My name is Katie. I was taken when I was 16 to Casa by the Sea.
I had been suffering from depression caused by childhood sexual and physical abuse, so I turned to drugs.
Advertised as a 5-star boarding school for troubled teens, I quickly learned that CBS was anything like it had been advertised to my parents and the public. My privilege to speak was taken from me and we were forced to sign away our rights as US citizens every three months. If we refused to do anything we were told, we were restrained in a room with our chin on the floor and hands behind our backs for, sometimes, days.
I witnessed and experienced sexual abuse towards we children from the adult staff, as well as endured verbal and emotional abuse daily. I was not allowed to speak to my family. I attempted once to write them in a letter about some of the things that were abusive at Casa, however, I got in trouble for my attempt and was disciplined by the staff in an extremely abusive manner. The letter never made it to my parents.
The walls were too high to jump and when I saw what happened to the children who tried, I was fearful enough to remain a prisoner until I was 18.
When I was 18 I returned home and learned four months later that the Mexican government raided the compound, and the children were taken to a homeless shelter in San Diego. It is unreal to me that these places still exist within the U.S. and something must be done to put an end to this child abuse.