Bible Boot Camp – Behavioral Modification Therapy
I sat down on my couch last week, digging through my DVR like any normal Thursday night, when I happened across a program I remembered seeing mentioned on my Facebook wall, prompting me to set it up to record. The title — KIDNAPPED FOR CHRIST. Â
As Jon and I sat down to watch this Showtime documentary, I admit, in my head, I had already made a pre-judgment about what the film would entail. We see daily in our newsfeed or in the media stories about conversion therapy or “gay reparative treatmentâ€. But what I found was more horrible than I ever imagined.
The documentary follows several young troubled teens who have been sent to Escuela Caribe, (photo left) a Christian “school†in the Dominican Republic, specializing in “Culture Shock Therapy†and behavior modification programs.
One of the children the story follows is 17 year old David. He recounts how he was awakened one day by his parents and told that he was being sent to a school in a foreign country. With much protest, David was eventually “dragged to his parent’s car with a belt around his waist†and sent off to the Dominican Republic.
In the beginning of the documentary, the school allows a camera crew to follow the daily activities and interview the students; even some staff were interviewed. As more and more of the story unfolded, I sat there feeling anger growing inside of me thinking, this isn’t school, this is abuse. Child abuse!
These kids were being broken down by pastors and so called house fathers (older peers that help enforce punishment and oversee the dorms). The kids are encouraged by the house fathers:
“We have great opportunity once again to see what God is about in our life. Are you willing to submit to God’s will in your life? Persevere through these failures that sent you down here?†Â
One house father, Brian Wall, was captured in an interview discussing the QR – Quiet Room – which could be compared to a prison solitary confinement:
“I’m not going to say there was not any form of abuse, there’s no denying that whatsoeverâ€.
The kids’ daily routines consisted of, cooking, cleaning, manual labor and bible studies, with punishment for deviation. Routine inspections were also performed on their dorms, with what seemed like military or prison expectations. The beds were made in military fashion with special corners. If clothes weren’t properly hung, they were ripped out of the closet and thrown on the floor and then the owners were punished.
The students were subjected to a range of abuse including intense forced labor, physical beatings (called “swats”), and various forms of emotional abuse. Student progress was recorded on point sheets. The higher you scored the higher the level you attained and the less abuse you were subjected to. The house fathers would coerce the students by bribing them with the point sheets. Students had to ask permission for everything. “May I step in and eat?†was a question from Beth, one of the female students, at dinner time. When she didn’t get an answer, she just shrugged her shoulders and said, “Patience is a virtue, I guess!â€
I have to tell you, I as watched this play out on my television screen, my anger turned to sorrow. I literally had tears running down my face. I felt for these kids who had no choice in their own daily life. Granted some of these children were troubled and even stated that this place saved their life, but for David and many others, they were dumbfounded by why they were there. David (right) could only guess that his parents were angry with him after revealing to them he was gay:
“They sent me here to hide me. I don’t trust my parents for sending me here. So I don’t trust the program. I’m trying to find the trust because I want my parents back so bad.†David went on to say, “I feel like I’m going to lose my mind here, I feel like I’m going to crack.â€
The documentary team stated that the school didn’t allow them to film confrontations between the staff and students. They ended up setting up equipment in secret to capture some of these moments. The school only wanted “pretty†scenes. One of the students went on to say:
“If you knew what really went on, you would be sad. Maybe it is abuse, maybe it is training. I’m supposed to be leaving in August but things change, they can always change your parents’ minds, for money.†Â
With a yearly tuition of $72,000, Escuela Caribe has a higher tuition than the average tuition at Harvard University – $38,000 to $60,000 a year.Â
This so called therapy is doing more harm than good. Parents are deplorable for sending their children out of the country and out of the federal government’s reach to God’s Boot Camp! I have to say that I was very grateful for the parents I was given in this life!
In the film it was coming up on David’s eighteenth birthday and he was sure that he would be able to leave then:
“There has to be some king of law against holding you here past the age of eighteen. I know this is the Dominican Republic but this is a US establishment and I’m a US citizen. I should be free by my eighteenth birthday.â€
But no! David was told by the staff and the pastor at the school that he didn’t have rights in the Dominican Republic.
Soon after the film crew was kicked out!
