May 18, 2021 • 47 mins
Following two counselors reporting of Louis Poetter abusing patients at Anneewakee, a 1970 hearing is held to see if the center can keep its license. We hear from actual court transcripts as voiced by actors.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Camp Hell Anawaki is a production of I Heart Radio.
The views and opinions express in this podcast are solely
those of the author and participants and do not necessarily
represent those of I Heart Media or its employees. Due
to discussion of traumatic, sexual and violent content, listeners discussion
is advised. In nineteen seventy, the Anawaki Foundation, as it
(00:27):
was known at the time, was being investigated to see
if it was fit to hold a license as a
child carrying facility in the State of Georgia, the biggest
concern being if it's executive, Lewis Petter, was quote a
person of stable and sound judgment. In this episode, you
will hear excerpts from the nineteen seventy hearing by the
(00:47):
Georgia Department of Family and Children's Services regarding whether or
not to revoke the Anawaki Treatment Center's license, performed here
by voice actors. John H. Hinchi, Assistant Attorney General representing
the State of Georgia, began questioning former counselor Roger Drew Rosel.
(01:07):
What was Dr Petter's position while you were at an Awaki.
He was a general director over the entire camp. Did
he supervise your activities as a group leader on occasion, Yes,
what do you mean on occasion? I saw very little
of Dr Petter in so far as instructing me as
a group leader. There were times when we had problems,
(01:28):
if we had specific problems, or sometimes if he wanted
to sit in on a group meeting, he would do that. Uh,
this wasn't on a very regular basis. Did you discuss
your activities on a regular basis with Dr Petter? The
problems Dr Petter was really more than anybody else. If
we had a particular problem or something out of the ordinary,
(01:48):
we would usually end up going to Dr Petter. What
sort of problems are you referring to? When I can
think of problems with kids? Uh, sexual problems, they were
all most always. Did you discuss any sexual problems with
boys under your supervision with Dr Petter? Yes, Sir, I did.
(02:09):
Would you relate those conversations with Dr Petter? On one occasion,
I went to Dr Petter and told him that had
come to me told me that he was having sexual
intercourse with He told me that this behavior had gone on.
Who told you? Counselor Roger Rosel was referring to two
(02:29):
of the boys from in Awaki who were having sexual relations.
Their names have been redacted from this document for their protection,
told me that he had been sexually involved with that
At first, he had been doing it just in order
to have sex. Then he told me that he liked
and he wanted to have sex because he liked him.
(02:50):
I went to Mr Petter and told him that he
had come to me, and I didn't know what to
tell because this was the first time I think that
I had been confronted directly with one of the boys
telling me that they were actually involved sexually with another
boy there in the camp. Mr Petter told me not
to discourage this behavior. Told me not to discourage what
kind of behavior, Not to discourage their sexual behavior, but
(03:13):
to tell them they shouldn't be promiscuous about it. To
encourage this relationship. Mr Petter told me to encourage this relationship.
Over the past several weeks, we have received number of
very serious allegations concerning both the facility out there in
a number of individuals involved with him. It was just
(03:36):
a form of their therapy. They were told to do it,
and at the time he was fourteen and a half
fifteen years old, they didn't know any better. I asked him,
why are you letting this happen? Why are you covering
up for Louis Patter. He had no answer to that
question involved having paid little such districle and the contrary
(04:04):
of what they should. I'm disturbable the fact of something
that is still going on. And anyway, I'm Josh Stain
and this is Camp Hell an Awake. In our last episode,
we heard from the foreign patient of an Awake who
had succumbed to Lewis Petter's manipulation and abuse. Now Roger
(04:27):
Roselle's testimony had begun to unravel Petter's pseudo psychological theory
regarding sexual practices. Rozel claimed that Petter had been encouraging
sexual relations between the boys on campus as well as
with counselors. Assistant Attorney General John Hinchy continued his questioning
of the former counselor. Did you have any other conversations
(04:51):
with Dr Petter about this particular theory of his. It
wasn't too long before I left an Awake. Mr Petter
was talking to me in the office of the camp.
I've been thinking about leaving. Mr Petter told me that
I was suffering from homosexual fear. And I asked him
what this was. He told me that I was afraid
(05:11):
that I was a homosexual, but that I could work
this out. He told me that I needed to work
this out. Could you tell us about that in detail? Well,
in the same conversation, Mr. Petter told me that he
would be willing to work it through, that he had
to find out that he could trust me. And at
the same time, he brought up the point that I
(05:32):
had been in the police department. Roselle had formerly worked
for the Atlanta Police, where he left after admitting to
filing a false police report, a stain on his professional career.
Apparently Petter knew this and made sure that rosel knew it.
He told me that he was aware of this the
(05:53):
entire time I had been employed by him, and asked
me if I knew that he was aware of this.
I told him I was. Then he said, see, you
can trust me. I knew this all along, and yet
I still let you work here. Now you need to
let me trust you, and you have to prove it
that I can trust you. At this time, I said,
(06:15):
all right, I'll prove it, and he shut the blinds
in the room and the curtain and I went over
and hugged him. You went over and what and he
hugged me. He tried to kiss me, but I turned
my head, or it appeared to me that he was
going to kiss me. Is this the only time that
something like that happened? No, sir. Another time we had
gone to Franklin, North Carolina to a gym show. One
(06:38):
of the boys was with us, and on the return
trip he was asleep in the back seat. Well before
the return trip we had stopped to eat something there
in Franklin. He kept suggesting that we stay in the
motel there and I said, no, we can go ahead
and make the trip back tonight. On the way back,
while the boy was asleep in the back, Mr Petter
put his hand on my neck and rubbed my neck.
(07:01):
Later he dropped his hand on my leg close to
my groin and rubbed my leg there. The boy awoke
about that time, and did Petter do anything when he
woke up, He moved his hand. Charles Edwards cross examination
that followed attempted to further smear Roselle's reputation by grilling
him about using illicit drugs, specifically marijuana. Rosel said he
(07:25):
had never used any legal drug before in his life.
Edwards leaves Rosel with a final remembrance of his failed
police career. When you went down to the police department.
You took an oath, didn't you, Yes, sir? I did?
You took an oath to uphold the law and do
your duty? Isn't that right? Yes, sir? You violated that oath,
(07:47):
didn't you, Yes, sir. Attorney for the state, John Hinchy
requested to ask a few more questions. Did Dr Petter
know about this police report before you came to work
at Unawaki? Did not tell Dr Petter myself, but Dr
Petter did tell me later on that he was aware
of it and had been aware of it since the
(08:09):
time of my employment. Did he ever say anything to
you about this report? It was during the time when
I wanted to leave the camp. I had signed an
agreement that said that if I left the camp at
any time within two years, I would have to pay
a certain amount of money for training I received. I
was going to leave anyway. Mr Petter told me that
(08:29):
if I left the camp that he would have to
inform any employers that might seek him as a reference
of my problems, and that this would include the police department.
Mr Petter said that I had done this as a
result of homosexual fear, and told me that if I
would bring him in writing a letter from a psychologist
or a psychiatrist saying that I was under treatment for
homosexual fear, that he would let it go. According to
(08:55):
rosel Petter extended power over his staff, just as he
did the patients at Awake. If anyone chose to leave,
they could be indebted to him financially, and Petter would
be sure to have something to hold over their head.
Not only did Roselle alleged that Petter was using the
false police report as leverage, but that he even had
(09:15):
the gall to request a written letter from a psychologist
admitting and writing that Roselle was guilty of the exact
prognosis Petter claimed for all of the crimes which Louis
Petter was accused of. He had a backup plan and
seemed willing to use anything he could against anyone who
claimed otherwise. In its case against an Awake, the state
(09:58):
had interviewed students who claimed to have been abused by
Petter and a staff member who testified to witnessing this
type of behavior as well as being personally threatened. The
next witness would be another unnamed patient who alleged he
was included in Petter's inner circle, the small group of
patients who would stay at Petter's house on the weekend,
(10:19):
basically living with their abuser. Are you acquainted with Dr
Lewis Petter, the respondent in this proceeding, Yes, I am.
Have you ever engaged in sexual activities while at an
awaking yes? Did you have any sexual relations with Dr
Petter while you were there? Yes? Yes I did? And
(10:39):
when was the first occasion? Paulson must have been six
or seven months after I was there. Can you describe
that occasion and what happened first? Started off came in,
You know, I was at the camp and it was
said that I could go to Dr Petter's house and
(11:02):
that there was a girl there that I could date
that night with and Mr Petter's daughter, which was Rita.
