BREAKING
NEWS
More Allegations Against Youth Boot Camp
Witnesses question the treatment of troubled youth.
Wednesday, Nov 2, 2011 | Updated 6:53 AM PST
Ted Chen
Witnesses give first-hand accounts of the treatment of troubled youth by boot camp instructors.
Members of a group that gives horse riding lessons through Pasadena’s Arroyo Seco say they have witnessed the Family First Growth Camp in action and, in their opinion, the boot camp's drill instructors are abusive in their treatment of the troubled youth in the program .
"You could hear them as you were riding through the arroyo, yelling at these kids,” said Nancy Rose of the Rose Bowl Riders. “You'd see them ganging up on one child and screaming in their face."
Videos posted by the Pasadena Star News show children forced to drink water to the point of vomiting and a child wearing a car tire while being yelled at by drill instructors.
The videos have intensified the scrutiny surrounding one of the boot camp’s instructors, Kelvin McFarland, who has been charged with kidnapping and handcuffing a 14-year-old girl.
He is free on $185,000 bail while his case is still pending.
"I do avoid the Arroyo just so that I don't have to witness it and my children don't have to encounter that kind of behavior. It's disturbing," said Rose Bowl Rider, Julie Unamuno who says that the treatment of teens that she witnessed was abusive.
Instructor Keith Gibbs used to work with McFarland before starting a rival camp says that yelling is a necessary part of the discipline.
Both boot camps have the support of some families whose children have been through the programs.
The city of Pasadena and the Pasadena Police Department say they are investigating the matter.
McFarland and his attorney could not be reached for comment.
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