Episode 212: Wilderness Therapy Gone Very Wrong

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January 7, 2025 • 69 mins

In 1988 Steve Cartisano founded the Challenger Foundation Camp in southern Utah for troubled teens. The program brought the teens into the Utah desert and was designed to help kids by instilling discipline, kicking them out of their bad habits and giving treatment. However after the death of 16-year-old Kristin Chase, the abuse occuring at this camp would finally come to light. Steve Cartisano was never held responsible and instead of finding a new line of work, decided to open multiple other wilderness therapy programs. His final program, Pacific Coast Academy in Samoa, was shut down after a video that was secretly taken at the camp exposing the abuse came to light.

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Episode 212: Wilderness Therapy Gone Very Wrong