So while I was in there taking a shower, this
was when I was first confronted with it. I was
kind of played around with that was the first thing.
(11:22):
And what happened on medication. I was in there at
the sink and Mr Pettick came in and started fumbling
around with me. You just started rubbing me all over
and things of this nature, and just kind of laughing
and smiling. Did he say anything? He said, you're a
(11:45):
good boy, and things like this. Did you try to
run away? I was more or less frozen. This is
right when I get out the shower and I was shaving,
I put down my shorts and just walked out. Can
you describe what happened on the second occasion? I couldn't
(12:08):
exactly list them in in a complete order or anything.
There are many occasions. I can explain occasions to you.
How many occasions it must have been ten, eleven, twelve
on up there. What did Petter do on these numerous
occasions that you just mentioned, pash, debating, fondling, I guess
(12:33):
you would say, kissing, this stuff. Did he ask you
voluntarily to do this with him? He always approached me
like you've been rejecting me for a week or two,
and I like to know why, and things like this.
This was the way it would first begin. And then
he would say something like, well, why don't we just
(12:55):
go in here in the bathroom. It's something of this nature.
Another approach was, you know you have a homosexual problem
that you need to work through. The only way you
can work through this is having one masculine image around
you all the time. This patient's experience reflects much of
(13:16):
what we heard in the first testimony. By this account,
Petter was convinced that nothing would come of his behavior,
so blatant has to even partaken this abuse in his
own home with his wife and daughters in the next room.
Did you ever tell anyone else at the camp about
these incidents with Dr Petter? No? I didn't. Did you
(13:40):
ever try to put a stop to them? I was
always more or less just I would do my best
to reject them. What would you do? I go around
like at the camp or something of someone said Doc
was on the campus, I would leave or something like that.
During this time I was living with them, I kept
(14:01):
more or less to myself or Wayne Petter, who was there.
Wayne was Louis Petter's adopted son. I just do my
best to reject it. Then, if I was up watching
a late show or something, everybody else would go to bed,
you know, and then Mrr Petter and I would be
in there. I started to go to bed, and he
(14:24):
would start his routine over again, where generally did these
incidents occur with Dr Petter in his office? Yes, one
occasion was in was in his office. That was the
only one in his office. The rest of these were
at his home. Some members of the hearing panel had
questions about this part of the testimony. How old were
(14:47):
you during this time? I was about fourteen when I
when I first went out there, I'm nineteen. Now. How
long did you live there? About two years? Did you
think that moving in the house Lewis Petter would make
it more convenient for him to do these things? I figured,
you know that maybe how it's wrong, Maybe it was
(15:08):
nothing I was. I was so confused, and I admit
I was emotionally upset quite a bit. I just I
wanted a family situation. That was the best way and
the only way I knew to get one. You put
up with it just to get to live there, That's right.
One issue that came up in this hearing was that
(15:30):
this patient had signed two separate affidavits in regards to
Dr Petter. When did you sign the first one? I
signed the first one for him. I don't know exactly
what data was, but it was in Mr Edward's office.
Do you remember the circumstances when you signed this affidavit. Yes,
the way I gather it is that Roger In and
(15:52):
Bob Akistino were filing suit on him, a million dollars suit.
How did you find out about that? Was told this
by whom by Dr Petter and by the whole Petter
family at the time I was living there, that and
in all some sort of homosexual acts that they were
going to try to prove that he had participated in.
(16:13):
And so Colonel Parker and members of the board, several
of them came out to the administration building and awake,
and Dr Petter was going to discuss this with them.
So I was on campus and knew that they were
going to be out there in the whole. While I
was going up there, he told me if I wanted
to help him out, the best thing I could do
(16:35):
was they asked any questions about, say that I participating
in masturbating with him, say five or six times, something
like this. The patient is referring to another boy from
an awake his name also redacted for protection. The patient
(16:55):
claims Petter again shifted the blame for his actions to
another student onto someone else. Have you ever participated in
masturbating with No, I have not go on. So he
said they were going to try to wreck his home,
his family and Antawaki itself. Who was Bob Dugustino Roger
(17:18):
in this is way? He had told me. So he said,
you go in there. You know they're gonna call you
in and they're gonna ask you questions. And he said
that placed this in my answers when asked about that,
was that was the main thing. Did he offer you
any favor or payment of money for doing this? No?
(17:42):
All he said was, you know, if things work out right,
you'll still be able to go to college. You'll still
have a home anytime you want it, have a home
with home him. Did you sign the affidavits? Yes? I did.
Did you sign any other affidavits? Yes. Right after that,
(18:02):
it was on November the six, I got to thinking
about the whole situation, you know, I mean, really just
how wrong it was because I never had any sexual
acts or anybody else anyone out there on the campus
as far as that was concerned. So I started feeling
(18:23):
guilty about it. So if there was gonna be a suit,
I figured, heck, why not tell the truth. At first,
I just want to stay out of it. But then
I had already gotten in it. So I signed affidavit
for Bob Dextino. Did you sign any later affidavits? Yes?
(18:46):
After that I resigned one for Dr Pettick. Why did
you do that? Because I started being pressured by my
peers and things like that. When all this mess started
up about the court stuff, I was completely rejected and
thrown aside head. It just really upset me. So then
I resigned for Dr petterck. Where did you do that?
(19:09):
It was in the Sheriff's office of Douglas Field that
I signed it, wrote it out, dictated it, and then
O'Barry wrote it out and and I signed it. Was
it the truth? I'm referring to the third affidavit you
signed and Sheriff Abercrombie's office. No, what is the truth?
Would you tell us now? The truth? As far as
(19:32):
this whole thing goes, I know you know I've done
homosexual acts with Dr Petter and I know of him
doing them. There are people on both sides that I
care about. Ends just it confused, mixed up thing. I
really just don't want to have any more to do
with it because there's too many people getting hurt in it.
(19:55):
And there's too many of my friends and things of
this nature that just getting all torn up with it.
Why did you decide to tell us the truth? Because
I wanted it to be the end of it. I'm
tired of hearing about it. M State Attorney John Hinchy
(20:36):
had laid out the testimonies of multiple patients of an
Awaki who alleged that they were the victims of Louis
Petter's abuse, both mental and physical. Hinchi showed Petter's efforts
to cover himself with false affidavits from current patients and
pointed to Petter's arrogance in the face of being questioned.
Anawaki had attempted to discredit its former patients, using the
(21:00):
knowledge gleaned from their own medical records against them. Now
it was time for Charles Edwards to do damage control
on Inawak's behalf. What transpired is a series of testimonies
from friends of Lewis Petter, who, in their eyes, could
do no wrong. The following is just one example of
a friend of Petters who was willing to vouch for
(21:21):
his character. Would you state your name for the hearing committee, please,
Sir John J. Purple Jr. Do you know Dr Pettter? Yes, sir?
How long have you known him? Since nineteen one? Can
you state what his character is in the community in
(21:41):
which he lives in works? In my experience, it's been
above reproach. I've had dealings with him professionally. Are you
familiar with the charges that have been brought against Dr
Petti concerning homosexual activities? I know nothing about specific charges.
I just know in the general sense. And do you
know him well enough that if you had a teenage
(22:04):
son who was emotionally disturbed, even though charges like these
had been made, would you have any hesitation of still
sending that son to the center out there for treatment?
I would have no hesitation whatsoever. That is all State
Attorney John HINCHI began his cross examination. If the charges
(22:25):
against Dr Petter were true, would your opinion of him change?
I can't see how they could be true. I have
never had any reason to believe I understand, But if
they were proven true, would your opinion of him change?
Let's back up a minute. I'm not familiar with the
charges the charging question that this hearing is and I
(22:49):
quote and awake, he maybe in violation of the minimum
requirement applicable to child carrying institutions, requiring that the executive
in every instance be a person of state able sound
judgment whose integrity is above reproach, and that Louis J. Petter,
executive director, is reported to have had immral ellicit relationships
(23:13):
consisting of homosexual acts with one or more of the
boys who have been patients or students of this child
caring institution, and has further condoned the practices of homosexual
acts between other boys at this institution. Now, if this
charge were proven true, would your opinion of Dr Petter change?
(23:35):
Or in the alternative, would you send your son to
Anna Wake he with Dr Petter as the director. I
would be quite surprised if this could be proven true.
