Artesia Hall

<v narrator>Dr. Joseph Farrar, age 56, indicted <v narrator>for murder with malice. <v narrator>A 17 year old blue eyed girl was in his custody, the indictment says, <v narrator>in November 1971, when she took a large dose of insecticide. <v narrator>Farrar voluntarily and with malice, killed her, it says, by <v narrator>willfully and intentionally failing to secure medical treatment. <v narrator>Who is Dr. Farrar? Center of this ever widening controversy? <v narrator>Farrar operated the Asten Educational Foundation in Houston. <v narrator>Inside this ivy covered building with barred windows. <v narrator>Literature advertising, the foundation gave this address. <v narrator>He advertised one of his schools called Asten Academy at yet another <v narrator>Houston address, but that address was this same building on a side <v narrator>facing another street. <v narrator>It was the first sign of Farrar's unusual way of doing business. <v narrator>Farrar called himself a consulting educational behavioral scientist.

<v narrator>He owned a Ph.D. From a university in Saltillo, Mexico. <v narrator>Not accredited by the Mexican or American governments. <v narrator>For this and other reasons. <v narrator>The state of Texas refused to license him as a practicing psychologist. <v narrator>A few folks around Liberty County, home of the now famous Artesia Hall School, <v narrator>felt ambivalent about J.D. Farrar. <v Speaker>He just had the ability to con just- or at least the gull to try to con anybody <v Speaker>in the country that he could ever come up with. <v Ezell Rhoden>As for Dr. Farrar is concerned. <v Ezell Rhoden>I think he is a fine gentleman, and I believe that he was doing a good job in his school. <v Speaker>He is a neurotic, or mad man, in my opinion, quote, said <v Speaker>the judge. <v Ezell Rhoden>I think if the majority of the people knew the true story of <v Ezell Rhoden>what went on out there and the way those children came to him and and <v Ezell Rhoden>how they left him, the difference between them would be like black and white. <v Speaker>And he had a philosophy of instilling fear in the students.

<v Sonny Huey>We was talking to uh, Dr. Farrar up out of jail out here about five or six officers in <v Sonny Huey>there. And every time someone would try to say to him, he would just go plumb <v Sonny Huey>ape me. He couldn't even talk to a man who's supposed to be a doctor like he was, <v Sonny Huey>couldn't even sit down and talk to a bunch of grown men. <v Sonny Huey>And I'll tell you, I just, I just don't think somebody like that ought to be handling <v Sonny Huey>people, handling little kids. <v Ezell Rhoden>I had occasion to speak with the children out there at school on several different <v Ezell Rhoden>occasions, privately, so to speak. <v Ezell Rhoden>And I found- never did find one that had anything derogatory at all to say about <v Ezell Rhoden>the doctor. <v Sonny Huey>He said, I'll tell you one thing, I don't want you ever help me again. <v Sonny Huey>I don't want you messing any of my students. I said, friend, I wasn't helping you to <v Sonny Huey>start with. I was helping these kids. If I caught you in a mudhole someplace, I'd just <v Sonny Huey>cram you a little deeper in there. <v Ezell Rhoden>In order to handle children that had proceeded this far down the <v Ezell Rhoden>road, so to speak. I think a certain amount of discipline was necessary and I <v Ezell Rhoden>don't think anything was done that didn't justify the, the end.

<v Speaker>I would say that he had a philosophy of child care and child discipline <v Speaker>that harked back to the Dark Ages. <v Sonny Huey>They got up and shook his finger to me, then said later on after he couldn't get the <v Sonny Huey>kids released to him he said. <v Sonny Huey>I guess, you know, you don't get that 75 dollars, unless they're delivered to me <v Sonny Huey>personally or back to that school. I said friend, you can take at $75 and you can do <v Sonny Huey>what you know with it. <v narrator>Artesia Hall came to light on Mother's Day 1971 <v narrator>when five girls escape the school located deep in the low lands of <v narrator>Liberty County. Usually escaped students were returned to Artesia <v narrator>Hall for $25 a head bounty paid by Dr. <v narrator>Farrar. But things were different this day. <v narrator>A game warden named Sonny Huey found three of the girls. <v Sonny Huey>So when I rounded a slow curve. <v Sonny Huey>I got a glimpse, some right around cross road right here. <v Sonny Huey>So I just towed it up and second, I run down a right quick and jumped out of my truck,

