Former Spring Ridge Academy students speak out

Описание: Back in June, a jury awarded the mother of a former student of Spring Ridge Academy $2,500,000, determining that the institution defrauded consumers by misrepresenting the program’s practices.

Former residents spoke to FOX 10 about the experiences they called abusive and the wider scope of the industry for troubled teens.

In the quiet little town of Mayer, Arizona in Yavapai County where fewer than 2,000 people live, beyond locked gates, sit empty buildings and filed away are memories that still haunt Andi Tuchten.

"I’m right outside of the gates here," she says in a Facetime call with her dad.

"Gate of what?" says her father Max.

"Of Spring Ridge."

More than 20 years ago, Andi’s parents sent her there when she was a teen.

Now, Andi’s dad believes he was taken advantage of during desperate times, trying to make sure his kid stayed alive and out of jail.

"It was difficult," Max said of making the decision to send her there. "What was the right thing to do, knowing what you know today?"

When she was 15, Andi struggled with drugs and alcohol. She admits she rebelled against her parents, but never thought she would end up at Spring Ridge Academy.

"I wasn’t angry at them. I was more of like ‘what did I do? Why are you sending me away?’" she said.

"They searched me when I got here. I had to go into a room with staff and had to get down to my socks and make sure I wasn’t bringing anything in. I just kind of went along with it because I didn’t know what else to do. I was scared."

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