuse for years while the Vermont SRS and the DCF sent them fresh victims. Do NOT send your children here.

Scott Frank - Covering up child sexual abuse makes you just as guilty through enabling.

Crimson Oreilly - Okyaa so maybe stuff happened 30-70 years ago but that's so old half those people are dead. Staff students soooo unless they find victims from recently it's not gonna go anywares

Ray Upton - WOW - has anyone else read the news article that the Vermont Senate is going to be holding investigation hearings about the abuse at Kurn Hattin? A few months ago when I first read the KH statement on the KH website I was shocked and dismayed. That’s why I joined this FB group. I wanted to read about it firsthand from alumni. I also Googled (Kurn Hattin sex abuse) and read all the articles, I could not believe what I was reading. The Kurn Hattin Legacy website has loads of documents and information. I thought I was the only one that had KH secrets. Now I know I am just one of the few that have had my own KH secrets.

Ron Krupp - How could a community not know? I wonder why it was never exposed in the news media until now? Did anyone in Saxtons River or Westminster West and the surrounding communities ever report on what occurred at Kurn Hattin? And if so, why was it kept under the radar? Why didn’t the staff report the incidents? Why wasn’t it mentioned at the local post office or general store where gossip is shared? How does a community hide the truth?

Susan Knape - There are truly no words to describe what children suffered at this school. "I can't believe the school chose to cover up the abuse rather than address it; this inaction put countless more children in harm's way. The school's reputation was more important than protecting children, and there's nothing that can ever justify that choice.

Stick Man - horrible things happened at this school, and swept under the rug. I hope they take the appropriate steps to ensure these poor kids don't go threw what we went threw at kurn hatin.

Vermont Agency of Education attorney Emily Simmons - ... said what appeared to be “a pattern of failure to report allegations of abuse and neglect” at Kurn Hattin made to DCF were “very concerning.”

Jocelyn Galvano-Pickett - Well, we can still PROSECUTE the last 10 years worth. Get to it, folks!

Keith Lincoln - DCF will as usual investigate themselves and no one will be held to account. Also the public wont be able to see the result in the name of privacy. DCF+Secrecy= A Very Bad Smell!

Nan Bigelow - Victims, you were precious innocent children. I am so sorry you could not even trust your ‘safe haven’. I am so sorry ❤️❤️❤️

Sheila Huestis - Totally inconceivable that this abuse could go on for so many years!! Where was the oversite!?

Carolyn Sweet - Here is Kurn Hattin's response, noting that the reporting is not accurate.

Sue O'Connor Nadeau - Read the statement from Kurn Hattin!!

Douglas Stewart Mason II - So DCF knew and Did NOTHING, actually continued to feed the Monster 👹..

Ruth Miller - Extremely painful to read, right up there with the Catholic orphanage in Burlington. Thank you for helping to begin the process of exposure, consequences, and hopefully...healing.

Sheila Turner - Hey VTDigger, I hope you post Kurn Hattin's rebuttal to this story, they deserve to be heard.

Deb Loring - Why?? “the Vermont State Police has received a number of complaints about Kurn Hattin over the years. ‘VSP has investigated those complaints as appropriate,’he wrote in an email. ‘In all of these instances, due to the ages of those involved, we are unable to provide any further information about the investigations or their outcomes.’ (Troopers at the Westminster barracks, about a mile from Kurn Hattin, refused to speak with a reporter.)”

Jessica Hier-Coleman - It's BS.

Nan Bigelow - I am devastated........It was very hard to read- I kept wanting to run away.........in my mind I kept running to your house. The-now adults-must be in such struggles. God help us ....what a traumatized group of kids. My parents called administration & tried to dump me in there......I can see why they would not want a junior in high school-I would know abuse was wrong & report them.

Dan Guertin - And this has been well known for decades. Think about that.

Betsy Haig Sylvester - This is another example of the ongoing failure of our systems that are set up and meant "to protect." We should suspect EVERY SINGLE ONE of these institutions! There IS abuse. The question is only: to what extent. The protective agencies should also always be in suspect. They are BROKEN! The systems meant to prevent and/or investigate and protect are totally incompetent. Whether it is protection in family units or these large entities, this is rampant. Whether it is children or elders! If we would protect our children, we would not have them grow to become violent and drugged adults! The system needs a complete overhaul. This has been ignored for decades, while children are abused and then are sent out into the world as damaged goods!

