National Youth Rights Association

Quote:
"Learning self-control, through a study of the bible. Helping them learn inner control. Since 1978, Bethel Baptist Boys and Girls Academy has been helping young people regain their lives through our LORD Jesus Christ. Set in the rustic atmosphere of southeastern Mississippi, children gain help without the negative influences so common is today's society. "

This is the description of Bethel Boys Home and Bethel Girls Home in Lucedale, Mississippi.
What people are questioning now is whether the rustic setting acts as a calming influence in children's lives, or is it a way to cover up the truth of what Reverend Herman Fountain and his son John are accused of doing to the many children who have come to them throughout the school's years of existence. Horrific accusations have surfaced from both boys and girls who resided in these homes. Included in the accusations are instances such as being forced to eat vomit, electrocution, denial of medical care, and whippings that left not only bruises, but scars for life. Many people are wondering how and why these homes are still in operation.
The latest story stems from a parent whose son was at Bethel for a mere three and a half days. Cheryl Struble is a mother who enrolled her 15 year old son into Bethel in hopes of helping him get "back on the right track". A lifelong Christian and loving mother, she was excited at the prospect of helping her son, and he also admitted that he was glad to be going somewhere that could help him. Bethel Baptist not only came highly recommended by a Teen Counsel group in her area, Cheryl had lengthy conversations with the co-founder and his son and felt assured that this was the best option for her family. As her husband made the half-day trip into Mississippi to drop off their son, Cheryl began surfing the net on a mission to find out every detail of Bethel Boys Home, feeling that by doing so she would feel closer to him in his absence. Cheryl found more than she bargained for. Not only were there an abundance of horror stories from previous students of Bethel Baptist, there was also the news that Herman Fountain had been imprisoned for striking an officer, apparently in an attempt to stop him from performing part of an investigation into the boys home. Cheryl called her husband, who was then en route back home after having dropped off the boy. He let her know that he had been very impresssed with the home, the students, and with the Fountains, so they decided that the past must be the past and everything would be ok. However, Cheryl couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. She made phone calls to Mississippi offices questioning whether the school was safe, and over the next two days was told by almost every agency called to "go get your son out of there". This time Cheryl and her husband made the trip to Mississippi together.
Once at the home, they watched as their son walked up to the truck. Here is what Cheryl had to say:
"He came walking up with a black eye, numerous cuts on his head. He had bruises, kidney punch bruises, and he'd been hit so hard in the side you could see the knuckle marks".
Her son reported that his first beating had taken place just ten minutes after his father had left the school.
The son had managed to sneak three telephone numbers of other children out of the boys home. Cheryl called all of those families, and immediately the parents came to pick up their children. From a hotel room they called the attorney general's office. A criminal investigator was sent to take reports from the four boys. Bethel was paid a suprise visit and thirteen additional children were removed.
This was not an isolated complaint of abuse. Christina Owen, now a 34 yr. old women, spent 3 years at Bethel as a teen. Christina states that for her, the first beating also came almost the moment she arrived, and was administered by Herman Fountain and in the presence of another student. "He used his hands. He backhanded me so hard in the face I flew out of my chair on to the floor. No one helped him, he told me to get up and I didn't fast enough for him I guess, cause he just about ripped my hair out of my head lifting me off the floor. I got there in the middle of the night sometime and the next morning for breakfast we had rice with sugar. It was the worst and I refused to eat at this time David Owens who was over the girls dorm snatched me again by my hair out of my chair and flung me around by my hair like a rag doll telling me I was ungrateful and I was going to eat every bite of that and if I puked I would eat that too."
Following are quotes taken from others who feel they've been terrorized and scarred for life by abuse endured at Herman Fountain's facilities.

"One time I was being accused of "lying" about being on my monthly cycle… they said I was being "prissy"…… and I was made to go "prove" that I was actually indeed having a cycle. I cannot begin to say how humiliating that was for me to have to pull my underwear down and "prove" that I was having a monthly cycle. " –Lisa

"No sooner than my father drove away from the drive at Bethel the owner there, Herman Fountain, proceeded to scream relentlessly at me, telling me I was worthless and a whore and many other things as you can imagine that would go along with this type of name calling. Herman Fountain allowed me to speak, but only to silence me with a backhanded blow to the face." –Ty

"Some of the girls here would be beat with switches till they bled from their bottoms. I am very sure some still have scars to this day. Just like the slaves in that time frame were beaten, Bethel has done the same, treated children the same, and in most cases worse than slaves." –Chris

Despite the allegations, Bethel Baptist remains open. The courts have crafted an agreement requiring Reverend Herman to relinquish all interest and control in the academy, although he retains his position as pastor at the church. A consent decree with Bethel states "The Defendants shall remove any and all electric fences from the areas surrounding the property of the Defendants upon which Bethel Boys Academy is located. The Defendants shall be prohibited from the further use of electric fences and/or other electrical devices in or around the premises of Bethel Boys Academy. The Defendants shall be further prohibited from the use of any electrical devices of any type whatsoever in the discipline of any children residing at Bethel Boys Academy."

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Cheryle – "My Son Was ABUSED & TORTURED at Bethel Baptist Academy, Lucedale, MS.

If i was ever put in one of those places i would beat the living shit right out of the pastor. Then I'd take his lifeless body and drag him by a truck through the nearest town. But then again If i went there id kick whoever sent me theres ass first.

if someone ever did that to me i'd chain him to a chair and cut out his eyes, ears and tongue, hook him to a feeding tube and let him pray in eternal darkness until he goes mad with suffering

Remember that a cult is any religious group and that the government can define you how they want. The word cult has no meaning anymore.

This is one of the reasons NYRA exists. The entire system of having people with virtually no rights from 0-18 is insane. It not only creates an entire class of people who can be victimized at any time with almost no recourse but also creates an entire beauracracy that is intended to be the voice for those who are not allowed to speak for themselves. But when social workers and child protective services are staffed at maybe one worker for 2 or 3 hundred kids and most kids who are abused in these places never even got in enough trouble to even be a file on some social workers desk.

If I were sent to one of these places I would have been more than willing to kill to escape. Especially in a foriegn program. A pencil through an eye or throat of any staff member who is unfortunate enough to be convenient. I don't care if they are the nicest staff member in the place. They are the enemy and deserve to die.

I was in Bethel. I really like this thread. :-)

The DoD should commit a Special Ops unit to take out the heads of these organizations, especially the ones over seas. Thousands of Americans being held hostage, sneaky financial networks, radical teachings, beating and torturing… Sounds like terrorism to me.

When I was there, these were some of the things I witnessed and experienced at the hands of Herman Fountain:

Slapping in the face, punching in the head, beating with a stick until bleeding, girls being called "harlots", boys being called "sodomites", sleep deprivation, intense forced excercise as punishment (often just after eating), forced Bible memorization under threat of beating, being held against one's will, being denied water and bathroom breaks, etc. But, if you like that sort of thing…

I was forced to help build a couple of the buildings that are still being used by the Fountains to make money with today. And I lost an entire school year.

Herman Fountain still runs the girls home and the boys home, but maybe he's changed. I guess we should all just forgive him, right?