I still believe that Lewis Petter could help my son,
even if such charges could be substantiated. Even if the
charges could be substantiated and be proven true, you think
he could help your son. Yes, even if Petter had
(24:01):
been practicing sexual acts with the children at Anawaki, this
man claimed he would still put his own son in
Petter's control. Many of in Aweki's witnesses would be asked
the same series of questions, each corroborating Petter's remarkable character.
One thing that seemed clear from this series of testimonies
is petters strong ties to the community in Douglasville and
(24:25):
his assurance to keep himself in a good light to
the people that mattered. Edwards next witness would be sure
to make an impression on the panel. From the Department
of Family and Children's Services, Petter's old friend, Jim Parham.
Parham had served as the director of de Facts from
nineteen sixty three to nineteen sixty seven. Would you state
(24:48):
your name for the hearing committee, Thomas M. Jim Parham.
What kind of work are you in or profession? Well,
I'm a social worker. I'm a professional social worker by training,
and I'm a correction specialist in the Institute of Government
at the University of Georgia. I'm also an assistant professor
in the School of Social Work and School of Sociology. Now,
(25:10):
in the nineteen fifties, where were you employed. I was
employed at the Fulton County Juvenile Court up until nineteen
fifty seven, and then I worked with Mr Petter at
the Savannah Chatham County Juvenile Domestic Relations Court till fifty
nine and subsequently at other places. Is that where you
first became acquainted with Dr Petter? Yes, In the late forties,
(25:32):
he was a probation officer and subsequently a psychologist at
the juvenile Court. I was a detention home attendant at
night while I was at Emory, and when I graduated
from Memory, I took a job as a probation officer.
He and I worked together quite frequently from fifty one
until fifty five, at which time I went off to
graduate school on leave of absence. When I returned, he
(25:53):
was negotiating for a job to set up the first
combined juvenile domestic court in Georgia. He asked me if
I would be interested it and going along with him.
I did go, and we worked together for two years
and setting up that court. And did you work closely
with him and see him almost daily? During that period
of time from fifty one until we went off to
school in fifty five, we were together daily well except
(26:16):
for weekends, and and many time on weekends because we
were interested in our jobs, and we had a good
many of the more difficult assignments, and we undertook camping
trips and cave exploring trips and interesting things to do,
because we found that a lot of the kids that
we were interested in trying to help didn't fit in
very well to any of the existing organizations. For instance,
(26:39):
if they would go to Boys Club or the Why
or something like that, well, quite frankly, they were so
aggressive they got turned away, or either they were so
withdrawn they wouldn't be accepted. So we found that this
was helpful. That kind of experience gave these kids something
interesting to do, something they could go back to their
group and talk about something of interest. We took scores
(27:02):
of youngsters. I wouldn't begin to think how many, but
we took scores off among camping trips where we were
together for extended periods of time, two or three days
at a time while we were together, just constantly, I stated,
at his house, whenever I went there for a while
we were together, I would say, if not practically all
the time, from what you've said, you've known Dr Petta
(27:24):
about twenty years, then is that right? At least twenty
during that time, have you ever seen any indication of
any misconduct or improper sex conduct on the part of
Dr Petta in any way? No, has any of the
children that have worked with him, or whom you may
know that have known him, reported any incident of improper
(27:46):
conduct on the part of Dr Petter to you. No, No,
And I would think if there had been any kind
of incident, you know, it would have been impossible for
that not to have come to my attention because of
the way we worked many times with this same child.
I would have him as a probation officer or a
probation counselor Lewis would be psychological testing or some sort
(28:09):
of psychological counseling, and it would have been I think
highly likely if such had occurred, that it would have
been brought to my attention. And it never was and
never has been. And you say you visited in his
home many times. Have you ever seen, in connection with
these visits in his home any indication of domestic strife
(28:29):
or problems between he and Mrs Petta? I would say
it was almost uniquely clear of such. In fact, probably
less than any family I've ever known. A number of
these boys lived in their home, haven't they? And is
that part of some of the therapy for them? Well?
I would think that Louis Petter goes further in his
efforts to help people than most anybody in the business.
(28:50):
I know he is willing to go further and to
extend himself and his family. They have been that way.
I think they are unique in that respect. Also, do
you have any idea of how many boys you and
Dr Petter took on these trips over the years. I
sat scores of them. I'm sure it would add up
to perhaps more than a hundred. In the event you
(29:11):
had a teenage boy who had emotional problems and you
are familiar with the charges against Dr Petter, would you
have any hesitation in sending that type of youngster over
to an awaking No. I wouldn't have any hesitation. I
would think any professional in the business would want these
charges cleared, and personally I would have no objection. I
(29:31):
certainly would consider the charges untrue, but I would think
that any professional in the business would want these kinds
of charges erased, would want to see them cleared before
he made recommendations. Now, this type of thing is not
an uncommon charge where people who work with children, especially
emotionally disturbed people, is it. No, It happens frequently for
(29:52):
all of us who are familiar with institutions of this
sort where children are kept where they are kept voluntarily
or involuntarily. Anytime you have a large congregation or aggregation
of people with personality problems, you are much more likely
to have events of this type. Charges of this type.
They are frequent, you know, for those of us who
have had experience with them to realize that great care
(30:16):
and great caution should be taken in handling them. They
certainly can't be ignored. But the fact that there are
discontented people that are trying to be helped, that they
are likely to be unhappy for various reasons, they do
have problems. This has to be considered. I think when
such charges are made. Harm had made his argument clear.
(30:40):
The children and anawaki were troubled, unhappy people. They had
a reason to make claims against the head of the
place they were forced to be. Quite simply, he said,
they couldn't be trusted. Have you found in working with
children and young people that on occasions where they are
disturbed and unstable they turn against the person who was
(31:01):
trying to help. It's not uncommon at all because such
people that many times have strong dependency complexes. They invest
a good bit of themselves in someone who comes into
contact with them and attempts to help them, and they
want many more times than it is possible for any
human to give. But it's not uncommon, particularly with delinquent kids,
(31:23):
that they will turn against the person who is trying
to help them. They will do something that will cause
some disruption of the problem or some disruption of their
court status, and this kind of thing. They will do
this quite frequently. Playing right off of the testimony which
had just taken place, an Awaki attorney, Charles Edwards, called
(31:46):
back to the stand the patient who had spoken a
few days earlier against Petter, the one who stated he
had been a part of his inner circle. After some
events transpired over the weekend, the boy had a serious
change of mind and yet again signed another affidavit in
Petter's favor and decided to completely recant his testimony. Now
(32:08):
you remember testifying here before a few days ago, right now, Actually,
had there been any sexual acts between you and Dr Petter? No,
there there has not. In fact, I stretched you to
a great extent there. I mean it was like you know,
boys out on campus, like you come up to eat
(32:31):
at the lodge or something. You know, you put your
arms around them because you liked them and things like that.
It was the same way with Dr Petter, And I
believe I stated before the fact of him being a
father to me, that was the truth. And when I
first decided to leave there, it was more or less
just kind of a thing to get out on my own.
(32:53):
When you lived in Dr Petter's house, was there anything
improper up there in the house? Oh no, sir, At
no time was there none such going on? Is like that? Now?
I will refer you to the statement that you gave
Sheriff Abercumber. Was it true? Yes, it was that they
had threatened Dagostino had threatened you. Is that right? That
(33:16):
is correct? With police action, that is right. If you
didn't give him the statement, that's correct. And what you
are testifying to now about any improper conduct on the
part of Dr Petter is not true. Is that right? Correct?
It is a completely false statement. And there has never
been any improper conduct or sexual acts between you and
(33:39):
Dr Petter since you have known him, Is that right?
That's right? And I haven't even heard of as far
as boys or anything or anybody else seeing anything about it.
And some of these groups, did you know of Wren
and Dagastino discussing sex at any time. Roger Wren at
the time, he said, in the group had to have
(34:00):
what I think you call it a seance or what
it is. The group has to stay in together until
they decide to bring up their feelings. And it was
about myself and Roger in came in and said, look,
you're know, I'm going to tell you what it is.
Reminds you of Dr Petter, so therefore you want to
(34:23):
have sex with and that is the way you're going
to solve it. And he walked out. Mr Baxley came
in there after that. He got really upset about it
and he just missed a group and went down there
to talk to WN. And that's the last I've heard
of it. Have you ever heard Mr Dakastino speak of
(34:43):
communistic activities at all of any nature. I have heard
him say that. The people to some of his associates
or people that had worked with either thought he was
a member of the mafia or either he has some
type of comm in this connection. And I inquired about
it one time and he never gave me a definite answer.