<v Sonny Huey>run out into the woods here and to see if I could see 'em. <v Sonny Huey>But I stopped. I didn't hear any brush breaking or anyhting. <v Sonny Huey>And I knew then that it had to be the little girl we're looking for. <v Sonny Huey>So I just started talking to him. Tell him, said baby, come out of words now, because <v Sonny Huey>we've got more snake bite victims this time of year than anything. <v Sonny Huey>I said, you all get snake bit and you gon' die in those woods. <v Sonny Huey>I said, if you come out, I promise you nobody will hurt you. <v Sonny Huey>One little girl spoke up. She crying and said, Sheriff, we come out. <v Sonny Huey>Will you please take us, let us talk to somebody and take us any place but back to that <v Sonny Huey>school or to Cleveland. To take us somebody- let us talk to somebody. <v Sonny Huey>And I said yes. I'll take you to Liberty, the county seat of this county and let you talk <v Sonny Huey>to sheriff. So two of the little girls came out. <v Sonny Huey>So I walked out there to 'em, they come out behind a big old gum tree out there. <v Sonny Huey>So I walked out there to 'em. I said, baby where's the other three little girls? <v Sonny Huey>One of the girls said. I don't know, sir. Should we split up? <v Sonny Huey>I don't know where they're at. So I looked out little briar patch out there kind of <v Sonny Huey>thickety, I seen one of 'em laying flat on his stomach a little girl from Jacksonville, <v Sonny Huey>Florida. And I told her, I said, come out, you little runt.

<v Sonny Huey>So she came out and of course says all crying and says, sir please don't take us back to <v Sonny Huey>that school. I said, baby, I'm gon' take you to Liberty like I promised you. <v Sonny Huey>So we got in the truck, loaded em up and we turned around. <v Sonny Huey>I started out in route to Liberty with 'em and <v Sonny Huey>we got up on top of the hill here. <v Sonny Huey>And two of these fellers from working for the school down here <v Sonny Huey>was coming from a farm house outside road there. <v Sonny Huey>And the little girls recognized him. Of course they started crying again. <v Sonny Huey>They was afraid that he was gonna see 'em. I just told the little girls to lay down in <v Sonny Huey>the seat, just duck down so they couldn't see 'em. <v Sonny Huey>Nobody's gonna hurt 'em. <v Sonny Huey>They passed by and I just waved at 'em and went on by. <v Sonny Huey>I pulled up here and met state warden Westlum, and his father that's coming out to grab <v Sonny Huey>a pit back here ward's fray. <v Sonny Huey>I pulled up, got out. <v Sonny Huey>I was telling him what the deal was with these kids that picked up. <v Sonny Huey>And we heard a vehicle coming down the road. <v Sonny Huey>Look back to the curve here and a pickup game around a curve, of course.

<v Sonny Huey>Little girls looking back too and they recognize the pickup is being <v Sonny Huey>Mr. McIlvaine that worked towards the school. <v Sonny Huey>Course they started crying saying, sir, please don't let him get us. <v Sonny Huey>Don't let him get us. That's Mr. McIvaine. <v Sonny Huey>I said baby there's not anybody gon' mess with ya. I said, now don't cry, nobody's gonna <v Sonny Huey>hurt you. Mr. McIvaine, he drove up, got out and I walked back and introduced myself. <v Sonny Huey>He said, Well, I see you got three of them. I said yessir. <v Sonny Huey>He said, You girls get out and get in the truck. <v Sonny Huey>I said, no, sir, Mr. McIvaine, I'm in route to Liberty with these kids. <v Sonny Huey>I said, He said nah, I'll just take 'em back to that school, said, y'all get out, and I <v Sonny Huey>said. No sir. Now, Mr. McIvaine, I'm in route to Liberty with these girls. <v Sonny Huey>He said, well, there's no need for that. So we got custody of these kids, I said, I can't <v Sonny Huey>he-, but I got custody of 'em right now. We in route to Liberty. <v Sonny Huey>He said, well, we'll see about that. I said, well mighty fine. <v Sonny Huey>So he turned around and poked him back I presume at that school. <v Sonny Huey>And I asked Westlum and his father if they would follow me on into Liberty with these <v Sonny Huey>kids. Of course, he said he would. <v Sonny Huey>When I got up there, I turned 'em over to the chief deputy, Clay Autrey.

<v narrator>The three girls were brought here to this back office in the Liberty County Jail in the <v narrator>early afternoon of Mother's Day 1971. <v narrator>One of them remained here in the Liberty Jail at her own request for nearly a month <v narrator>because her parents didn't claim her. <v narrator>The other two girls stayed in this office all afternoon until Dr. Farrar and their <v narrator>parents arrived to pick them up. <v narrator>The girls were brought to this lobby and Dr. Farrar in front of the parents <v narrator>grabbed the girls by the hair and dragged them out this door. <v narrator>In front of a crowd of protesting deputies, the girls were dragged onto this porch <v narrator>where one deputy said he'd shouted at Farrar, I wouldn't treat my dog like that. <v narrator>Farrar reportedly turned and snared and dragged the girls down the steps <v narrator>and to a waiting car. <v narrator>The name Artesia Hall connotes a 19th century British Academy, <v narrator>but its face hardly bears that out. <v narrator>Students lived in close quarters here, and neighbors frequently saw boys