Valerie Hilliker - Nasty!

David Starr - And this place should have been shut down 😞

John Klar - Kurn Hattin is a private Vermont school at which sexual and physical abuse of students occurred repeatedly over many decades. Its leadership was also very eagerly involved with Vermont’s eugenics program. A key concern for Kurn Hattin survivors was accountability for the past, including the pivotal role Kurn Hattin and its leadership played in facilitating the widespread eugenics practices for which Vermont officially expresses remorse.

Mark Davis, Former Kurn Hattin Houseparent / Convicted Child Molester - In 1986 / 1987 I worked as a relief houseparent at Kurn Hattin. During this time I had occasion to molest 3, or 4 children there. The ones I remember were [REDACTED], [REDACTED] and [REDACTED], also [REDACTED]. What I would do is approach them when they were sleeping and touch their genital. I would fondle and stroke their penis. Sometimes my hand would be in their underwear directly on their penis. The other times I would do the touching through the pajamas and/or blanket. I would put my hand directly on their penis, I then moved off [the Kurn Hattin] campus and stopped molesting. This lasted about 1-1/2 to 2 years. About 2 years ago 10-28-87, I got married to Nancy in Maine. We worked at the Goodwill Hinckley School in Hinckley, Maine. Although I was attracted to a number of young men I did not abuse any of them, the main reason for not abusing was the lack of availability. We then returned to the Kurn Hattin School in July of 1988. After about two months I started abusing again. It started with [REDACTED] and involved my going into his room almost every night and touching his genital as described before. It then developed into my abusing the other kids at Morrison Cottage and where ever I happened to be working. The total numbers of my victims depended on their availability, position of the child (if they were on their back) and safety for my not getting caught.

Mother of Victim - Our family will never forget what Mark Davis has done to my son. Kurn Hattin is a residential school for children of families in crisis, and Davis has victimized children who were already in an extremely difficult situation and made it worse.

Anne Galloway, Editor VTDigger - "The latest alleged abuse incident was in 2019 involving a 10-year-old girl in Department for Children and Families custody who was allegedly sexually assaulted by a peer with a toothbrush in the showers at Kurn Hattin, which were unsupervised, according to her mother, [REDACTED] [REDACTED]. Two other girls were also victimized for more than a year. The perpetrator told the other girls she would kill them if they told their caregiver. The girls were afraid to shower or talk about the incidents until the perpetrator left. "The case was investigated by the Vermont State Police, according to Vermont Department of Public Safety spokesperson Adam Silverman, and the perpetrator and the two girls were removed by the Department for Children and Families. [REDACTED], the mother of the girl, reached out to Kurn Hattin and asked for her belongings, including all of her clothing, pictures, letters and holiday gifts from her family, and a stuffed animal she was fond of. Administrators did not respond to the request, nor did they offer any assistance to the family. "I live on Social Security and had to buy her new clothes," [REDACTED] said. "She had nothing."Freaked out by the trauma, her daughter, now 12, has threatened to commit suicide and [REDACTED] has rushed her to the ER more than once. "I've spent so many sleepless nights crying, afraid to wake up to find my child dead," she said. "[REDACTED] is outraged that the administration didn't protect her daughter or express any remorse for the assaults. The houseparent remains at Kurn Hattin. "Steve Harrison, who has served as executive director of Kurn Hattin since 2015, would not comment on the history of alleged abuses at the school in a statement placed on the front page website in July. He wrote that a query from the Brattleboro Reformer about the case "was the first time we had heard specifics about allegations from these years, and we were given no time to respond." "As for allegations from 2019, he said "We followed all of the policies of DCF. That would be the extent of my comment."

John Walters - This, after Kurn Hattin had voluntarily relinquished its state license to operate a residential treatment program. That relinquishment was kind of an “I quit before you can fire me” thing, since a Department of Children and Families review of the residential program reported that “Staff are saying that they cannot adequately meet the needs of students, [and] children are saying they do not feel safe. ”In spite of the VTDigger story and the DCF conclusions, AND in spite of its own investigators citing Kurn Hattin’s failure “‘to implement safeguards’ to ensure employees had completed the necessary background checks and to ‘adequately train and supervise employees on their duties as mandatory reporters.'” But fear not, kids! The “increased scrutiny motivated” Kurn Hattin to improve its procedures. It wasn’t the decades of abuse. It wasn’t relinquishing its DCF license before it could be pulled. It was the fact that Digger uncovered its shameful past. Gives you loads of confidence, doesn’t it? It also has to make you question the adequacy of AOE’s oversight of independent schools, which are not subject to the same standards as public schools.

