ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHT YEARS OF ABUSE The Florida School for Boys in Marianna, Florida (Now known as The Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys) Dear Sir: This is a story that needs national attention, please help if you can. I would like you to read this narrative, it is about the most outrageous case of child cruelty at an institution, possibly in the entire USA. Please pay attention to the part about "flogging" and the 1922 law that banned it. It was not banned for black and white children as young as ten and was carried out in the Florida School for Boys in Marianna Florida for fifty six years. We have several men that were in this facility and suffered these beatings as boys. I hope you can help us with this or at least point us to some media that could. We are searching for victims, black and white, that as boys were brutalized for years at the below facility. Help us put an end to Florida's most shameful secret: 45 years of illegal flogging, 108 years of child cruelty: The Florida School for Boys in Marianna, Florida (Now known as The Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys) I was at this facility in 1963 and just recently did I find out that the physical and sexual abuse there that spanned a fifty six year time period was never exposed. By accident I obtained the url to a blog by a courageous man (Roger Kiser-Founder of The White House Boys Organization) that was at this facility and his chilling account of being taken to "The White House" a punishment building where boys from 8-16yrs old were whipped with a 4" by 4' leather belt with a sheet metal insert. The description was painful for me to read, but I assure you there were boys that suffered much worse than either he or myself. One hundred lashes for attempted escape. There was a facility for black boys across the street. Whatever happened to us was nothing compared to what they suffered as many as two hundred lashes, possibly even murder. I am ashamed that I never did anything to expose this place of sexual abuse, whippings and mental torment, but I intend to do so now. This will open a can of worms that will turn out to be the single worst occurrence of child cruelty at one location, perhaps in the whole of the United States, numbering in the hundreds, if not thousands, considering it opened in 1900. I have no doubt that horrors of "The White House" will eventually be exposed nationwide. We are actively searching for victims of this facility, both black and white and any information that might be useful. What we really need is exposure and a way to reach these victims so that when they see that someone is finally making a stand they will want to tell their story. This did happen a long time ago, but although the whipping was banned in 1967 the abusers just turned to something else. These outrageous crimes need to be held up in front of the nation and hopefully, some change may come about to protect children while they are in the institutions that are supposed to be helping them in the first place. I read several articles written by psychologists that all agreed on one point: Brutal physical punishment of a child only results in one thing, psychological trauma that is permanent and irreversible, and in most cases leads the subject to commit acts of violence and abuse as adults. How many of the boys grew up to beat or commit sexual acts on their own children? How many wives were battered? How many of the men resorted to assault and murder from the rage they carried in them? The victims must be in the thousands. FLOGGING: FOR CHILDREN AS YOUNG AS TEN, IT IS A "SPANKING" And finally the worst outrage of all: A man's death abolishes "flogging" of male prisoners. The Panama City Pilot detailed his story and death on Feb. 2, 1922, headlining the article as "Florida's disgrace." You must read this to fully grasp the implications. How ironic to think that this drew national outrage which stopped the flogging of prisoners in 1922 but did not stop the same punishment for children? Note the "five foot leather strap" comment. Just exactly what was the difference between that and what they used on us? A foot or foot and a half? Think about it. This was NOT banned for children. This goes beyond "disgrace" this is Florida's most shameful secret. I found an article of the details on a inspection of FSB in 1903 in which they wrote "the children were in irons as if common prisoners" and in 1911 "they were unnecessarily and brutally punished, the instrument of punishment being a leather strap fastened to a wooden handle" This sets a time line point of 56 confirmed years of illegal punishment with the same method of punishment banned for adult prisoners in 1922. If you can not help us with this, perhaps you know of someone that can. Roger has been contacted so far by ten men that were held at this facility. His story is at the url below and, any victim may post their own story at this blog site or email me personally. Bear in mind that I will be on the road from May 1 to Oct 1 and will be unable to work on this during that time period. The Driving Force Behind This Long Journey: Roger Kiser, who has spent 19 years keeping his story on the internet, which has finally lead others to write their accounts and hopefully, to expose these outrageous crimes. Thank you Roger. The first person to post a site informing the public of the horrors at "The White House" at the Florida School for Boys and hosts the most visited child abuse site in the world. A well know author of over 1,000 stories. Roger's primary publishing source is an Internet-based grassroots campaign that has his work appearing on over thousands of individual web sites all over the world. His own web site, on line since 1999 has hosted close to eleven million visitors in four years. Roger Kiser, Sr. Child Advocate's Office 303 Juliette Circle Brunswick, Georgia 31525 (912) 617-0328 The first person to post a site informing the public of the horrors at "The White House" at the Florida School for Boys and hosts the most visited short story child abuse site in the world. A well known author of over 1,000 short stories and thirty-four books on child abuse and it's effects. Roger's primary publishing source is an Internet-based grassroots campaign that has his work appearing on over thousands of individual web sites all over the world. His own web site, online since 1999, has hosted close to eleven million visitors in four years. Roger continues to write, adding to an already impressive archive of eleven books and 800 short stories. The continued interest in Roger's stories is noted by the 500 to 1,000 emails a month he receives from readers compelled to reach out to the author. Roger stories have been printed in more than thirty books in five countries. You will want to read the compelling "The American Orphan"