(35:06):
I just came right out and said, are you a
member of the mafia? And he didn't either say yes
or no. He said, some people believe I am, some don't.
That is as far as it went, so I never
asked him any further. Had Petter once again managed to
manipulate this patient from his inner circle, The boy redacted
(35:28):
everything he had testified, the abuse, the grooming, living with Petter,
all of it. Not only that he had shifted the
blame to Roger Brenn and Robert Dagastino, stating that it
was Wren who had told him his mental problems were
sexual in nature, even claiming Dagasina was involved with the mafia.
(35:49):
For every testimony, the State of Georgia brought forth an
AWAKEI had their reply ready. Over the course of four
days and awake, he brought forth a number of Petter's friends,
officials from the state government, higher ups from the Fulton
Police Department, many of them an Awaki board members as well,
all giving glowing statements on Petter's behalf. Principles from schools
(36:13):
in Douglas County testified on the foundation's behalf, again stating
that any claims were more than likely falsehoods from scorned patients.
Now it was time for Petter himself to speak Charles
Edwards began his examination. Would you state your name, please,
(36:37):
Louis Petter? What was your position an Awake? Prior to
about a month or six weeks ago? I was the
chief administrative officer for an Awaki Residential Treatment Center. What
is your position now on the executive secretary to the
Board of Trustees of the Antiwaki Foundation Incorporated. Since the
initial claims against Petter had occurred, his rolling in Awaki
(37:00):
had already been scaled back, perhaps in an attempt to
save face and understate his participation at the treatment center.
A replacement director had been brought on. Within a few
months of the initial reports filed from Dagostino and Wren.
It was shown to the panel that now Petter's role
was strictly administrative, helping with the operating board at Inawaki,
(37:21):
who handled its finances and future projects. What do you
understand your duties to be. I'm to handle all those
matters regarding the foundation, the board's activities. I'm to do
the public relations work. I'm to serve in a consulting
capacity with parents. I'm to plan the expansion program of
the various centers that may be developed by the Foundation
(37:44):
throughout the state. You have been working out there since
when the idea of an awake he got started about
nineteen sixty and we began to meet and talked many
days about the idea of knowing what a youngster needs
and then trying to provide the services that are non
existent in the real problem. We were letting a lot
(38:06):
of children go by the wayside because of this, and
so some thirty five to forty people had part in
the setting up of the basic concept around an awake, attorneys, solicitors,
you name it, from around the state, superior court, judges
and what have you. Finally they came together and tied
up this idea. I had a good position and had
(38:28):
always been under civil service and always either worked for
the state of the county ever since I graduated from
college in ninety seven, I served as a probation officer,
and I was the first psychologist attached to any court
full time in the history of Georgia. I went from
there and set up the first division of psychological services
with the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. I went from there
(38:52):
on a repetition bit. I was asked not once but
a dozen times by the Superior Court judges in the
Eastern Judicial your circuit of Georgia to come and set
up the first family court in Georgia because they wanted
to set precedent. And from there I accepted the challenge
to come and set up and awaken. There have been
(39:12):
hundreds of children and families brought back together and helped,
and if I asked, we could put a thousand people
in the hallway. You know that you've heard the charges.
The damn lie. Pardon me. Has there ever been sexual
relationships of any kind between you and any of these
boys that have testified here? Not ever. I deal with
(39:36):
psychotic people. I deal with women and girls in my
offices as well as boys, and they do nearly anything
when they're working through their problems to try to seduce
you into whatever they're doing. Anybody that's in the field
doing therapy and depth will have to face up to
this sort of thing. In other words, you sort of
(39:57):
put yourself on the line any tudy that gets into
this work. I've talked to people in family service. There
are three women over there right now who would come
here and testify. They've been accused by their women clients
that they're lesbians. This sort of thing you go down
and talk to the probation officers for Fulton County Court,
(40:19):
and they're accused from time to time. Anybody that deals
with emotionally disturbed kids that are really involved in the
hot turmoil of the thing, I'd be willing to go
before any board of psychiatrists, sick psychiatrists, ten I'd be
glad to have them sent by the state or anybody
else out there to evaluate that program. That is the
(40:41):
best damn program to rehabilitate character disorders of any place
in the United States. I've got referrals from other places
that have failed, and they've been successful with them. Interesting enough,
there wasn't a single parent that withdrew aboard from there
facing the accusations, and I made it my personal point
(41:01):
to go to most of the parents and tell them.
They said, Dr Petter, we are standing with you right
to the line. And every parent of the old group
when this thing came out knew of these charges. I
didn't know who I was really being accused by. I
couldn't find out and couldn't defend myself. And I think
(41:23):
it is significant that not a single parent withdrew a
single child, and they're right now standing with me behind this,
and they want me to sue. As if summating all
of Anawaki's previous witnesses testimonies, Petter had made his argument.
The State of Georgia needed an awake. They took the
(41:46):
kids that nobody else wanted, that couldn't be helped except
by them. Every witness who spoke against him couldn't be trusted.
They were psychotic, emotionally disturbed kids who held a grudge
against him. He was a man with a history of
working for the state, close relationships with many powerful people
in government. Surely somebody would have had something to say
(42:08):
about this behavior if it was true. Petter was supposedly
just more of a figurehead at this point. Anyways, this
was Petter's last chance to save himself, and he pulled
out every stop he could. The hearing was then called
to a conclusion so the three person panel could discuss
the testimony with the rest of the State Board for
(42:28):
Children and Youth. A decision was made nearly a month later.
The minutes from the October twenty meeting with the State
Board of Children and Youth reads as follows. It begins
with a member of the panel board, Zack Smith, reporting
on the results of the hearing. Mr Smith reported that
the hearing officers recommendations had been mailed to board members
(42:50):
prior to the board meeting. He said he thought the
hearing was conducted in a satisfactory manner. He said Anna
Wake he had been allowed to remain open in administrator
had been appointed and the staff of the division will
visit periodically to investigate the situation. Dr Hutcherson said the
Services Committee would like to recommend that we accept and
(43:11):
approve the action of the Hearing Panel Committee of Anawaki
Foundation Incorporating and that we authorized the granting of a
license to Annawaki. Mr Smith said Mr Petter has no
responsibility for administration and does not work with the boys
or staff. He said he did not know what personal
contacts he has with the boys outside of the premises.
(43:35):
Dr Hutcherson moved that the Board expressed great appreciation to
the Hearing Panel Committee and staff who have dealt with
this delicate situation in such a fine way. Antawake would
remain open and receive their license as a child caring facility.
This license, granted by the State of Georgia, would be
(43:56):
the first step in Antawaki's future plans for expansion. The
stipulations of the panel that Louis Petters stand down as
director and not have any further contact with his patients
had been preempted and put into place before the hearing
even began. But now everything hinged on one very important condition.
Someone would need to check in on the facility regularly
(44:18):
to see that it operated in the manner prescribed. Only
a year after this hearing, another change in the Department
of Family and Child Services would affect who that person
would be. Louis Petter's old friend, Jim Parham would once
again take over as the director of the Department of
Family and Child Services, next time on Camp hell Anawaki.
(44:47):
That was the biggest disappointment of our lives. It was
emotionally painful to me to see the lack of concern
and reaction by the authorities who had the duty to
do something about this. If they're going to try and
stop you from taking the George bar, they're going to
go after you. Hammer and Tom they were accredited as
(45:11):
a hospital that made an Awake a gold mine. They
told me you would have to be processed and evaluation,
so you would go to a place called the E
N O unit, and I felt like I was in jail.
I had a long pingernail like shoot my fingernails down
to like a saw a pattern. I was trying to
(45:34):
scratch through my veins in my arm. I just I
literally wanted to die. Camp hell an Awake was created
and hosted by Josh Thane, with producer Miranda Hawkins and
executive producers Alex Williams and Matt Frederick. The soundtrack was
(45:57):
written and performed by Josh Stane and Adrian Barry. This
episode featured the voices of Michael Weaver, Mike Perkins, Robin Bloodworth,
Brian Troxel, Nick Tokosky, tofor Pain, Noel Brown, and Jason
Francisco Blue. Archival footage provided by ws B and CBS News.
Find us on Instagram at camp hell pod. That's c
(46:21):
A M p h E L L p O D.
