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IN MEMORY OF
Michael O'McCarthy * Manuel Giddens * James Bunday * John Bennett * Ellis Adams * John GoForth * Michael Gabriel * Michael Bates * Hollis Sutton * Edgar Elton * George Owen Smith * Michael Smelly * Randall Morgan Steed
* Michael Raines *

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NOTICE: Former FSB Superintendant/Church elder Lenox Williams Dies-Takes truth to grave.

I guess people never really change

You would think that Lenox Williams (who recently died) who had severely abused children as the superintendent of a large FSB facility many years ago would have some compassion for those he abused; especially considering the fact that he was a religious individual as well as the head-elder of a large Jackson County church.

As a child, I was a very religious little boy. However, the orphanage, along with many church and community leaders who supported Matron, Mother Winters’ crude and strict measures, beat that nonsense out of me before the age of fourteen.

Let there be no doubt that I am a Christian and not a single night goes by without me saying my prayers. I always make a point to pray for those who led people to believe they are truly righteous individuals yet secretly live by another standard altogether.

I remember back to 1977 when I developed cancer and the doctor told me I had less than six months to live; it was important to me that I immediately right any wrongs I may have committed against others. It was important that I pay my debts, especially to my friends who had total trust in me. Considering all the physical and sexual abuses I suffered as a young child; (and as a teenager) one would think that I would have told the world to “go get screwed” and to “kiss my backside” while being dumped in that six foot hold somewhere. But in spite of my many shortcomings, my impatience and my sort temper, I felt it necessary for me to leave the world letting others know who I really was.

Considering the fact that I was one of the so called “bad boys” when I was incarcerated at the Florida School for Boys at Marianna; you would think that it was me/we boys who smoked cigarettes, skipped school and went for a joy ride now and then, that we would be the ones who would go to our graves without feeling any remorse. It appears (on the face of it) that those in charge of us “bad boys” were actually the “bad guys” all along. Now we see that it was they who are/were the true liars, cheats and thieves.

NOTICE: As Judy and I are moving out of our house; the White House Boys’ web site will be available online but will not updated for two weeks or so until we get resituated. My new e-mail address will be trampolineone@yahoo.com. trampolineone@earthlink.net will not be my e-mail address after August 12th 2010. Anyone needing to reach me can do so through Andrew Puel at (850) 456-3852.



White House Boys on-going investigations


1. Gregory Sampson went to the State reform school in 65 or 64. He died in June of 66 at age fourteen. He was in great health when he arrived at the school but later was sent home in a wheel chair and he couldn't stand upright or walk without assistance. He could not speak in (understandable) audible terms; one eye had a patch over it and the other eye he could not see out of very well. He had a bandage wrapped around his head and seemed very confused and disoriented. He never seemed to recover or get any better after coming home. We are looking to find the truth about what actually happen to him at the White House. He died not to long after returning home from the FSB School. He died at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida on June 3rd and was buried at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Jacksonville shortly thereafter.
2. Mr. Troy Tidwell and Mr. X (the killing and secret burial).
3. Grave yard on the White campus.
4. The unnecessary killing and death of young Edgar Elton.
5. Location of other graves (and bodies) at the FSB School which were dug by inmates.
6. The electrocution death of a young boy (eleven years old) who was forced to climb an electric pole in order to hang Christmas decorations but was reported as “an accident.”



FINANCIAL PAGE * We need your help to keep this site on line * DONATE

Books written by White House Boys and family members * CLICK ON INDIVIDUAL BOOK COVERS TO VIEW
                                      

The Book, “THE TRUTH?-YOU DECIDE” written by Roger Kiser and Andrew Puel. This book outlines many of the distortions FDLE used to cover up the truth and exposes many of their deceptive investigative practices. Click on the book covers to get a copy. Contact Andrew Puel at (850) 221-9471. Above are books written by men who were victims of these horrible abuses. Each tells their story from different perspectives.

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THE ORIGINAL WHITE HOUSE BOYS

"The White House Boys" was formed by (l-r) Dick Colon, Michael O'McCarthy, Roger Dean Kiser and Robert Straley. Together they exposed to the public the horrors hundreds of boys suffered at the hands of those responsible for their care at several Florida Indistrial Schools.

The "White House" Torture Chamber

In this small white building, where boys were beaten until their underwear or pajamas had to be surgically removed from the buttocks, lives the memories and horrors of the worst child abuse
in Florida's history.