<v narrator>and girls marching along nearby roads in military formation <v narrator>counting cadence. Sometimes the cadence counting was heard late into the <v narrator>night. Liberty County Attorney Jack Hartnell began hearing stories <v narrator>about Artesia Hall, which in 1972 had no license. <v narrator>He sought an injunction to shut down the school, but three days before the <v narrator>hearing, a license was mysteriously granted. <v narrator>That hearing was held here in November 22nd, 1971, in Judge Clarence <v narrator>Cane's courtroom, the Liberty County attorney, sought an injunction <v narrator>to shut down Artesia Hall because it was operating without a license. <v narrator>It was only on the day of that hearing that Judge Kane was told the license had been <v narrator>issued mysteriously three days before. <v narrator>After attorneys quickly established that that license had been issued, which made this <v narrator>hearing moot. Judge Kane took over the questioning. <v narrator>For several hours, he grilled Sue Keney, the Houston welfare worker who

<v narrator>sanctioned the licensing of Artesia Hall. <v narrator>Judge Kane asked Mrs. Keney about the licensing procedure. <v narrator>She replied If everything in the facility meets the standards, then <v narrator>there is no reason not to license them. <v narrator>If they do not meet the standards, then they should not be operating. <v narrator>And it is our responsibility to find out whether they do or do not meet the <v narrator>standards. Judge Kane and is it your feeling that this does <v narrator>meet the standards? Mrs. Keeney: Yes, sir. <v narrator>We went down it standard, by standard. <v narrator>She further said that the man she instructed to write the Artesia Hall report, <v narrator>Bobby Flat, had only visited the campus one time. <v narrator>And Mrs. Keaney also testified that she usually accepted the analysis <v narrator>and recommendation of these licensing reports from her caseworkers. <v narrator>Unless those recommendations are not based on facts. <v narrator>There have been lots of stories told about discipline here. <v narrator>Some of those emerged in caseworker reports presented in legislative subcommittee

<v narrator>hearings into the Artesia Hall controversy. <v Speaker>They use handcuffs, have a cage of chain-link wire <v Speaker>for punishment. <v Lonnie Cruver>The cage was a reality. <v Lonnie Cruver>It was in use and had actually been used, one of the staff members <v Lonnie Cruver>told me. The very purpose of the cage <v Lonnie Cruver>was to restrain students. <v Speaker>Chop hair off indiscriminately and use a, quote, <v Speaker>shaking treatment, end quote. <v Lonnie Cruver>Take the child by the shoulder or by the hair of the head and shake them just <v Lonnie Cruver>vigorously until they felt like the child had been punished sufficiently. <v Speaker>This is quoting the judge, Artesian Hall had a chain-link fence <v Speaker>with barbed wire. And Mr. Cruver, DPW <v Speaker>worker, said he would not recommend licensing. <v Lonnie Cruver>These measures of child discipline or his

<v Lonnie Cruver>disciplinary measures. We just couldn't feel were acceptable. <v Lonnie Cruver>They amounted to child abuse. <v Lonnie Cruver>They were degrading and dehumanizing to the students. <v Lonnie Cruver>They cause them to lose self-esteem. <v Lonnie Cruver>This is not something that a child ought to be subject to. <v narrator>The subcommittee also tried to find out why Artesia Hall was ever licensed. <v narrator>After four caseworkers recommended denial of the license. <v narrator>The only report, even close to being positive, was issued by a consulting psychiatrist, <v narrator>Dr. Jack Houser, who later said his report had been misrepresented <v narrator>to support the licensing application. <v Rep. John Whitmire>We're going to have to establish why this place was ever licensed in nineteen seventy one <v Rep. John Whitmire>before we can follow how it held his license for over two years. <v Rep. John Whitmire>We're going to dr. Houser's second report. <v Rep. John Whitmire>Testimony by Dr. Houser has shown that the welfare department

<v Rep. John Whitmire>misinterpreted his recommendation of where he said that Artesia <v Rep. John Whitmire>Hall met minimal standards. <v Rep. John Whitmire>He told this committee that he never intended for the welfare department to <v Rep. John Whitmire>think that he stated that Artesia Hall met the standards of the State Department <v Rep. John Whitmire>of Public Welfare lastly procedures. <v John Lindell>My investigation in March of 1972 revealed <v John Lindell>that the facility did meet standard with <v John Lindell>the exception of having the medical reports up to date. <v John Lindell>Many things can happen in three months and it is my testimony that many things did <v John Lindell>happen. Of which, Mr. Burr had no knowledge and I testify that-. <v Rep. John Whitmire>Tell us what happened. Tell us what happened. <v Rep. John Whitmire>[Lindell: The-] outside of you hiring a special consulting psychiatrist, which the <v Rep. John Whitmire>department had never done before and has never done since. <v Rep. John Whitmire>Other than that, what else happened? <v John Lindell>It was unusual to employ a psychiatrist to evaluate this, <v John Lindell>but I don't think that that should be held against the department.