Educate yourself about the issue of child abuse and things
that you should look for at the Darkness to Light
website D two ll dot org. That's d the number
two l dot org. Camp hell Anawaki is a production
of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts for my heart Radio,
(46:42):
visit the i heart Radio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever
you listen to podcasts,
Camp Hell Anawaki is a production of I Heart Radio.
The views and opinions express in this podcast are solely
those of the author and participants and do not necessarily
represent those of I Heart Media or its employees. Due
to discussion of traumatic, sexual and violent content, listeners discussion
is advised. In nineteen seventy, the Anawaki Foundation, as it
(00:27):
was known at the time, was being investigated to see
if it was fit to hold a license as a
child carrying facility in the State of Georgia, the biggest
concern being if it's executive, Lewis Petter, was quote a
person of stable and sound judgment. In this episode, you
will hear excerpts from the nineteen seventy hearing by the
(00:47):
Georgia Department of Family and Children's Services regarding whether or
not to revoke the Anawaki Treatment Center's license, performed here
by voice actors. John H. Hinchi, Assistant Attorney General representing
the State of Georgia, began questioning former counselor Roger Drew Rosel.
(01:07):
What was Dr Petter's position while you were at an Awaki.
He was a general director over the entire camp. Did
he supervise your activities as a group leader on occasion, Yes,
what do you mean on occasion? I saw very little
of Dr Petter in so far as instructing me as
a group leader. There were times when we had problems,
(01:28):
if we had specific problems, or sometimes if he wanted
to sit in on a group meeting, he would do that. Uh,
this wasn't on a very regular basis. Did you discuss
your activities on a regular basis with Dr Petter? The
problems Dr Petter was really more than anybody else. If
we had a particular problem or something out of the ordinary,
(01:48):
we would usually end up going to Dr Petter. What
sort of problems are you referring to? When I can
think of problems with kids? Uh, sexual problems, they were
all most always. Did you discuss any sexual problems with
boys under your supervision with Dr Petter? Yes, Sir, I did.
(02:09):
Would you relate those conversations with Dr Petter? On one occasion,
I went to Dr Petter and told him that had
come to me told me that he was having sexual
intercourse with He told me that this behavior had gone on.
Who told you? Counselor Roger Rosel was referring to two
(02:29):
of the boys from in Awaki who were having sexual relations.
Their names have been redacted from this document for their protection,
told me that he had been sexually involved with that
At first, he had been doing it just in order
to have sex. Then he told me that he liked
and he wanted to have sex because he liked him.
(02:50):
I went to Mr Petter and told him that he
had come to me, and I didn't know what to
tell because this was the first time I think that
I had been confronted directly with one of the boys
telling me that they were actually involved sexually with another
boy there in the camp. Mr Petter told me not
to discourage this behavior. Told me not to discourage what
kind of behavior, Not to discourage their sexual behavior, but
(03:13):
to tell them they shouldn't be promiscuous about it. To
encourage this relationship. Mr Petter told me to encourage this relationship.
Over the past several weeks, we have received number of
very serious allegations concerning both the facility out there in
a number of individuals involved with him. It was just
(03:36):
a form of their therapy. They were told to do it,
and at the time he was fourteen and a half
fifteen years old, they didn't know any better. I asked him,
why are you letting this happen? Why are you covering
up for Louis Patter. He had no answer to that
question involved having paid little such districle and the contrary
(04:04):
of what they should. I'm disturbable the fact of something
that is still going on. And anyway, I'm Josh Stain
and this is Camp Hell an Awake. In our last episode,
we heard from the foreign patient of an Awake who
had succumbed to Lewis Petter's manipulation and abuse. Now Roger
(04:27):
Roselle's testimony had begun to unravel Petter's pseudo psychological theory
regarding sexual practices. Rozel claimed that Petter had been encouraging
sexual relations between the boys on campus as well as
with counselors. Assistant Attorney General John Hinchy continued his questioning
of the former counselor. Did you have any other conversations
(04:51):
with Dr Petter about this particular theory of his. It
wasn't too long before I left an Awake. Mr Petter
was talking to me in the office of the camp.
I've been thinking about leaving. Mr Petter told me that
I was suffering from homosexual fear. And I asked him
what this was. He told me that I was afraid
(05:11):
that I was a homosexual, but that I could work
this out. He told me that I needed to work
this out. Could you tell us about that in detail? Well,
in the same conversation, Mr. Petter told me that he
would be willing to work it through, that he had
to find out that he could trust me. And at
the same time, he brought up the point that I
(05:32):
had been in the police department. Roselle had formerly worked
for the Atlanta Police, where he left after admitting to
filing a false police report, a stain on his professional career.
Apparently Petter knew this and made sure that rosel knew it.
He told me that he was aware of this the
(05:53):
entire time I had been employed by him, and asked
me if I knew that he was aware of this.
I told him I was. Then he said, see, you
can trust me. I knew this all along, and yet
I still let you work here. Now you need to
let me trust you, and you have to prove it
that I can trust you. At this time, I said,
(06:15):
all right, I'll prove it, and he shut the blinds
in the room and the curtain and I went over
and hugged him. You went over and what and he
hugged me. He tried to kiss me, but I turned
my head, or it appeared to me that he was
going to kiss me. Is this the only time that
something like that happened? No, sir. Another time we had
gone to Franklin, North Carolina to a gym show. One
(06:38):
of the boys was with us, and on the return
trip he was asleep in the back seat. Well before
the return trip we had stopped to eat something there
in Franklin. He kept suggesting that we stay in the
motel there and I said, no, we can go ahead
and make the trip back tonight. On the way back,
while the boy was asleep in the back, Mr Petter
put his hand on my neck and rubbed my neck.
(07:01):
Later he dropped his hand on my leg close to
my groin and rubbed my leg there. The boy awoke
about that time, and did Petter do anything when he
woke up, He moved his hand. Charles Edwards cross examination
that followed attempted to further smear Roselle's reputation by grilling
him about using illicit drugs, specifically marijuana. Rosel said he
(07:25):
had never used any legal drug before in his life.
Edwards leaves Rosel with a final remembrance of his failed
police career. When you went down to the police department.
You took an oath, didn't you, Yes, sir? I did?
You took an oath to uphold the law and do
your duty? Isn't that right? Yes, sir? You violated that oath,
(07:47):
didn't you, Yes, sir. Attorney for the state, John Hinchy
requested to ask a few more questions. Did Dr Petter
know about this police report before you came to work
at Unawaki? Did not tell Dr Petter myself, but Dr
Petter did tell me later on that he was aware
of it and had been aware of it since the
(08:09):
time of my employment. Did he ever say anything to
you about this report? It was during the time when
I wanted to leave the camp. I had signed an
agreement that said that if I left the camp at
any time within two years, I would have to pay
a certain amount of money for training I received. I
was going to leave anyway. Mr Petter told me that
(08:29):
if I left the camp that he would have to
inform any employers that might seek him as a reference
of my problems, and that this would include the police department.
Mr Petter said that I had done this as a
result of homosexual fear, and told me that if I
would bring him in writing a letter from a psychologist
or a psychiatrist saying that I was under treatment for
homosexual fear, that he would let it go. According to
(08:55):
rosel Petter extended power over his staff, just as he
did the patients at Awake. If anyone chose to leave,
they could be indebted to him financially, and Petter would
be sure to have something to hold over their head.
Not only did Roselle alleged that Petter was using the
false police report as leverage, but that he even had
(09:15):
the gall to request a written letter from a psychologist
admitting and writing that Roselle was guilty of the exact
prognosis Petter claimed for all of the crimes which Louis
Petter was accused of. He had a backup plan and
seemed willing to use anything he could against anyone who
claimed otherwise. In its case against an Awake, the state
(09:58):
had interviewed students who claimed to have been abused by
Petter and a staff member who testified to witnessing this
type of behavior as well as being personally threatened. The
next witness would be another unnamed patient who alleged he
was included in Petter's inner circle, the small group of
patients who would stay at Petter's house on the weekend,
(10:19):
basically living with their abuser. Are you acquainted with Dr
Lewis Petter, the respondent in this proceeding, Yes, I am.
Have you ever engaged in sexual activities while at an
awaking yes? Did you have any sexual relations with Dr
Petter while you were there? Yes? Yes I did? And
(10:39):
when was the first occasion? Paulson must have been six
or seven months after I was there. Can you describe
that occasion and what happened first? Started off came in,
You know, I was at the camp and it was
said that I could go to Dr Petter's house and
(11:02):
that there was a girl there that I could date
that night with and Mr Petter's daughter, which was Rita.
