SYRACUSE, Utah — A teenager is suing a Syracuse treatment center for alleged kidnapping, neglect and failing to report allegations of sexual abuse.
Eighteen-year-old Finn Richardson claims he was originally abducted by two men and taken to Elevations Residential Treatment Center in Utah. He is now suing Elevations, which is listed as a therapeutic program for struggling teens, saying they neglected him while at the facility.
“We were condemned to days that lacked activity. Empty time, where we were forced to sink deeper and deeper into the realization that we were prisoners. Here by the systematic betrayal of our parents,” he said.
Richardson said he was sent to Elevations in 2021 by his father, who he alleges sexually abused him as punishment over his desire to live with his mother and that he also identified as gay.
In the complaint filed in Utah’s Second District Court last week, Richardson says Elevations ‘kidnapped’ him from Washington, D.C., detained him illegally and against his mother’s wishes, and failed to report his reports of sexual abuse.
“These kids are often times like Finn, kidnapped in the middle of the night," said Richardson's attorney, Alan Mortenson. "They have no idea where they’re coming. They come here without parents. They come here without an attorney. They come out here with people who are using protocols that are not evidence-based, they are not scientific-based, they are punitive, and these kids are trapped.”
In a statement sent to Fox 13 News after the initial story appeared online and on-air, Elevations RTC Executive Director Jennifer Wilde, LCSW, said, "Our team consists of highly qualified professionals who provide mental health treatment to young individuals in need, as chosen by their parents."
The statement continues to say, "Elevations RTC is accredited by COGNIA and The Joint Commission and is a member of the National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs (NATSAP). We have helped nearly 700 children and families in crisis. We are often the last hope for families who have exhausted all other options to help their child."
Over the past decade, Utah’s ‘troubled teen’ facilities have drawn national attention after Paris Hilton spoke out about the alleged abuse she says she faced as a teenager while attending Provo Canyon School.
In 2021, Utah passed Senate bills 127 and 239 which aim to strengthen oversight of the facilities.
The legislation didn't go far enough, according to Unsilenced, a nonprofit that serves victims and survivors of institutional child abuse.
“Since the passing of these bills, there have been four deaths in Utah; facilities in your backyards," said Unsilenced CEO Meg Applegate. "Which emphasizes the need for more comprehensive reform. It is time for Utah as a community to demand change.”
Elevations responded to Richardson's lawsuit in a statement Tuesday.
“We look forward to defending our program and staff against this unwarranted attack," the facility said. "We hope and trust that the public will follow the progress of this case to its ultimate conclusion and that those reporting on the case will do so fairly and thoroughly.
"We are confident the truth and facts will come forward.”
