Camps for troubled kids can be magnets for abuse

Scott Chandler, program director
for the Tierra Blanca Ranch

The mother of a former student at the New Mexico camp for troubled kids that was raided by police amid abuse allegations this weekend said she thought “John Wayne” had come to her rescue when she entrusted her son to ranch owner Scott Chandler.

“I was a desperate parent trying to get my kid help,” said Barbara Holler. Tierra Blanca Ranch, the 30,000-acre spread in the high desert that the burly, cowboy-hat wearing Chandler extolled in online videos, appeared to offer a refuge. “I chose that place because it seemed like my son was going to do well there.”

But now, says Holler, her son hates her “with all his heart,” claiming that during his time at Tierra Blanca residents were beaten and forced to go without food and work 15-hour days.

Authorities are investigating Chandler's ranch, amid questions about why a facility where students have alleged abuse in police reports since 2006 has been allowed to operate without a license for nearly 20 years.  (more...)

Camps for troubled kids can be magnets for abuse