Jeff Danziger - Sixty instances of sexual aggression in 80 years is not, I repeat not, a pattern of abuse. …. The Vermont bureaucracy disappears from responsibility and not surprisingly, moves to save itself. And no one, with the power to really help the poor, sad children, who barely comprehend this mess, takes any risk, or makes any effort. Stay tuned. It will probably get worse.

Linda Johnson, PCAVT - Dear Fellow Vermonters, A few weeks ago, we learned the truth about the child abuse that took place at Kurn Hattin, over the past 80 years. One might ask: Why didn’t those children tell someone who might have been able to help them? The report … answered that question plainly as described by the victims, now adults. They feared losing what little security they had… the security of food and a place to sleep. How vulnerable were these children? Like most victims of child abuse, telling is simply not an option. They are developmentally trapped. Due to being young, threatened, dependent on their offender, afraid they would not be believed, and afraid of being stigmatized and/or blamed, they simply are not able to tell.

Alleged Victim - After getting out of the shower and in my underwear, brushing my teeth, [REDACTED] came in and pulled down my underwear and put his penis in my butt. It hurt. I yelled and jumped, and ran into my room. I did yell No and tried to make a noise, so someone could see him doing something. How hasn’t someone noticed?

Alleged Victim - [REDACTED] came inside my mouth and said swallow it, but I didn’t and spit it out. It was warm and gross and salty but plain.

Safe Home - Nearly 61,000 children were victims of sexual abuse in 2019, which equates to a rate of 83 per 100,000 children in the U.S. Vermont has the highest population-adjusted rate of sexual abuse of children, while Arkansas is second, and Utah third. Our last analysis also found these three states having the highest rates. https://www.safehome.org/data/registered-sex-offender-stats/

Vermont Senate Testimony - "I went there a troubled kid and came out broken." “I could hardly breathe,” “I was in a panic.” “There was no safe place. There was no place where I could be OK. Nobody ever protected me...They all got away with it for so many years. They all knew… There isn’t a piece of me that doesn’t believe that.” “We can’t prevent what happened to the rest of us, but we can make sure going forward nothing happens to them." "The cycle of abuse must be broken, but before that can happen Kurn Hattin needs to acknowledge its role in it and stop denying it.”

Nancy Richardson, Fmr. Director of Residential Services, Kurn Hattin Homes for Children - "To those who ask, I simply say my job is certainly not a typical 9-5 position, but rather a calling and a firm commitment to honoring childhood and giving children and their families a solid chance for happiness and success."

The decades of horrific abuse that children were subjected to at Kurn Hattin Homes for Children is truly tragic and heartbreaking. The abuse is well documented through the testimony of survivors and, in more recent years, in the records of Department of Children and Families, and the Vermont State Police Department. One doesn’t have to be an expert in betrayal trauma or the effects of child abuse to understand the long-term devastation that impacts the lives of these children into adulthood and beyond. To make matters worse, the severe physical, sexual and emotional abuse was never stopped, corrected or even addressed by Kurn Hattin, leaving victims feeling helpless and hopeless, with some falling into substance abuse in efforts to numb the pain.

It is clear that Kurn Hattin’s inadequate protections and purposeful ignorance to the dangerous and illegal conduct permeating the institution, allowed children to be abused for decades. Kurn Hattin’s role in the abuse must be investigated and questioned at length. Review of the records from Vermont DCF and Vermont State Police begs the question: how this could go on for so long? How DCF could repeatedly grant “conditional” licensing approvals while KH remained non-compliant for years, without suspending or rescinding Kurn Hattin’s license to act as an independent school? Why didn‘t VSP fully investigate the reports of abuse brought to its attention? How was the State Board of Education or Agency of Education allowed to play hot potato with an investigation, causing months of delay, all the while children were, and still are, left without protection from abuse? The Senate Committees, the abuse survivors and the public are entitled to answers to these types of questions.