View pictures of the White House: CLICK HERE



"If one of your kids were kept in such circumstances
you'd be up there with rifles."

Governor Claude Kirk

THE WALL


Blood still on the walls, ceiling and floors even after fifty years. The terrible screams I heard and the brutal beatings I witnessed as a twelve year old will remain in my memory forever. The beatings I suffered are not my horrors today. My horrors are the beatings of crying boys that I had to witness before my own beatings. The horror of knowing that I was next. For almost thirty minutes, at age sixty-two, I stood alone in the exact room where I was almost beaten to death. With my heart racing and the side of my neck pulsating, I lit a cigarette and I cried without feeling shame.

THE CELL


The thick concrete walls and the loud industrial fan easily muffled the horrible screams of the boys as they were beaten bloody. Some were carried to the hospital in wheelbarrows and some had to have their underwear or pajamas surgically removed from the buttocks.

THE WHITE HOUSE
Torture Chamber


“We was a-pissin’ in our britches,
'cause we knew that place so well.”


Most people could never imagine the horrific acts that were committed behind the secret doors of this schools ironically beautiful brick buildings and lush lawns. The victims, and they truly were victims, have finally come forward to unearth the deadly deeds that occured there. The men who made it through this school with their lives, and not much else, now call themselves the White House Boys, after the small white building that still sits on those lush lawns, where they were raped and beaten, to the point of nonrecognition, on a regular basis.

These men now need society's support in order to do what they were not able to do as little boys. These men now need our support in order to stand up to their offenders, support to finally receive what they were continually denied, a life.



"They call it "The White House?"

TROY TIDWELL
Mr. Troy Tidwell was one of the main beaters at the school. His beatings of boys ran into the thousands. There are many who despise Tidwell for what he did. Personally, I hold the State of Florida responsible. The Governors knew, Senators knew, Congressmen knew as did most judges and local officials; yet they did nothing to stop these atrocities. Tidwell has stated under oath that he was only doing his job and that may very well be true. However, if that is the case then why does he not step forward and tell the truth before meeting his maker one day? Though most will never forgive him; a few of the men he brutally beat might have some form of respect for a man who tried to right a wrong.

Robert Loyal Currie
This was a man who was assigned by the State of Florida to help, train and guide children but in the process he destroyed many lives. The amount of young boys he molested will never be known. There were many instances where this man's actions were exposed and he should have been removed from his position, but many in authority chose to look the other way. I, for one will forever be affected by the evil deeds done in this man's office. I shall forever remember the looks on the secretaries’ faces as they sat by with looks of pity and said absolutely nothing.


When Nightmares Become Real

The horror of these brutal beatings stayed with these boys for many years. Some had to sleep with a light on at night for years.

Now available- Click on book cover

0000.
White House Boys Book-CLICK HERE

OUR ATTORNEYS
The Masterson Group

We (all who were abused) are currently being represented by a team of lawyers in an effort to seek justice because of the acts of violence that were committed. Our attorneys are interested in determining if there are other witnesses to the abuse that we are attempting to expose. If you would be willing to serve as a witness to the acts of violence, please call Thomas Masterson at 1-727-896-3641 He is one of the attorneys in our legal team that is involved in our representation. You must call to join the SB-0048 senate action bill.

On the top information bar (under "photos")are pictures of the inside of the "White House Torture Chamber." Most of the pictures were taken on October 21st, 2008. Even after fifty years, blood stains still remain on the walls and floors. Some say horrible screams of agony are still heard in the late night hours.

As I entered the White House for the first time in almost fifty years, I will never forget walking behind several female guards now working at the facility. "OH MY GOD! IT'S TRUE," she said, as she covered her mouth with both hands.

I smiled to myself knowing that the truth lives on.


THE TOILET


The toilet facilities are just as nice today they were fifty years ago. As I stood looking at this toilet on October 21, 2008; I well remember one boy asking to use the bathroom before his beating and that request was refused. When the beating was complete the boy left the building with feces all over his legs and boots. He never shed a tear but covered his face with both hands from the embarrassment.

THE HALLWAY


The White House videos and photos shown on this site, was a punishment building where boys from 9-16 years old were brutally whipped with a 3-4 inch wide by two and a half foot long leather strap with a sheet metal insert. Thirty to fifty lashes for general infractions, one hundred lashes for running away. There was a facility for black boys across the street. Whatever happened to the white population was nothing compared to what the blacks suffered, up to two hundred lashes, possibly murder.