David’s friend Angie, heard about the place through a note David sent through the documentary crew. She began getting a group together to go down and get David out on his eighteenth birthday. They tried to get Marc Ellis of the United States Consulate involved because David was an adult, but when they confronted Escuela Caribe with paperwork, they were told David wasn’t there and they were not able to see him. It became clear to Angie and the other would-be rescuers, that they were not going to gain access to David.Â
They returned to the United States empty handed.
Seven weeks later, a U.S. Judge ordered a writ of habeas corpus requiring David to be set free. Upon his release David was scared into not talking to anyone. Escuela Caribe threatened to sue the documentary team. At first, for fear of getting anyone in trouble, David complied and wouldn’t speak about his ordeal to Angie or the documentary team. But shortly thereafter, David reached out and explained that the staff had warned him that if he went further with the interviews, he would destroy any chance of having a relationship with his parents.
David met in Colorado with the crew and wanted his story told.
Towards the end of the film, the crew caught up with some of the children who had been released from Escuela Caribe earlier and were now living their lives.
“The Quiet Room was the worst thing down there.†– Former student.
 “I still get nightmares about the swats, (a running punishment- inaudible) until the point of coughing up blood – I can’t forget these things.†– Former student.
“I try to think about the positive, I am angry at the staff members who watched the bad things that happened to students and did nothing.†– Former employee.
“It’s crazy how they would twist the words of the bible just to make their actions and what they were doing seem legit.†– Former student.
“I did whatever they said I should do to get out.†– Former student.
Facts from the Film that are shown on the films ending —
 These schools exist because they are in places out of reach of the federal Government. None of these programs are subject to any federal regulation. Since the 1970’s, at least 157 American teenagers have died in behavior modification programs. According to Forbes magazine, programs like this are a 2 billion dollar industry. Most parents they say are tricked into sending their children to programs like this.
Retiring Rep. George Miller from Ca, has tried bringing action in Congress 4 times, failing to ever have this matter voted on.
In January 2012, New Horizons Youth Ministries and Escuela Caribe shut its doors. The property in the Dominican Republic was donated to Lifeline Youth and Family Services. They renamed it “Crosswindsâ€.  They are currently enrolling teens in their behavior modification program.
For more information on how you can stop abuse in adolescent residential programs go to:
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Derek Penton-Robicheaux, 36, is a native of Mississippi and a longtime resident of New Orleans.  He holds degrees in computer information systems and paramedicine.  After more than five years together, Derek and his husband, Jonathan Penton-Robicheaux, were legally married in Iowa on Sept. 23, 2012. The two are the first plaintiffs involved in the Federal Same-Sex Marriage Lawsuit in Louisiana, Robicheaux et al. v Caldwell.
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Maine Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Graham Platner is under fire after releasing a video declaring that new allegations against him are false, yet he is “taking time to reflect” on a path forward.
Politico on Monday afternoon reported that a woman who dated Platner, Jenny Racicot, “says he forced her to have sex with him nearly five years ago despite her repeated objections, an allegation Platner denies.”
“Racicot said she had an on-and-off relationship with Platner,” Politico reported, “for more than two years before he entered her rural Maine home uninvited one night in late 2021, deeply intoxicated, and forced himself on her while she repeatedly told him to stop. She said she cut off contact with him after telling him the encounter was not consensual.”
In a video posted to social media eleven minutes after the Politico story dropped, Platner says, “I wanted to directly address the troubling, serious, and false allegations against me. Any accusation of nonconsensual behavior is categorically false.”
He said he and his supporters “were united in a love of Maine, a belief that our politics must change, in a focus on defeating Susan Collins.”
“So, regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting, but mindful the political reality will inflict, we are taking the time to reflect on the best path forward for the state that I love, the people that I love, the movement I belong to, and the goal of defeating Susan Collins.”
“Those were the goals when we launched this campaign. And they remain my goals today.”
“Throughout it all, you never turned your back on me. And I will not turn my back on you now. Every one of you deserves to see that vision come to fruition and see Susan Collins defeated. And we will use every tool at our disposal to do so.”
The Bulwark’s Tim Miller, a political commentator who served as the communications director for the Jeb Bush 2016 presidential campaign, blasted Platner.
“I’m sorry but ‘we are taking time to reflect on the best path forward’ is not an option on the table,” Miller wrote. “Either it’s false and you campaign with vigor or it’s true and you get out / apologize to everyone you let down.”
Journalist Ryan Grim, commenting on Platner’s video, noted that Platner “strongly suggests he is considering dropping out. Already Troy Jackson and Chellie Pingree, both gubernatorial candidates, are being kicked around in Maine circles as potential replacements.”