Kurn Hattin held itself out to be a safe place of reprieve for children. Unfortunately for many over the past several decades, it became their nightmare. As Vermonters well know, Kurn Hattin is just but one example of a group home that failed the most vulnerable in our society. If abuse and neglect were not passed down from generation to generation in places like Kurn Hattin, we simply would not have the epidemic of childhood abuse, neglect and suffering that the alumni of Kurn Hattin experience today. It’s time to ascertain who, in addition to Kurn Hattin, was responsible for the harm to these children, who were never safe or protected from harm as required not just by law but under our basic human morals.

The amount of suffering that many children endured at Kurn Hattin, and the long-lasting effects, are significant, severe and life altering. For many of them, it is hard to imagine that Kurn Hattin can ever be reformed in a way that will ensure that children will be safe and protected from harm, or that any of the agencies set forth to protect them will, in fact, fulfill their responsibilities.

Kurn Hattin’s stated mission is to “transform the lives of children and their families forever.” If it is ever to meaningfully complete this goal in a positive and genuine manner, there must be an in depth investigation of Kurn Hattin and the state agencies who failed hundreds of children over the decades. It must involve major reformative and corrective action of the school and restorative justice to promote healing of the survivors of Kurn Hattin abuse.

Even now, KH continues to impede investigators and obfuscate the full nature of what it knew about sexual abuse throughout the decades. For example, former-KH house parent, Mark Davis was arrested for child pornography charges in New Hampshire. Lieutenant Todd Faulkner of Cheshire County, New Hampshire Sheriff's Office is attempting to identify child victims in photos from Davis’ personal computer. KH refused to let Lt. Faulkner access its yearbook collection to help identify potential victims Davis may have taken photos of while he was a house parent in the 1980s and 1990s. Instead, Lt. Faulkner had to obtain a court order for KH to produce the yearbooks, and even then, the school’s production was limited

How many times have you heard the news media refer to an adult survivor of child abuse as an instigator? We demonize them and turn the very people who need our help the most into monsters. But in reality, the real monsters are the perpetrating institutions, the silent witnesses and victim-blamers. But most of all, it’s the people who actively choose to not look further into a victim’s story, sadly like our own peers and the silently complicit citizens of a state, who ironically, comprise the majority of the perpetrators and culpable bystanders.

Bill Gorsky - The physical abuse at Kurn Hattin that we had to endure was a cruel punishment. We at Kurn Hattin were not the A+ students. We were not the best-behaved kids. In fact, many of us were the throwaways; the screw-ups of society. Kurn Hattin was supposed to be a safe place for us to live, learn, and grow

Ray Upton - I have been aware for many years that Kurn Hattin has affected my life in bad ways. I have always just shrugged it off and said to myself - well I am strong and manly, I will handle it and just move on with my life and focus on my business and work. Simply put, and in summary during the four years I was at Kurn Hattin I basically personally experienced with other boys, men and women - forced oral sex, I was a forced naked punching bag with my hands tied, multiple very hard face slappings, naked spankings with my hands tied, naked whipping while tied to trees, forced exhibition showers, forced naked gym activities, and invasive medical examinations. After some of the abuse I was threatened with extreme beatings and being sent to boy prison if I told anyone. I also personally observed other boys being physically and emotionally abused. The house parents would also keep changing the rules so boys never knew what was right or wrong. They would tell boys one thing then say, I never told you that, so now a boy had to sit or stand in the corner again even more times. Later in life I learned that in prisons to control the inmates the guards intentionally change the rules, even daily. They say things like I told you to do that, even when they have not said that. It is used as a control method. But Kurn Hattin was not a boy prison. The boys were orphans, came from broken homes or just had learning disabilities like myself. When I was at Kurn Hattin most if not all of us were pretty good kids and for the most part, got along kind of well. The out of control discipline did not seem right. I always thought that I was the only one that had dark secrets of physical and sexual abuse at Kurn Hattin. It turns out that I am one of many-many others in the state of Vermont.

Carolyn Blake - On the first day of my arrival to Kurn Hattin, Mrs. Ford said, “not another Blake kid!” and “oh you’re Caroline Blake…I want you to find the brush and dustpan and sweep the stairs.” At that point another little girl came down the stairs, and I asked her where I could find them because I didn’t know where anything was kept. Mrs. Ford came back in and slapped me so hard across the face that I saw stars. She yelled “I TOLD YOU TO FIND THEM!” I was shocked and started to scream at which point the 250 pound cook, Mrs. Ward, came out and taped my mouth shut with adhesive duct tape. I was crying so much that I couldn’t breathe and I was terrified. My face burning where I had slapped and when the cook finally ripped off the adhesive tape, it hurt so much. That was my first few moments at Kurn Hattin, it was a preview of the abuse that was to come over the next several years.