<v John Lindell>I think that that should be considered a wise move to get <v John Lindell>further experience from a professional person who could <v John Lindell>evaluate that aspect. <v John Lindell>That aspect was evaluated. <v John Lindell>We do not place the responsibility for this licensing study upon <v John Lindell>Dr. Houser. We certainly do place responsibility for what he wrote in <v John Lindell>his reports. <v John Lindell>He did indicate in his second report that he did not find any evidence <v John Lindell>of the abuse and harsh treatment that he described <v John Lindell>in his earlier report. <v Rep. John Whitmire>Mr. Burrow's testimony for this committee contradicts everything you're saying right now. <v John Lindell> I'm telling you the truth. The-. <v Rep. John Whitmire>I hope you know, you're under oath. <v John Lindell>I'm under oath. <v Rep. John Whitmire>I'm either asking you to read that last paragraph, which makes Mr. Burrow's <v Rep. John Whitmire>recommendation to the department or not read it. <v Rep. John Whitmire>It's the last paragraph where he summarizes what he thinks about Artesia Hall. <v John Lindell>I will read it.

<v Rep. John Whitmire>Well, what do you know? <v John Lindell>I recommend it now of an institution licensed to Artesia Hall <v John Lindell>based largely on the nature and extent of the verified complaints contained in this <v John Lindell>report. I further recommend no continuances in our court <v John Lindell>action to enjoin Dr. Farrar and Artesia Hall from further operation. <v John Lindell>Artesia Hall should be permanently enjoined from operating. <v Rep. John Whitmire>Thank you, sir. It's a very negative report, isn't it? <v John Lindell>It was very- it was so negative that we filed an injunction based upon this information. <v Rep. John Whitmire>That was the last official report that you had from a supervisor. <v Rep. John Whitmire>Was it not? <v Lonnie Cruver>We found a number of things that were not acceptable in our <v Lonnie Cruver>understanding of the license standards. <v Lonnie Cruver>And these were situations that we felt like <v Lonnie Cruver>should be the basis for denying a license to for Ar- for Artesia <v Lonnie Cruver>Hall. <v George Campbell>I do not believe a license should be issued <v George Campbell>when there is doubt.

<v George Campbell>That this doubt must be cleared because you have to live with it. <v George Campbell>You know? <v Rep. John Whitmire>At the time the license was granted on November 19th, was the, all doubt removed? <v George Campbell>No. <v Rep. John Whitmire>In 1972 when there was a young lady died, <v Rep. John Whitmire>was all the doubt removed as to the type treatment children was receiving? <v George Campbell>There was doubt throughout, in my mind throughout the whole time. <v George Campbell>I think there was doubt in Mr. Leatherman's mind and we as anything came in. <v George Campbell>I think we had exchanges about our concern as to whether Dr. Farrar <v George Campbell>really understood what he was doing. <v Rep. John Whitmire>Was there any doubt June 19th 73', about two weeks before this committee <v Rep. John Whitmire>began their investigation as the type treatment that children was received in Artesia-? <v George Campbell>Yes. Yes. <v narrator>The Artesia Hall controversy has burgeoned into a statewide scandal <v narrator>spilling over into several other states which send their children here in Texas to <v narrator>private child care institutions. <v narrator>Subcommittee hearings and investigations go on and on, but so far,

<v narrator>no clear cut answers have emerged, only that private child care institutions <v narrator>in Texas had been loosely regulated. <v narrator>If at all. <v George Campbell>I think we have a very wide range of care from some very excellent <v George Campbell>care to some poor care. <v George Campbell>And some of them are really so out of touch. <v George Campbell>They don't realize, they don't realize what the quality of care is that they <v George Campbell>need education and help. <v Sonny Huey>Most people they, if it's not right on their nose then they are not concerned with it. <v Sonny Huey>But when something happens right in your back door. Then, well, it's just hard for a lot <v Sonny Huey>of people to believe that this could be happening in their county. <v Sonny Huey>An operation like that going on and nobody knew nothing about it. <v Sonny Huey>And the only thing about it, it's just crying shame that this thing has rocked along, <v Sonny Huey>for so long that it had to cost a little girl's life before anything could be done about <v Sonny Huey>it.