So while I was in there taking a shower, this
was when I was first confronted with it. I was
kind of played around with that was the first thing.
(11:22):
And what happened on medication. I was in there at
the sink and Mr Pettick came in and started fumbling
around with me. You just started rubbing me all over
and things of this nature, and just kind of laughing
and smiling. Did he say anything? He said, you're a
(11:45):
good boy, and things like this. Did you try to
run away? I was more or less frozen. This is
right when I get out the shower and I was shaving,
I put down my shorts and just walked out. Can
you describe what happened on the second occasion? I couldn't
(12:08):
exactly list them in in a complete order or anything.
There are many occasions. I can explain occasions to you.
How many occasions it must have been ten, eleven, twelve
on up there. What did Petter do on these numerous
occasions that you just mentioned, pash, debating, fondling, I guess
(12:33):
you would say, kissing, this stuff. Did he ask you
voluntarily to do this with him? He always approached me
like you've been rejecting me for a week or two,
and I like to know why, and things like this.
This was the way it would first begin. And then
he would say something like, well, why don't we just
(12:55):
go in here in the bathroom. It's something of this nature.
Another approach was, you know you have a homosexual problem
that you need to work through. The only way you
can work through this is having one masculine image around
you all the time. This patient's experience reflects much of
(13:16):
what we heard in the first testimony. By this account,
Petter was convinced that nothing would come of his behavior,
so blatant has to even partaken this abuse in his
own home with his wife and daughters in the next room.
Did you ever tell anyone else at the camp about
these incidents with Dr Petter? No? I didn't. Did you
(13:40):
ever try to put a stop to them? I was
always more or less just I would do my best
to reject them. What would you do? I go around
like at the camp or something of someone said Doc
was on the campus, I would leave or something like that.
During this time I was living with them, I kept
(14:01):
more or less to myself or Wayne Petter, who was there.
Wayne was Louis Petter's adopted son. I just do my
best to reject it. Then, if I was up watching
a late show or something, everybody else would go to bed,
you know, and then Mrr Petter and I would be
in there. I started to go to bed, and he
(14:24):
would start his routine over again, where generally did these
incidents occur with Dr Petter in his office? Yes, one
occasion was in was in his office. That was the
only one in his office. The rest of these were
at his home. Some members of the hearing panel had
questions about this part of the testimony. How old were
(14:47):
you during this time? I was about fourteen when I
when I first went out there, I'm nineteen. Now. How
long did you live there? About two years? Did you
think that moving in the house Lewis Petter would make
it more convenient for him to do these things? I figured,
you know that maybe how it's wrong, Maybe it was
(15:08):
nothing I was. I was so confused, and I admit
I was emotionally upset quite a bit. I just I
wanted a family situation. That was the best way and
the only way I knew to get one. You put
up with it just to get to live there, That's right.
One issue that came up in this hearing was that
(15:30):
this patient had signed two separate affidavits in regards to
Dr Petter. When did you sign the first one? I
signed the first one for him. I don't know exactly
what data was, but it was in Mr Edward's office.
Do you remember the circumstances when you signed this affidavit. Yes,
the way I gather it is that Roger In and
(15:52):
Bob Akistino were filing suit on him, a million dollars suit.
How did you find out about that? Was told this
by whom by Dr Petter and by the whole Petter
family at the time I was living there, that and
in all some sort of homosexual acts that they were
going to try to prove that he had participated in.
(16:13):
And so Colonel Parker and members of the board, several
of them came out to the administration building and awake,
and Dr Petter was going to discuss this with them.
So I was on campus and knew that they were
going to be out there in the whole. While I
was going up there, he told me if I wanted
to help him out, the best thing I could do
(16:35):
was they asked any questions about, say that I participating
in masturbating with him, say five or six times, something
like this. The patient is referring to another boy from
an awake his name also redacted for protection. The patient
(16:55):
claims Petter again shifted the blame for his actions to
another student onto someone else. Have you ever participated in
masturbating with No, I have not go on. So he
said they were going to try to wreck his home,
his family and Antawaki itself. Who was Bob Dugustino Roger
(17:18):
in this is way? He had told me. So he said,
you go in there. You know they're gonna call you
in and they're gonna ask you questions. And he said
that placed this in my answers when asked about that,
was that was the main thing. Did he offer you
any favor or payment of money for doing this? No?
(17:42):
All he said was, you know, if things work out right,
you'll still be able to go to college. You'll still
have a home anytime you want it, have a home
with home him. Did you sign the affidavits? Yes? I did.
Did you sign any other affidavits? Yes. Right after that,
(18:02):
it was on November the six, I got to thinking
about the whole situation, you know, I mean, really just
how wrong it was because I never had any sexual
acts or anybody else anyone out there on the campus
as far as that was concerned. So I started feeling
(18:23):
guilty about it. So if there was gonna be a suit,
I figured, heck, why not tell the truth. At first,
I just want to stay out of it. But then
I had already gotten in it. So I signed affidavit
for Bob Dextino. Did you sign any later affidavits? Yes?
(18:46):
After that I resigned one for Dr Pettick. Why did
you do that? Because I started being pressured by my
peers and things like that. When all this mess started
up about the court stuff, I was completely rejected and
thrown aside head. It just really upset me. So then
I resigned for Dr petterck. Where did you do that?
(19:09):
It was in the Sheriff's office of Douglas Field that
I signed it, wrote it out, dictated it, and then
O'Barry wrote it out and and I signed it. Was
it the truth? I'm referring to the third affidavit you
signed and Sheriff Abercrombie's office. No, what is the truth?
Would you tell us now? The truth? As far as
(19:32):
this whole thing goes, I know you know I've done
homosexual acts with Dr Petter and I know of him
doing them. There are people on both sides that I
care about. Ends just it confused, mixed up thing. I
really just don't want to have any more to do
with it because there's too many people getting hurt in it.
(19:55):
And there's too many of my friends and things of
this nature that just getting all torn up with it.
Why did you decide to tell us the truth? Because
I wanted it to be the end of it. I'm
tired of hearing about it. M State Attorney John Hinchy
(20:36):
had laid out the testimonies of multiple patients of an
Awaki who alleged that they were the victims of Louis
Petter's abuse, both mental and physical. Hinchi showed Petter's efforts
to cover himself with false affidavits from current patients and
pointed to Petter's arrogance in the face of being questioned.
Anawaki had attempted to discredit its former patients, using the
(21:00):
knowledge gleaned from their own medical records against them. Now
it was time for Charles Edwards to do damage control
on Inawak's behalf. What transpired is a series of testimonies
from friends of Lewis Petter, who, in their eyes, could
do no wrong. The following is just one example of
a friend of Petters who was willing to vouch for
(21:21):
his character. Would you state your name for the hearing committee, please,
Sir John J. Purple Jr. Do you know Dr Pettter? Yes, sir?
How long have you known him? Since nineteen one? Can
you state what his character is in the community in
(21:41):
which he lives in works? In my experience, it's been
above reproach. I've had dealings with him professionally. Are you
familiar with the charges that have been brought against Dr
Petti concerning homosexual activities? I know nothing about specific charges.
I just know in the general sense. And do you
know him well enough that if you had a teenage
(22:04):
son who was emotionally disturbed, even though charges like these
had been made, would you have any hesitation of still
sending that son to the center out there for treatment?
I would have no hesitation whatsoever. That is all State
Attorney John HINCHI began his cross examination. If the charges
(22:25):
against Dr Petter were true, would your opinion of him change?
I can't see how they could be true. I have
never had any reason to believe I understand, But if
they were proven true, would your opinion of him change?
Let's back up a minute. I'm not familiar with the
charges the charging question that this hearing is and I
(22:49):
quote and awake, he maybe in violation of the minimum
requirement applicable to child carrying institutions, requiring that the executive
in every instance be a person of state able sound
judgment whose integrity is above reproach, and that Louis J. Petter,
executive director, is reported to have had immral ellicit relationships
(23:13):
consisting of homosexual acts with one or more of the
boys who have been patients or students of this child
caring institution, and has further condoned the practices of homosexual
acts between other boys at this institution. Now, if this
charge were proven true, would your opinion of Dr Petter change?
(23:35):
Or in the alternative, would you send your son to
Anna Wake he with Dr Petter as the director. I
would be quite surprised if this could be proven true.
I still believe that Lewis Petter could help my son,
even if such charges could be substantiated. Even if the
charges could be substantiated and be proven true, you think
he could help your son. Yes, even if Petter had
(24:01):
been practicing sexual acts with the children at Anawaki, this
man claimed he would still put his own son in
Petter's control. Many of in Aweki's witnesses would be asked
the same series of questions, each corroborating Petter's remarkable character.