Carolyn Blake - I could hardly breathe, I was in a panic. That was my introduction to Kurn Hattin. It was very, very scary. They just worked you to the bone, I was like a slave there. He [asst. director, John Watson] was married to the director’s daughter. No one would question what he did. He did what he wanted.

Sally Smith - I was put there to be removed from a sexual abuse situation and then it never stopped. Sex was just life, that’s what I was taught. There was no safe place. There was no place where I could be OK. Nobody ever protected me. When we went to the Red Sox game, he made you give him a blow job on the bus. The assaults are all “one big old blob. It never stopped for me that’s all that was ever taught to me. I thought sex was normal — I was f—ed at 2 years old. They all got away with it for so many years. They all knew. There isn’t a piece of me that doesn’t believe that. Why would they give you a diaphragm halfway through the school year? They knew. It’s gotta stop. It took me to my mid-30s to learn that making love was just that. That I wasn’t just a F—k Machine. I’m struggling hard. It’s like it’s yesterday. Since July, I have constant nightmares. Things are coming into my head, little things that trigger the next thought. Your childhood is what you spend the rest of your life getting over. I don’t remember toys. I don’t remember playing. I can’t conjure that at all. I remember sitting in a ball and crying. My depression is lifelong.

Ray Upton - Lou Capo, I just deleted all my posts from the page. It would be nice to get this entire page back to just postings of good memories and photos. I have a suggestion about how to maintain your original intention about what this group is about. If I recall it is about posting photos and sharing the good KH memories of your own personal years at KH. Well Lou you created a great page that all of us KH alumni would like to be a part of here - if that is ok. We all love you for creating it and thank you, Lou. So maybe you could lock a post of your own at the top of the page that states: This alumni of Kurn Hattin Homes Facebook page is only for posting your photos, your good memories of people, and the good times you had at Kurn Hattin. Any and all posts outside of that original intention will be removed. Thank you. Again Lou, thank you for creating and maintaining this page and I agree with your original intention for this page. Photos and good memories.

Bill Gorsky - Lou Capo, the title of the group is alumni of kurn hatten homes. If you are going to kick alumni, I would simply change the name if I was you. It is quite unfortunate that One Bad Apple can ruin the whole bunch. I would just suggest we try to love him through the pain he's going through. As I said in this group months ago there's a time and a place for airing dirty laundry and this may not be the place. Lou, thank you for hosting this site this board this chat room so that those of us who do love kh and to look forward to talking with our brothers and sisters.

Ray Upton - Lou Capo, Also after I had that bad back and forth posting with the current Kurn Hattin Board President Mark Bodin, I deleted all my own posts and replies and you also posted this: I have removed all Kurn Hattin home staff from administrative roles in this group. I recently came to the realization that I started this group for alumni separate from the inner workings of the school.

Ray Upton - With affection, I have always thought of KH as my only real home when I was growing up. And throughout the past 60 years even with my secrets, I have also had lots of good memories and good dreams about my four years at Kurn Hattin. For the majority of about 70% of alumni that never experienced any form of abuse and never knew that any of it was going on, that is great, it all went well for you. That is good and the way it was meant to be. But for some of us, this hurts in a very bad way beyond description. All of the information I have read is available online. The Kurn Hattin Legacy Survivors website has provided the most detailed information.

Adam Pearson - I just read all the articles in this link. It’s sounds NOTHING like what I experienced. I don’t know who Carter is, but Jesus. That sounds horrifying. It’s like I’m reading the script of a horror movie. Something just doesn’t add up. I’m not saying that about Carter or anybody else who has come forward. Believe me, the last thing I would do is question the validity considering I got rolled up into this back when I was there. But I just can’t get past the motivations of VTdigger, and other media and authorities. It all comes across as some Machiavellian glazed hit piece.