The Florida State Reform School, currently being called the Authur G. Dozier School for Boys, established by the State of Florida's lawmakers, has been hiding a horrific secret for over half a century.

The school, which was built in 1897, was intended to be a place where adolescent boys, some as young as 8 years old, could be separated from the prison system, and the evils of adult criminals, and could receive the education and mental support they needed as young men. It was established in order to provide young offenders a place where they could grow and learn, and in that way, be reformed enough to be contributing members of society. Instead, it became a "new kind of hell" which destroyed many lives.

Doctor Byrd tesitified before a United States Subcomittee on juvenile delinquency and his testimony (transcript on information bar above) clearly shows that Troy Tidwell lied during his deposition.


Kissimmee, Florida Reunion

Orlando, Florida Reunion

Brunswick, Georgia Reunion

Tallahassee, Florida Reunion

The White House Boys met in Brunswick, Georgia for their first reunion, Kissimmee, Florida for their second reunion, Orlando, Florida for the third reunion and then Tallahassee, Florida. Friendships were reformed, pictutres were shared and many tears were shed. Thoughts were revised, many closed hearts were opened and (after fifty years) smiles began to return to many a sad and somewhat hardened faces. As children, these are men who have overcome the most horrible of abuses. They should be very proud to have survived.

THE STRAP




"Dear Mr. Kiser, I saw the page regarding the leather-strap. Jesus Christ, 2.46 pounds. Do you know that thing's heavier than a baseball-bat (Typical MLB Bat: 30 - 33 oz = 1.875 lbs - 2.0625 lbs)? To think people like Hatton, Tidwell, and Dozier were swinging that thing at teenagers and children with the force of a baseball pitcher hurling a 90 mile an hour fast-ball (not to mention the fact that people in the State of Florida, and the FSB's Superintendant considered this to be completely acceptable)... Absolutely despicable.

Sincerely, Peter"


What appeared to be nothing more than a beautiful campus to the general public allowed the brutal beatings, molestations, rapes and possible murders of children to continue (behind closed doors) for more than fifty years.

A NOTE FROM ROGER


Roger Kiser
Founder of "THE WHITE HOUSE BOYS"

E-mail Roger Dean Kiser: trampolineone@earthlink.net.
September 1, 2010 my e-mail address will chance to trampolineone@yahoo.com

I have been asked many times why I have pursued this matter for so many years. Was it the beatings, the abuse-maybe it was the killing of young boys? I had never given it much thought. All I knew was there was this deep feeling inside me that I had never forgot. One evening after the family had gone to bed, I lit a cigarette, opened a Coca Cola and I walk out onto my front porch. I stood there thinking about that question. All at once it came to me. It was not the beatings, the abuse, the molestations or the murders. It was the fear I felt inside my twelve year old mind on the two minute walk from Mr. Hatton’s office to that damn White House Building door. Not knowing if I would walk back out alive. I will never forget having at act brave in front of the other boys when all along I was scared half to death. I will never forget wondering if I were about to die.


(A picture is worth a thousand words)

One can tell by the look of joy and the Christmas spirit glowing upon these two boys's faces, as they hold X-mas gifts, just how wonderful life was at FSB Marianna. R.W. Hatton had to be one of the most cruel individuals ever employeed at that school. The many young lives he ruined will never be known. Even in death this man is not entitled to any respect, at least not from me.



I have continued my efforts to write about the abuses as well as document other men's stories. The abuses include beatings, floggings, rape, molestations and in some cases the murder of many children. Their stories can be read at the "victims stories" link above.



CONTACTS and SONG

The Flowers of Marianna-CLICK HERE




MEN WHO HAVE PERSONAL WEB SITES




Florida State Archives




The book "THE TRUTH-YOU DECIDE" by Roger Dean Kiser and Andrew Puel has been palced in the Florida Archives and the horrible abuses committed by the State of Florida upon innocent children will be on display for all to see for generations to come.


"THE APOLOGY? "





Video Deposition (Here) Actual Deposition (Here)


A Brotherhood of Children

The men's personal stories

"A Brotherhood of Children I"
CLICK HERE
"A Brotherhood of Children II"
CLICK HERE


Let us not forget our fallen brothers



These are a few of the young kids arriving at FSB in June of 1959. As they drink their bottle of milk, you can look into their hardned criminal faces (?) and see they have been made to feel totally worthless as children. The real damage has yet to begin. Hatton, Tidwell and Doctor Robert Currie will make damn sure of that.




