Readers of this blog might find irony in the fact that Sue Scheff is praising (archive) the GAO’s investigation of abuse in programs considering that, in their report, they detail abuse that occurred in a prominent program she referred to, Whitmore Academy, run by Mark and Cheryl Sudweeks. Although the facility and it’s owners are not named, specifically in the report itself, Greg Kurtz, of the GAO, revealed during a congressional hearing’s Q&A session that Case 7 of abuse was, indeed, Whitmore Academy.
“Victim was verbally abused and punched,
kicked, and slapped by other students, under
direction of one of the school’s ownersVictim was hit and pushed down stairs by the
same school ownerOn multiple occasions throughout his stay in
the school, victim was locked in a bathroom
and a closet and forced to sleep on a shelf as
punishment”
As if referring to Whitmore when parents had already informed her of abuse and a criminal investigation wasn’t bad enough, Sue Scheff continues to defend (archive) Whitmore Academy. Instead of taking responsibility for her actions, however, Sue Scheff resorted to defaming the very parent who tried to warn her of the abuse, a pattern of behavior that seems to be systemic against her critics, with targets including this very blogger.