Marcela Cardona Williamson - Today I was telling my youngest child why I don’t sleep with pillow but always have it on my bed and keep things in my pillowcase like my phone, a mini baseball bat and little trinkets. I explained that when I was in boarding school I couldn’t speak English and they treated me poorly. The pillow case was my only personal space and I would keep weapons there to defend myself in the night. I explained the staff would grab me and shake me. I explained that this girl in Cone cottage even though she was in 3rd grade would beat me, wake me in the middle of the night and molest me and make me stand in her room for hours. She made me drink capfuls of nail polish remover (I’m convinced my liver disease is from this) if she was unhappy with the massages she made me give her. Even though I told my mother, they said I was lying and they would tell me I was a liar because I would never be more than breeding stock. In 7th grade my best friends ear drum exploded and she was screaming, they took her away and never told us what happened to Deborah. I thought she died but as an adult I convinced myself she was released. There was a counselor named Claire. I hope she cries herself to sleep every night for what she did. She made it so no one believed me. Your website is proof I wasn’t lying. Kurn Hattin is directly responsible for my Complex-PTSD and I hope it burns down. That place was a nightmare and I hope they close it down. After I spoke to my youngest I wondered if anyone had come forward and I realized the state conducted an investigation and found this website. This is the first time I have spoken or written Kurn Hattin since I escaped that place in the 80s. Thank you for your work to give us justice. I hope you never set foot on that disgusting campus.

Bob Stafford Vermont Agency of Education Investigator - "At this point I am not inclined to interview anyone unless they have information about KH from 2015 to 2021."

Vermont Senator Phil Baruth “What we are doing today is the least we could do.”

Carolyn Wesley, Chief Of Staff Vermont Senate President Pro Tempore - February 24, 2021 - Good morning. My name is Carolyn Wesley. I'm calling on behalf of the Vermont Senate President Pro Tem, Becca Balint. We want you to know that we heard the concerns you were sharing with the number of Senators this week about your experience at Kurn Hattin, and as a result of those calls is many senators have followed up with the secretary of education and we're starting a conversation on sort of what additional oversight of the process might look like and certainly would welcome any additional feedback or a specific ask. You know, we recognize that there are court cases ongoing. This is a very sensitive issue, but certainly heard a lot of pain in your outreach and want to be thoughtful about what the response from the senate might look like. My name is Carolyn Wesley. If you'd like to call back and have a conversation. My number is 802-828-3806, and I would be happy to talk with you more about what possible action in the Senate might look like if you don't wish to talk further, we understand that just want to let you know that your request was heard and senators are certainly discussing possible follow-up. Thank you so much, bye-bye.

Vermont Senator Kesha Ram - February 23, 2021 - Hi, this is Senator Kesha Ram. I really appreciate your message. And it sounds like there was also a lot of pain behind it all, and I can appreciate that too. I do actually have legislation in the Senate right now to provide much more effective representation to children particularly in cases where parental rights might be terminated and I share a lot of your concerns that our system separating children from families or supposedly giving kids a better situation often results in greater trauma and more suffering. We've been through a lot of listening sessions with kids from Saint Joseph's and it's been noted several times that this is not a lot different than what's currently happening in Kurn Hattin. So I am trying to work on that but you're right, those things are how to keep kids away from the place not how to keep it from existing so that it can't harm more kids. So would be happy to hear more of your thoughts and really do appreciate you reaching out in though. It sounds like it must be really hard to do not knowing if change will happen in any Swift way, but thanks again for calling me. I'm at 802-881-4433.

Becca Balint Vermont Senate President Pro Tempore, Senator Windham District - Thank you for sending this along to me. This is deeply troubling to me and to my colleagues. It's not too late for the victims to get justice. Coincidentally, my first meeting of the day today at 8:15 am was with the committee chairs of Senate Judiciary, Senate Health and Welfare, and Senate Education. We will be holding hearings related to Kurn Hattin when we return after our town meeting break. It is clear that we have not been briefed enough by the agencies and departments who have jurisdiction over these matters. We have been waiting on a review from the Agency of Education that we were told was due in a matter of weeks, but it's clear that we need more information now. Unfortunately, we go into legislative recess this afternoon until Tuesday the 8th. But we are planning to hold hearings the week we return. I've cc'd the chairs on this email. The four of us will be meeting next week to map out the details of the hearings. Again, thank you for this information. We intend to get answers and do all we can to hold the perpetrators responsible. I wanted you to know, also, that I was molested as a young child by an older neighbor. I know I struggled with deep shame and anger for years, so I have a little bit of insight into the horrible experience of child abuse. But when the perpetrator is a trusted educator, that is an entirely different level of pain and betrayal. I am so very sorry. And yes, you are absolutely right – we can't have any healing or justice without honest conversations about these terribly dark issues.