"I want to know where love is"-A very moving video which tells the story-CLICK THIS LINK HERE


"It hurts, it really hurts. Still today, when you think about it,
it really hurts."





The Closing & Sealing of the White House Torture
Chamber on October 21st, 2008.



FIRST PHOTO
Author, Roger Dean Kiser saying, "A lot of good little boys walked into this damn White House building standing behind me; but a lot more little Charlie Manson's walked back out than did good little boys."

SECOND PHOTO
Millionaire, Dick Colon saying, "I looked into his face after he beat me and he smiled. I thought to myself, 'If I could reach into your damn chest right now I would pull out your damn heart and I would take a bite out of it'."

THIRD PHOTO
Bill “Willie” Haynes, Richard “Dick” Colon, Robert Straley and Roger Dean Kiser sitting at the closing of the White House Ceremony on October 21, 2008.

FOURTH PHOTO
Roger consoles Mr. Colon as Dick has an emotional moment during the ceremony. Mr. Colon returns to the Florida School for Boys each year and hands out scholarships to the boys at the school where he was brutally beaten. Dick was beaten many times at the White House because he had a learning disability and was unable to understand, perform or pass the required work at the institution's school. Let there be no doubt that child abuse lasts a lifetime.

FIFTH PHOTO
"When I got off the cot there was blood running down my legs. I HATE THINKING ABOUT THIS,” he yelled at representatives of the Florida Governor’s Office attending the closing of the White House ceremony. “That image sticks in my head to this day,” stated Michael O’McCarthy. Michael, Robert Straley, Roger Kiser and Bill Haynes then planted a tree outside the White House in memory of the hundreds of young boys who had suffered the most brutal of beatings and abuse at that facility.

 

 




Books and stories by Roger Dean Kiser CLICK HERE


News Articles



IMPORTANT ARTICLES TO READ

Article One * Article Two * Article Three * Article Four * Article Five * Article Six * Article Seven *

Documents detail abuse at Florida School for Boys; was known for many years



Florida law at the time did not allow beating or corporal punishment for adults in jail. It did allow whipping or strapping children. But the children's bureau of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare said in its guidelines for juvenile lockups: "Corporal punishment should not be tolerated in any form."

A study of 250 boys committed to Marianna showed they had received 691 whippings among them, the Miami News reported. Eleven-year-old boys had received 38 percent of the beatings, and 17-year-old boys received just 3 percent.

Gov. Leroy Collins set up a committee to investigate, then cleared the school administration. The superintendent at the time, Arthur G. Dozier, for whom the school is now named, said paddling was better than the alternative: solitary confinement. He added that the school was setting up a psychiatric unit, which would cut down dramatically on the spankings.

Six years later, in 1964, a reporter for the Miami Herald visited Dozier and quickly heard about the White House. "It is not on the tour," wrote reporter Joy Reese Shaw. "Nobody likes to talk about what goes on inside — and when they do, the sting of the whip seems to split through the words." Shaw talked to a boy from Miami sent up for bicycle theft. He had epilepsy and an IQ of 74. He had been whipped seven times in 11 months. "For the last four sessions of the legislature Marianna has requested a security detention building, and been denied," she wrote. "It would cost $198,320.00 to end the floggings."

Four years later, in 1968, a state supervisor for the Marianna school witnessed a beating that, all these years later, still makes his blood pressure rise. Reached recently by phone, Audie E. Langston said he didn't want to talk. "I just happened to be there when they caught a kid who was a runner. They caught him and took him into that building and one of the guys said, 'You should see this,' " Langston said in a short interview. "It was not a good thing. The people who were doing it thought they needed that method of control." Back then, Langston wrote a letter to his boss, O.J. Keller. He called what he saw "sickening."

"A young boy [was] taken into a stark, bare, dimly lit room where he was compelled to lie on a small cot and receive licks with a heavy leather strap. At the time the strap was being wielded by a man who was at least 6 feet, 3 inches and weighed well over 200 pounds. . . The child quivers and writhes. . ."

The letter, which Keller made public, spurred a push to ban corporal punishment.

A former house father at the school also sent Keller a letter, published in the Miami News, saying, "The belt falls between eight and 100 times. After about the tenth stroke, the seams of the sturdiest blue jeans begin to separate and numerous times the boys' skin is broken to the extent that stitches are required."