One thing that seemed clear from this series of testimonies
is petters strong ties to the community in Douglasville and
(24:25):
his assurance to keep himself in a good light to
the people that mattered. Edwards next witness would be sure
to make an impression on the panel. From the Department
of Family and Children's Services, Petter's old friend, Jim Parham.
Parham had served as the director of de Facts from
nineteen sixty three to nineteen sixty seven. Would you state
(24:48):
your name for the hearing committee, Thomas M. Jim Parham.
What kind of work are you in or profession? Well,
I'm a social worker. I'm a professional social worker by training,
and I'm a correction specialist in the Institute of Government
at the University of Georgia. I'm also an assistant professor
in the School of Social Work and School of Sociology. Now,
(25:10):
in the nineteen fifties, where were you employed. I was
employed at the Fulton County Juvenile Court up until nineteen
fifty seven, and then I worked with Mr Petter at
the Savannah Chatham County Juvenile Domestic Relations Court till fifty
nine and subsequently at other places. Is that where you
first became acquainted with Dr Petter? Yes, In the late forties,
(25:32):
he was a probation officer and subsequently a psychologist at
the juvenile Court. I was a detention home attendant at
night while I was at Emory, and when I graduated
from Memory, I took a job as a probation officer.
He and I worked together quite frequently from fifty one
until fifty five, at which time I went off to
graduate school on leave of absence. When I returned, he
(25:53):
was negotiating for a job to set up the first
combined juvenile domestic court in Georgia. He asked me if
I would be interested it and going along with him.
I did go, and we worked together for two years
and setting up that court. And did you work closely
with him and see him almost daily? During that period
of time from fifty one until we went off to
school in fifty five, we were together daily well except
(26:16):
for weekends, and and many time on weekends because we
were interested in our jobs, and we had a good
many of the more difficult assignments, and we undertook camping
trips and cave exploring trips and interesting things to do,
because we found that a lot of the kids that
we were interested in trying to help didn't fit in
very well to any of the existing organizations. For instance,
(26:39):
if they would go to Boys Club or the Why
or something like that, well, quite frankly, they were so
aggressive they got turned away, or either they were so
withdrawn they wouldn't be accepted. So we found that this
was helpful. That kind of experience gave these kids something
interesting to do, something they could go back to their
group and talk about something of interest. We took scores
(27:02):
of youngsters. I wouldn't begin to think how many, but
we took scores off among camping trips where we were
together for extended periods of time, two or three days
at a time while we were together, just constantly, I stated,
at his house, whenever I went there for a while
we were together, I would say, if not practically all
the time, from what you've said, you've known Dr Petta
(27:24):
about twenty years, then is that right? At least twenty
during that time, have you ever seen any indication of
any misconduct or improper sex conduct on the part of
Dr Petta in any way? No, has any of the
children that have worked with him, or whom you may
know that have known him, reported any incident of improper
(27:46):
conduct on the part of Dr Petter to you. No, No,
And I would think if there had been any kind
of incident, you know, it would have been impossible for
that not to have come to my attention because of
the way we worked many times with this same child.
I would have him as a probation officer or a
probation counselor Lewis would be psychological testing or some sort
(28:09):
of psychological counseling, and it would have been I think
highly likely if such had occurred, that it would have
been brought to my attention. And it never was and
never has been. And you say you visited in his
home many times. Have you ever seen, in connection with
these visits in his home any indication of domestic strife
(28:29):
or problems between he and Mrs Petta? I would say
it was almost uniquely clear of such. In fact, probably
less than any family I've ever known. A number of
these boys lived in their home, haven't they? And is
that part of some of the therapy for them? Well?
I would think that Louis Petter goes further in his
efforts to help people than most anybody in the business.
(28:50):
I know he is willing to go further and to
extend himself and his family. They have been that way.
I think they are unique in that respect. Also, do
you have any idea of how many boys you and
Dr Petter took on these trips over the years. I
sat scores of them. I'm sure it would add up
to perhaps more than a hundred. In the event you
(29:11):
had a teenage boy who had emotional problems and you
are familiar with the charges against Dr Petter, would you
have any hesitation in sending that type of youngster over
to an awaking No. I wouldn't have any hesitation. I
would think any professional in the business would want these
charges cleared, and personally I would have no objection. I
(29:31):
certainly would consider the charges untrue, but I would think
that any professional in the business would want these kinds
of charges erased, would want to see them cleared before
he made recommendations. Now, this type of thing is not
an uncommon charge where people who work with children, especially
emotionally disturbed people, is it. No, It happens frequently for
(29:52):
all of us who are familiar with institutions of this
sort where children are kept where they are kept voluntarily
or involuntarily. Anytime you have a large congregation or aggregation
of people with personality problems, you are much more likely
to have events of this type. Charges of this type.
They are frequent, you know, for those of us who
have had experience with them to realize that great care
(30:16):
and great caution should be taken in handling them. They
certainly can't be ignored. But the fact that there are
discontented people that are trying to be helped, that they
are likely to be unhappy for various reasons, they do
have problems. This has to be considered. I think when
such charges are made. Harm had made his argument clear.
(30:40):
The children and anawaki were troubled, unhappy people. They had
a reason to make claims against the head of the
place they were forced to be. Quite simply, he said,
they couldn't be trusted. Have you found in working with
children and young people that on occasions where they are
disturbed and unstable they turn against the person who was
(31:01):
trying to help. It's not uncommon at all because such
people that many times have strong dependency complexes. They invest
a good bit of themselves in someone who comes into
contact with them and attempts to help them, and they
want many more times than it is possible for any
human to give. But it's not uncommon, particularly with delinquent kids,
(31:23):
that they will turn against the person who is trying
to help them. They will do something that will cause
some disruption of the problem or some disruption of their
court status, and this kind of thing. They will do
this quite frequently. Playing right off of the testimony which
had just taken place, an Awaki attorney, Charles Edwards, called
(31:46):
back to the stand the patient who had spoken a
few days earlier against Petter, the one who stated he
had been a part of his inner circle. After some
events transpired over the weekend, the boy had a serious
change of mind and yet again signed another affidavit in
Petter's favor and decided to completely recant his testimony. Now
(32:08):
you remember testifying here before a few days ago, right now, Actually,
had there been any sexual acts between you and Dr Petter? No,
there there has not. In fact, I stretched you to
a great extent there. I mean it was like you know,
boys out on campus, like you come up to eat
(32:31):
at the lodge or something. You know, you put your
arms around them because you liked them and things like that.
It was the same way with Dr Petter, And I
believe I stated before the fact of him being a
father to me, that was the truth. And when I
first decided to leave there, it was more or less
just kind of a thing to get out on my own.
(32:53):
When you lived in Dr Petter's house, was there anything
improper up there in the house? Oh no, sir, At
no time was there none such going on? Is like that? Now?
I will refer you to the statement that you gave
Sheriff Abercumber. Was it true? Yes, it was that they
had threatened Dagostino had threatened you. Is that right? That
(33:16):
is correct? With police action, that is right. If you
didn't give him the statement, that's correct. And what you
are testifying to now about any improper conduct on the
part of Dr Petter is not true. Is that right? Correct?
It is a completely false statement. And there has never
been any improper conduct or sexual acts between you and
(33:39):
Dr Petter since you have known him, Is that right?
That's right? And I haven't even heard of as far
as boys or anything or anybody else seeing anything about it.
And some of these groups, did you know of Wren
and Dagastino discussing sex at any time. Roger Wren at
the time, he said, in the group had to have
(34:00):
what I think you call it a seance or what
it is. The group has to stay in together until
they decide to bring up their feelings. And it was
about myself and Roger in came in and said, look,
you're know, I'm going to tell you what it is.
Reminds you of Dr Petter, so therefore you want to
(34:23):
have sex with and that is the way you're going
to solve it. And he walked out. Mr Baxley came
in there after that. He got really upset about it
and he just missed a group and went down there
to talk to WN. And that's the last I've heard
of it. Have you ever heard Mr Dakastino speak of
(34:43):
communistic activities at all of any nature. I have heard
him say that. The people to some of his associates
or people that had worked with either thought he was
a member of the mafia or either he has some
type of comm in this connection. And I inquired about
it one time and he never gave me a definite answer.