Anne Galloway, Editor VTDigger - After interviews with Senators Alice Nitka, Dick Sears, Kesha Ram and Dick McCormack, I finally reached Brian Campion and got more definitive answers. Brian, who is chair of the committee, will focus on the status of the AOE investigation and what the agency knew when and why nothing was done sooner. In addition, he wants to know why the issue was bounced back and forth between the agency and SBE. He was interested in the DCF docs, so I sent them along and told him it's perplexing that AOE has allowed KH to continue to operate after DCF revoked the facility's treatment license. Senator Kesha Ram is sponsoring a bill with Chris Pearson that would eliminate the statute of limitation on physical abuse of children. Also, she has contacted the U.S. Attorney's office to see if they are investigating. Every senator I spoke with mentioned your phone calls, which got their attention and spurred the hearings. I have an interview with Becca Balint tomorrow. My plan is to watch the hearing Wednesday and possibly write a story then. Otherwise, I'll keep reporting and look to write a preview of the joint hearings on Sunday. Kim [Dougherty, Esq.] told me that Bob Stafford's Agency of Education investigation will come out in April and will be made public. McNeil, Leddy and Sheahan’s Kurn Hattin probe is going very slowly. It, too, will be made public as you well know. If I can expose the AOE lies, that will give the senators the ammo they need for next week. The effort might fail, but it's worth a shot. Let's stay focused on a damning story about how the state has continued to let KH continue to operate, knowing that abuse has been ongoing for decades. While it's clear that you made the Senate hearing a reality, my understanding is that Kim was asked by the senators to participate.

Kurn Hattin Survivor's Advocate - "You made her day. She has .30 cents in her account until Thursday. She said to "thank the kind man so much and tell him I'm sorry for what he went through." She was so grateful. You continue to make a huge difference in people's lives in many ways and should feel good about that and proud. Thank you."

Abby Bliss, Windham County Safe Place Child Advocacy Center - I can only hope that some good will come out of this in some way. As an advocate for survivors, I feel my capacity to make real change is limited. The thing that keeps me going in despite what I view as a mostly broken system, is that somehow, someway I am able to make an impact on those who are able or willing to receive my support. Sometimes I fail, but sometimes the feedback I get makes me feel like what I am doing is valuable and worthy. My job consists of a lot of baby steps, but taking on the entire state of Vermont is a HUGE undertaking, and one I deeply admire you for. However, I am absolutely sure that you have made a million smaller and deeply personal impacts on a lot of people, and if nothing else, I hope that stays with you and warms you when this big cold ugly world tries to wriggle its way in. You, my friend, are a doer, not a sayer, and I admire you for that as well.

Carter - I want the world to know the truth and the details of what happened. It’s not my fault. It’s not the other survivors’ fault, it’s Kurn Hattin’s fault. They nurtured the abuse, whether they realized it or not. We boys were miles from home and could communicate with their families only by letter. And even that private communication was subject to the houseparents’ purview. Every letter was read by the houseparent. I can’t tell you how stressful that was. We had to stand facing the wall in front of a large empty cork board that had ironically a white sign with large bold black print that said simply ‘THINK.’ The Dickey Cottage houseparent would then pull up a table and chair behind us and force us to perform deep knee bends for hours while standing in a pool of our own piss, often with our pants around our ankles. When we went swimming in nearby Mill Creek or the indoor swimming pool at the girls school in Saxtons River, we were not allowed to wear shorts. We were expected to 'skinny-dip' while the adults watched. The girls would voyeuristically watch us from the windows. Our genitals were available for any other boy to fondle, molest or whatever in that context he felt appropriate at the time. All of that stuff was normal to me. That’s all that I knew. It was everyday behavior there. It was normal there. With the recent changes and social awareness, what is Kurn Hattin doing to address its own abuses in the past? Just because the residents at the Westminster campus were male and many are now deceased, it does not relieve the entity that is Kurn Hattin of its responsibility. Willful blindness solves nothing and serves only to reinforce your complicity in life. Kurn Hattin has directly created the situation they are in now because of their lack of action and defensive posture of denial in the past.