A supervisor who trained for a year at Marianna described a boy's buttocks as "bleeding profusely; the skin was broken, and the color of his buttocks was green, blue, red and purplish . . . It reminded me of the Dark Ages." The state did outlaw corporal punishment. But a year later, in 1969, the reform school superintendent told state legislators that bringing back the strap would cut down on the runaways. He was fired.




The grave yard and the White House (Satellite view)



LATEST NEWS STORIES


THE UNNECESSARY DEATH AND KILLING OF EDGAR ELTON



There is no doubt that many deaths (killings) occurred at the Florida Industrial School for Boys at Marianna. Most will be denied by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement as well as the Department of Juvenile Justice. It appears that even the deaths that can be substantiated will be covered up and considered as nothing more than a “normal passing.”

Below is an article which appeared in the Florida School for Boys Yellow Jacket Newspaper on July 10, 1961 as well as a picture of Edgar Elton, a sixteen year old boy, who was unnecessarily murdered during an illegal football practice in the school gymnasium.



Below is a firsthand account of the event as witnessed by the Florida School for Boys’ Quarterback, Jerry Cooper and could be substantiated by at least six other witnesses who were at the scene as well as the entire football team. Is there some reason why this young man’s death cannot be investigated as there is no “statute of limitations” on murder or possible manslaughter.



This is the truth how Edgar Elton died on July 10th 1961. The Yellow Jacket football team was in a practice session in the gym that day. It was not a physical fitness class as reported by the Yellow Jacket Newspaper which I just saw for the first time today Feb.18, 2010 which I received from Roger Kiser. The whole article is a complete and total Lie.

I was the second player in line behind Edgar during a very fast pace passing session. It was extremely fast and very exhausting, and it was very difficult for every team member to keep pace. Edgar went into an asthma attack and fell to his knees. Gasping for air, he told me he couldn’t breath and that he had a letter given to the school (by parents and his private doctor) that he was not suppose to be playing any form of sports. I told him to go to Troy Tidwell and Mr. Hatton who were both present in the gym. As he climbed to his feet and stumbled toward them; he was met by Tidwell about half-court. Tidwell screamed “get your fucking ass back in line.” When I broke line to tell them he was having a breathing attack; Hatton reached up to his side and placed his hand on his pistol, which he carried under the gray jacket he always wore. Tidwell turned toward me and then he began screaming calling me a “motherfucker”. The next run Edgar made would be his last. He collapsed and died within a minute. He was not rushed to the hospital as stated in the article. Dr. Wexler showed up ten or fifteen minutes later and pronounced him dead. His lifeless body was lying on the floor. No other Doctor was involved, whatsoever.

I can only surmise whoever gave this story to the Yellow Jacket Newspaper was hiding or wanted to cover up why and how the boy died. We need to find the student who wrote this story and find out who ordered him to report this article in this manner.

What was the purpose for all these lies; other than to cover up a murder or manslaughter conviction for those responsible?

We were told by the staff that we were breaking rules by practicing football at this time and that was why our team was being hidden in the gym.

Now how would I know that we were practicing illegally if I had not been told? The school had hired a professional football player/coach that had been an all-star quarterback for the state of Florida, who went on to play quarterback position for Denver Bronco’s and the New York Giants. Formally he had been injured and had his spleen removed. We had a coach who was a permanent employee on staff. Why was such an important coach necessary, like Vic Prinzi, to coach us? He never actually showed up at any of our games, only during practice sessions. Football was very important to Mr. Dozier, school superintendent, as well as too many of the other staff. I really think that Vic Prinzi may have been privately compensated by Mr. Dozier and other staff members as he was not on the Florida state payroll. Arthur Dozier and many other staff members were placing large financial bets on the outcome of the game(s). That was the advantage of us having a pro player coach and practicing illegally ( not within season regulations) while holding our training exercises hidden inside the gym and then later on hiding our practice sessions behind the baseball field, located behind the large school house.

Troy Tidwell and R.W. Hatton




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© 1991-2009 Roger Dean Kiser for The White House Boys - All Rights Reserved

No photo(s), text, codes and/or any other information may be used or taken from this web site without the express written permission of the site owner. The rights remain with the individuals who wrote and submitted the stories. Any/all rights belong to those individuals and permission must be obtained from those persons before using such materials.