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| Phoenix Teen Dies at 'Boot Camp' |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 07/04/2001 |
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Police are investigating the death of a 14-year-old boy and allegations he was abused at the youth disciplinary camp where he died. Anthony Haynes died Sunday at the America's Buffalo Soldiers Re-enactors Association camp near Buckeye, west of Phoenix. He had been in a 5-week program for about a week. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said he was treating the death as suspicious and awaiting autopsy results to determine the cause. Authorities removed about 50 children from the camp and returned them to their parents. "There have been some serious allegations of abuse at that boot camp,'' Arpaio said. The organization which runs the camp did not return a message seeking comment Monday. While Arpaio described the allegations of abuse as horrific, he offered few details. He did say detectives had learned the children slept outdoors in sleeping bags on concrete slabs, and that they had been under the supervision of 17- and 18-year-old staff members since at least Wednesday. No medical personnel were at the camp, Arpaio said. Former drill instructors, who were not named, told The Arizona Republic the youths were kicked with the insoles of boots and forced to swallow mud. Melanie Hudson said the camp director told her that her son had eaten dirt and refused to drink water. She told KPNX television Anthony was a shoplifter with anger problems, and the she enrolled him in the program full time after he slashed her tires. The regimen included forced marches, in-your-face discipline and a daily diet limited to an apple, a carrot and a bowl of beans. "Our camp is a rough camp but we endure it,'' camp director Charles Long told KSAZ television. "When the facts come out about what happened, it's not the components of this program that's the problem.'' |
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