Several others, including Puck News’ Peter Hamby, predicted Platner will be dropping out.
Platner had postponed several campaign events before the Politico story was published.
— Graham Platner for Senate (@grahamformaine) July 6, 2026
President Donald Trump is facing backlash after posting a video of children — including showing their unblurred faces — graduating from kindergarten, with some of the girls purportedly wearing hijabs.
“President Trump posted a captionless video of graduating kindergarteners on Truth Social on Monday, goading his supporters into verbally attacking little children simply for being Muslim,” The New Republic reported. “The clip is from Gateway STEM Academy, a majority-Black K-8 public charter school in St. Paul, Minnesota. It shows about 21 children in caps and gowns on stage singing a song together. Most of the girls are wearing hijabs.”
The original post of the video which Trump reposted reads: “Public school in St. Paul, Minnesota. Every girl is in a hijab … in kindergarten.”
Trump did not add any comments. TNR called the post “Islamophobic, weird, and creepy,” while noting that the comments section of Trump’s post was filled with calls “by racist, xenophobic MAGA supporters” to “deport the children and ban hijabs.”
TNR also noted that it “should come as no surprise that Trump isn’t above attacking children who just learned how to read, but this post is still particularly discomforting—and will certainly contribute to the already potent level of anti-Muslim sentiment in the U.S. and in Minnesota.”
Critics blasted Trump.
“There is something deeply unsettling about the president of the United States—the most powerful person in the world—going after kindergarten schoolchildren in Minnesota because they wore hijabs, as Trump has done this morning on his website,” The Bulwark’s Sam Stein wrote.
One social media commentator wrote, “Trump posted an unblurred video of more than a dozen Muslim kindergartners to Truth Social, exposing the children’s faces while targeting them for their religion.”
Another added, “Trump is a bigot. The president took to Truth Social to attack kindergarteners in hijabs. These are little kids. The president isn’t just a bigot, he’s also a coward.”
The original video was posted to the X social media platform in June.
U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) at the time commented, “If you are in a public school in America, you should be speaking english.”
Image via Reuters
President Donald Trump’s apparent efforts to delay releasing the $5.8 million civil judgment to E. Jean Carroll are being met with a warning by the journalist’s legal team, who suggest there could be a legal maneuver for Trump to employ to forgo paying the judgment in either of the two cases he lost.
According to The Guardian, on July 4, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan ordered Trump to release the $5.8 million judgment, which is in escrow, to Carroll by this coming Tuesday — or explain why he would not do so.
Carroll’s attorneys think Trump may be trying to buy time to mount another legal strategy, telling the judge that Trump’s request for an extension “appears to be little more than yet another play for time.”
“The case is separate from Trump’s appeal of a Manhattan civil jury’s 2024 award of $83.3m to Carroll for defamation,” The Guardian explains. “But her lawyers have suggested a legal scenario in which the president might seek to conjoin the cases and further delay payment of both.”
Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan (no relation to the judge) wrote, “We can only assume that defendant is seeking … to buy time so he can try to concoct some new basis to put off paying plaintiff presumably in connection with his forthcoming petition and motion for a rehearing.”
Trump’s former attorney, Justin Smith, in one of his final acts, wrote to the Supreme Court suggesting that his client would be appealing the $83.3 million civil judgment.
Smith argued that the Supreme Court “may wish to consider the petitions together,” given they involve the same parties.
The larger judgment case involves possible questions of presidential immunity, and that has Carroll’s attorneys concerned.
“A conjoined case, Carroll’s lawyers fear, could result in both judgments being wiped out,” The Guardian reports.
The president has also made clear he is no fan of Judge Kaplan, after the jurist made several rulings that “angered” Trump.
“What else can you expect from a Trump Hating, Clinton appointed judge, who went out of his way to make sure that the result was as negative as it could possible be,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in 2023, “speaking to, and in control of, a jury from an anti-Trump area which is probably the worst place in the US for me to get a fair ‘trial’.”
Image via Reuters
Platner Scorched Over ‘Taking Time’ Video After New Accusation
Trump Sparks Fury Online After Posting Unblurred Video of Muslim Kindergartners in Hijabs
One Legal Maneuver Threatens to Undo Everything E. Jean Carroll Won
Inside the Group Helping MAGA Voters Walk Away — And What Finally Pushed Them
