Allison Ankrom's story, undated
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I had been at Casa by the Sea for 7 months and was there when it was shut down by the Federalies (Mexican Federal Police). I want to reach out to the other girls that were at Casa, who I watched get the abuse worse than I did. I was forced into "Worksheets" for getting a cat 2 consequence and losing my merits before I was even aware of the rules. I sat in worksheets with the other girls. When there were a lot of girls, we just sat in formation with our backs straight, hands in lap, head up and forced to listen to audio books. Every hour we had to take tests on what we’d heard in the tapes. Education was being used as a punishment. When girls were permitted to leave and the attendance of the "Worksheets" room was 4 or less the normal punishment went out the window - I was hit several times, but I shut my mouth and followed the rules. It was all I could do to survive. I was told that if I tried to tell anyone about the abuse, it would get worse. After I was at Casa for two months, a girl told the "Mama" in charge that I had smuggled cocaine into the facility when I arrived. Although I had already been searched and made to strip and spread my legs while bent down and cough at arrival (like prison), they insisted in making me undress in front of four "Mamas" and two Upper Level students. They told me to spread my legs past my shoulder width, bend my knees and cough again several times. In fear, I did. No drugs or anything was found, but this did not satisfy them. They took me to the hallway where I slept. We had six bunk beds on each side of the hallway, where we were allowed to have one laundry basket that held all of our belongings. My bed was destroyed, they cut into my mattress to check for drugs, ripped my bedding, and destroyed the few personal items in my laundry basket. They found nothing. After this I was escorted to the nurse, who from previous experience scared the crap out of me. I was forced to undress again, lay on a table, and have the nurse insert several of her fingers in my vagina and then my rectum. Again they found nothing. They sent me back to my "family" and warned me to keep quiet about the whole affair.
I saw a lot of things at this facility, and wrote to my mother several times explaining the conditions and what was happening. Looking at the letters my mom received, I now know that my letters were altered and everything that was against the facility was removed. My first letter to my parents was told to be a confession letter, to come clean about everything I had done that landed me there. I wrote simply that I smoked pot, and didn’t agree with my curfew so I had set a new one. I was not an awful kid, I was 17 and thought I knew everything. Most of us are like that. The letter that my mom received said that I had used pot, cocaine, and heroin on a daily basis, and had tried about 10 other drugs. This was not true. To this day my mother thinks I’m a recovering heroin addict, simply because she was completely brainwashed by the facility and the seminars. I was a little overweight when I arrived at Casa. After receiving a consequence for not apologizing to a girl I had bumped into, I was force to jog laps for the entire "P.E." time. This was 4 hours everyday. About the education, I was an Honor student before Casa. I was evaluated and started on an education plan. I finished the second half of my junior year and my complete senior year, in just 6 months. I learned absolutely nothing new, it was all things I had previously known. I received good grades with the education program, but unfortunately it was all a waste. None of my credits transferred because my Casa teacher had no qualifications and it was not an accredited school, although they say they were to this day. After Casa was shut down, I had to redo all of the schooling.
I had been at Casa by the Sea for 7 months and was there when it was shut down by the Federalies (Mexican Federal Police). I want to reach out to the other girls that were at Casa, who I watched get the abuse worse than I did. I was forced into "Worksheets" for getting a cat 2 consequence and losing my merits before I was even aware of the rules. I sat in worksheets with the other girls. When there were a lot of girls, we just sat in formation with our backs straight, hands in lap, head up and forced to listen to audio books. Every hour we had to take tests on what we’d heard in the tapes. Education was being used as a punishment. When girls were permitted to leave and the attendance of the "Worksheets" room was 4 or less the normal punishment went out the window - I was hit several times, but I shut my mouth and followed the rules. It was all I could do to survive. I was told that if I tried to tell anyone about the abuse, it would get worse. After I was at Casa for two months, a girl told the "Mama" in charge that I had smuggled cocaine into the facility when I arrived. Although I had already been searched and made to strip and spread my legs while bent down and cough at arrival (like prison), they insisted in making me undress in front of four "Mamas" and two Upper Level students. They told me to spread my legs past my shoulder width, bend my knees and cough again several times. In fear, I did. No drugs or anything was found, but this did not satisfy them. They took me to the hallway where I slept. We had six bunk beds on each side of the hallway, where we were allowed to have one laundry basket that held all of our belongings. My bed was destroyed, they cut into my mattress to check for drugs, ripped my bedding, and destroyed the few personal items in my laundry basket. They found nothing. After this I was escorted to the nurse, who from previous experience scared the crap out of me. I was forced to undress again, lay on a table, and have the nurse insert several of her fingers in my vagina and then my rectum. Again they found nothing. They sent me back to my "family" and warned me to keep quiet about the whole affair.
I saw a lot of things at this facility, and wrote to my mother several times explaining the conditions and what was happening. Looking at the letters my mom received, I now know that my letters were altered and everything that was against the facility was removed. My first letter to my parents was told to be a confession letter, to come clean about everything I had done that landed me there. I wrote simply that I smoked pot, and didn’t agree with my curfew so I had set a new one. I was not an awful kid, I was 17 and thought I knew everything. Most of us are like that. The letter that my mom received said that I had used pot, cocaine, and heroin on a daily basis, and had tried about 10 other drugs. This was not true. To this day my mother thinks I’m a recovering heroin addict, simply because she was completely brainwashed by the facility and the seminars. I was a little overweight when I arrived at Casa. After receiving a consequence for not apologizing to a girl I had bumped into, I was force to jog laps for the entire "P.E." time. This was 4 hours everyday. About the education, I was an Honor student before Casa. I was evaluated and started on an education plan. I finished the second half of my junior year and my complete senior year, in just 6 months. I learned absolutely nothing new, it was all things I had previously known. I received good grades with the education program, but unfortunately it was all a waste. None of my credits transferred because my Casa teacher had no qualifications and it was not an accredited school, although they say they were to this day. After Casa was shut down, I had to redo all of the schooling.
