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Friday, November 28, 1997

Abuse charges mar image of nationally known military school

By PAULINE ARRILLAGA / Associated Press Writer

HARLINGEN, Texas (AP) -- Recruitment materials describe the Marine Military Academy as a prep school grounded in tradition, one that teaches students to study and grow by instilling confidence, pride and trust.

But a new image has emerged of the 32-year-old academy, that of a school where young boys have been terrorized by their peers, suffering physical and sexual abuse by students who routinely go unpunished.

The critics describe a school where illegal drugs, alcohol and tobacco are commonplace and administrators open the door to delinquents to bolster their budget.

Their allegations are included in affidavits, sworn statements and letters, provided to The Associated Press, that are part of a class-action lawsuit filed against the academy last week by the parents of 11 former cadets.

The lawsuit is the latest blow to the academy, which schools 450 students in grades eight through 12 from 29 states and several countries.

Last month, two cadets were charged with attempted murder for allegedly slashing the throat of a classmate as he slept in his barracks.

Still reeling from that incident, academy officials now find themselves defending their institution as a place where discipline -- not discord -- rules.

"This school stands for the basic core values of honesty, integrity and becoming the best you can be," said Barry Zale, an academy graduate and school trustee whose son is a sophomore cadet.

He insists the parents' allegations are "totally without merit."

"You cannot have a school of 500 boys in it without having problems," said Zale, a Dallas businessman. "Does hazing go on? I'm sure it does to some degree. Do we condone it? No. Is it bad to a point where people are getting hurt? Absolutely not."

In the lawsuit, the parents accuse the academy of committing fraud and breach of contract by providing inadequate supervision that led to the physical and sexual abuse of their children.

The plaintiffs, 10 Texas parents and a New Jersey family who are not identified, seek unspecified damages and reimbursement of the $16,000-a-year tuition.

While the lawsuit contains no specific allegations of abuse, materials provided to the AP by the parents' lawyers portray an institution where children lived in fear.

The materials include a sworn statement from an unidentified former drill instructor, who said he knew "beatings, inappropriate sexual behavior, drug usage and inappropriate hazing occurred" at the academy.

"I believe that there is a lack of supervision and this is directly related to the problems between the boys," stated the instructor, who said he often was in charge of up to 81 children.

He said although some boys were dismissed for inappropriate behavior, others were simply suspended. "This way the school gets to keep the tuition," he stated.

"It is actually easier working my current job, at a prison, because at least I know what kind of people I am working with," the former instructor stated. "That was not the case at Marine Military Academy."

In one affidavit, a 16-year-old Dallas County boy described a reign of terror inflicted on him by his classmates that included two sexual assaults, being stabbed with a pair of scissors and being choked until he passed out.

The boy, who attended the academy in 1995, said he was sitting at his desk in his dorm room one day when a cadet came up behind him, "threw me on the floor and wrestled me, trying to put his penis in my mouth."

The boy said a similar incident occurred three days later. He said he reported all but the stabbing to his drill instructor and the assistant commandant of cadets. The boy said he also reported the assaults to the Harlingen police.

In another affidavit, a 17-year-old Dallas County resident, who attended the academy from September 1994 through May 1995, said he once was speaking on the telephone to his mother when a cadet pulled down his shorts and "ejaculated semen into my ear." He said the incident was reported to his drill instructor.

A 20-year-old Dallas County man, who attended the school in 1994-95, said he once got into a fight with another cadet who hit him up to 30 times on each side of his head, rupturing his eardrums. The man said he did not see a doctor until two days later.

In a separate statement, the man's mother said academy officials failed to inform her of the beating and that after she learned of it, tried to discourage her from coming to see her son.

She said the fight "was not of major concern to me, but to find out how severely he had been beaten and that there was apparently no adult authority available over a 48-hour period to discover his injuries made me madder than hell."

The plaintiffs contend the alleged abuse occurs because the academy accepts juvenile delinquents to boost enrollment and revenue.

However, academy officials said school policy prohibits the admission of students with criminal records.

"We do know that parents lie sometimes and occasionally a kid who has had past trouble has been admitted. But the school definitely does not want problem kids," said William Gary, a retired Marine who founded the academy and serves as executive vice chairman of the board of trustees.

But one parent said he withdrew his son for that very reason.

"The school was heading in the wrong direction by admitting bad young men," said Dan Alfaro, a Corpus Christi attorney who withdrew his son after the alleged throat-slashing. "A lot of kids are selling amphetamines, cocaine. I was quite naive."

Academy President Harold Glasgow said security had been tightened on campus in recent weeks, with locks and alarms being installed in the dormitories.

"We'll do anything we can to restore faith in everybody and go on with a program that's been pretty successful," he said.

In the meantime, many parents said they will stand behind the school and its ideals.

"Military school is not for everyone, and it's unfortunate the few it did not work for are playing it out in the press," said Leslie Pritchard of Dallas, whose 16-year-old son has attended the academy since September.

Ms. Pritchard said the school had improved her son's poor study habits and "turned his life around."

"They have given him the structure, the discipline, the motivation. It's really a great thing."