By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
The FBI is investigating an Iowa boarding school that is accused of routinely confining troubled teenagers to small concrete “isolation boxes” for up to weeks until they could maintain a specific posture for 24 hours, the Associate Press reports.
Six former students claim they were abused while attending Midwest Academy in Keokuk, Iowa.
According to the allegations, the students were kept in dark, cell-like rooms for days and even weeks.
“You spend your time pounding your head against the wall. You can’t sleep because there is a lot of noise. A lot of girls like to scream in there. You basically look forward to bathroom breaks and those moments when you can get out of your box,” said Emily Beaman, 17, of Wheaton, Illinois.
Beaman said she was kept in isolation for weeks until she cut herself with a bottle cap and implored emergency responders to take her away from the academy.
The investigation began investigating allegations that a staff member sexually assaulted a student. Now the FBI is investigating whether students were tortured by being confined to isolation boxes.