(35:06):
I just came right out and said, are you a
member of the mafia? And he didn't either say yes
or no. He said, some people believe I am, some don't.
That is as far as it went, so I never
asked him any further. Had Petter once again managed to
manipulate this patient from his inner circle, The boy redacted
(35:28):
everything he had testified, the abuse, the grooming, living with Petter,
all of it. Not only that he had shifted the
blame to Roger Brenn and Robert Dagastino, stating that it
was Wren who had told him his mental problems were
sexual in nature, even claiming Dagasina was involved with the mafia.
(35:49):
For every testimony, the State of Georgia brought forth an
AWAKEI had their reply ready. Over the course of four
days and awake, he brought forth a number of Petter's friends,
officials from the state government, higher ups from the Fulton
Police Department, many of them an Awaki board members as well,
all giving glowing statements on Petter's behalf. Principles from schools
(36:13):
in Douglas County testified on the foundation's behalf, again stating
that any claims were more than likely falsehoods from scorned patients.
Now it was time for Petter himself to speak Charles
Edwards began his examination. Would you state your name, please,
(36:37):
Louis Petter? What was your position an Awake? Prior to
about a month or six weeks ago? I was the
chief administrative officer for an Awaki Residential Treatment Center. What
is your position now on the executive secretary to the
Board of Trustees of the Antiwaki Foundation Incorporated. Since the
initial claims against Petter had occurred, his rolling in Awaki
(37:00):
had already been scaled back, perhaps in an attempt to
save face and understate his participation at the treatment center.
A replacement director had been brought on. Within a few
months of the initial reports filed from Dagostino and Wren.
It was shown to the panel that now Petter's role
was strictly administrative, helping with the operating board at Inawaki,
(37:21):
who handled its finances and future projects. What do you
understand your duties to be. I'm to handle all those
matters regarding the foundation, the board's activities. I'm to do
the public relations work. I'm to serve in a consulting
capacity with parents. I'm to plan the expansion program of
the various centers that may be developed by the Foundation
(37:44):
throughout the state. You have been working out there since
when the idea of an awake he got started about
nineteen sixty and we began to meet and talked many
days about the idea of knowing what a youngster needs
and then trying to provide the services that are non
existent in the real problem. We were letting a lot
(38:06):
of children go by the wayside because of this, and
so some thirty five to forty people had part in
the setting up of the basic concept around an awake, attorneys, solicitors,
you name it, from around the state, superior court, judges
and what have you. Finally they came together and tied
up this idea. I had a good position and had
(38:28):
always been under civil service and always either worked for
the state of the county ever since I graduated from
college in ninety seven, I served as a probation officer,
and I was the first psychologist attached to any court
full time in the history of Georgia. I went from
there and set up the first division of psychological services
with the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. I went from there
(38:52):
on a repetition bit. I was asked not once but
a dozen times by the Superior Court judges in the
Eastern Judicial your circuit of Georgia to come and set
up the first family court in Georgia because they wanted
to set precedent. And from there I accepted the challenge
to come and set up and awaken. There have been
(39:12):
hundreds of children and families brought back together and helped,
and if I asked, we could put a thousand people
in the hallway. You know that you've heard the charges.
The damn lie. Pardon me. Has there ever been sexual
relationships of any kind between you and any of these
boys that have testified here? Not ever. I deal with
(39:36):
psychotic people. I deal with women and girls in my
offices as well as boys, and they do nearly anything
when they're working through their problems to try to seduce
you into whatever they're doing. Anybody that's in the field
doing therapy and depth will have to face up to
this sort of thing. In other words, you sort of
(39:57):
put yourself on the line any tudy that gets into
this work. I've talked to people in family service. There
are three women over there right now who would come
here and testify. They've been accused by their women clients
that they're lesbians. This sort of thing you go down
and talk to the probation officers for Fulton County Court,
(40:19):
and they're accused from time to time. Anybody that deals
with emotionally disturbed kids that are really involved in the
hot turmoil of the thing, I'd be willing to go
before any board of psychiatrists, sick psychiatrists, ten I'd be
glad to have them sent by the state or anybody
else out there to evaluate that program. That is the
(40:41):
best damn program to rehabilitate character disorders of any place
in the United States. I've got referrals from other places
that have failed, and they've been successful with them. Interesting enough,
there wasn't a single parent that withdrew aboard from there
facing the accusations, and I made it my personal point
(41:01):
to go to most of the parents and tell them.
They said, Dr Petter, we are standing with you right
to the line. And every parent of the old group
when this thing came out knew of these charges. I
didn't know who I was really being accused by. I
couldn't find out and couldn't defend myself. And I think
(41:23):
it is significant that not a single parent withdrew a
single child, and they're right now standing with me behind this,
and they want me to sue. As if summating all
of Anawaki's previous witnesses testimonies, Petter had made his argument.
The State of Georgia needed an awake. They took the
(41:46):
kids that nobody else wanted, that couldn't be helped except
by them. Every witness who spoke against him couldn't be trusted.
They were psychotic, emotionally disturbed kids who held a grudge
against him. He was a man with a history of
working for the state, close relationships with many powerful people
in government. Surely somebody would have had something to say
(42:08):
about this behavior if it was true. Petter was supposedly
just more of a figurehead at this point. Anyways, this
was Petter's last chance to save himself, and he pulled
out every stop he could. The hearing was then called
to a conclusion so the three person panel could discuss
the testimony with the rest of the State Board for
(42:28):
Children and Youth. A decision was made nearly a month later.
The minutes from the October twenty meeting with the State
Board of Children and Youth reads as follows. It begins
with a member of the panel board, Zack Smith, reporting
on the results of the hearing. Mr Smith reported that
the hearing officers recommendations had been mailed to board members
(42:50):
prior to the board meeting. He said he thought the
hearing was conducted in a satisfactory manner. He said Anna
Wake he had been allowed to remain open in administrator
had been appointed and the staff of the division will
visit periodically to investigate the situation. Dr Hutcherson said the
Services Committee would like to recommend that we accept and
(43:11):
approve the action of the Hearing Panel Committee of Anawaki
Foundation Incorporating and that we authorized the granting of a
license to Annawaki. Mr Smith said Mr Petter has no
responsibility for administration and does not work with the boys
or staff. He said he did not know what personal
contacts he has with the boys outside of the premises.
(43:35):
Dr Hutcherson moved that the Board expressed great appreciation to
the Hearing Panel Committee and staff who have dealt with
this delicate situation in such a fine way. Antawake would
remain open and receive their license as a child caring facility.
This license, granted by the State of Georgia, would be
(43:56):
the first step in Antawaki's future plans for expansion. The
stipulations of the panel that Louis Petters stand down as
director and not have any further contact with his patients
had been preempted and put into place before the hearing
even began. But now everything hinged on one very important condition.
Someone would need to check in on the facility regularly
(44:18):
to see that it operated in the manner prescribed. Only
a year after this hearing, another change in the Department
of Family and Child Services would affect who that person
would be. Louis Petter's old friend, Jim Parham would once
again take over as the director of the Department of
Family and Child Services, next time on Camp hell Anawaki.
(44:47):
That was the biggest disappointment of our lives. It was
emotionally painful to me to see the lack of concern
and reaction by the authorities who had the duty to
do something about this. If they're going to try and
stop you from taking the George bar, they're going to
go after you. Hammer and Tom they were accredited as
(45:11):
a hospital that made an Awake a gold mine. They
told me you would have to be processed and evaluation,
so you would go to a place called the E
N O unit, and I felt like I was in jail.
I had a long pingernail like shoot my fingernails down
to like a saw a pattern. I was trying to
(45:34):
scratch through my veins in my arm. I just I
literally wanted to die. Camp hell an Awake was created
and hosted by Josh Thane, with producer Miranda Hawkins and
executive producers Alex Williams and Matt Frederick. The soundtrack was
(45:57):
written and performed by Josh Stane and Adrian Barry. This
episode featured the voices of Michael Weaver, Mike Perkins, Robin Bloodworth,
Brian Troxel, Nick Tokosky, tofor Pain, Noel Brown, and Jason
Francisco Blue. Archival footage provided by ws B and CBS News.
Find us on Instagram at camp hell pod. That's c
(46:21):
A M p h E L L p O D.
Educate yourself about the issue of child abuse and things
that you should look for at the Darkness to Light
website D two ll dot org. That's d the number
two l dot org. Camp hell Anawaki is a production
of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts for my heart Radio,
(46:42):
visit the i heart Radio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever
you listen to podcasts,
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