‘White House Boys’ Call For Others to Come Forward

Alleged abuse at the Florida Industrial School for boys during the 1950s and 1960s is currently under investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice acknowledged the abuse by placing a plaque in front of the White House this past October. The school in Marianna, Florida is now known as the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys.

Robert Straley and Michael O’McCarthy, two of the men who were abused at the reform school and formed the group the White House Boys, gave depositions to FDLE and are urging others to come forward and tell their stories.

FDLE is investigating the claims of abuse and the unidentified graves located where the segregated, black side of the school once was.

In 2006, Straley saw video of what some believe led to the death of 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson at the Bay County Boot Camp. It was that video that caused Straley to remember the night he was escorted to what former child prisoners call the “rape room”. It is believed the underground room is still located underneath the Dozier administration building.

Straley realized that many others were suffering from the same hellish memories and decided to go public in an effort to help them. When he contacted journalist O’McCarthy about the story, he had no idea that O’McCarthy had also been abused at the school.

According to Straley and O’McCarthy, some 300 to 400 people have come forward, all with claims of having been abused at the school.

They say they have also received calls from a few long-time residents who say the search for bodies isn’t off the mark, but they are looking in the wrong place.

The anonymous callers claim some boys were tilled straight into the soil of local rural fields. Kids from the school were often used as child labor in the local farm community.

Straley is careful to say not every adult at the school was abusive; it was just a handful of men, “the night watchers,” who terrorized the young men.

If you have information on what possibly occurred at the Florida School for Boys contact:

Robert Straley or Michael O’McCarthy, at thewhitehouseboys@gmail.com

Or

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, (850) 410-7000

Statements from The White House Boys – 11/1/08
(WARNING: Disturbing content)

jcfloridian.com

Painful Memories for the White House Boys

He’s in his 60’s, married for 42 years, and owns a multimillion-dollar company. He established a scholarship fund at the Arthur Dozier School for Boys where he speaks each year to the students about hard work and a hopeful future.

It was at that same school he learned his trade as an electrician, which turned him into a self-made success story. But, the future wasn’t always so bright for Dick Colon.

Roger Kiser, Dick Colon, Robert Straley and Michael O'McCarthy call themselves the ‘White House Boys’. All served time at the Florida School for Boys during the 1950s and ‘60s.

The men connected on the internet and began sharing stories of horrific physical beatings with long leather straps, reinforced with metal. Often, a large industrial fan was turned on during the beatings to drown out the screams of the boys, as they were tortured.

A makeshift cemetery on the grounds of the school holds thirty-one steel tube crosses. Painted white and unmarked, the men believe the crosses mark the graves of boys who suddenly vanished from the school, never to be seen again.

When boys disappeared from the school, administrators explained it away, said former student Roger Kiser.

They'd say, "Well, he ran away and the swamp got him," Kiser recalled. Or, "The gators got him." Or, 'Water moccasins got him."

It was the ‘White House Boys’ who convinced Florida Governor Charlie Crist to open an investigation into the school. They believe authorities will find the remains of children sent to the Florida School for Boys half a century ago.

Crist wants Florida Department of Law Enforcement, FDLE, to determine if anyone is buried there, whether crimes were committed, and if so, who was responsible.

The investigation will not be an easy one. Locating records and witnesses from fifty years ago will be difficult if not impossible. Many of the administrators and supervisors of the reform school are long dead.

The ‘White House Boys’ live with painful memories and say they want justice. They have waited most of their lives and will wait as long as it takes.

CNN