Inside the Challenger Foundation’s harrowing ‘wilderness therapy camp’ that promised to ‘exhaust’ troubled teens – before being closed amid allegations of child abuse and negligent homicide following the death of a 16-year-old girl
An upcoming documentary will unravel the harrowing true story of the “wilderness therapy camp” that promised to reform wayward teens.
Former military special forces officer Steve Cartisano founded the Challenger Foundation in the Utah desert in the 1980s, and its popularity skyrocketed.
It charged parents $15,900 for the 63-day program and promised to “wear kids down until they’re good again.”
But it would later be engulfed in scandal and eventually closed after multiple allegations of child abuse and negligent homicide following the death of a 16-year-old girl.
Here, FEMAIL has exposed the sordid details of the camp as Netflix is about to release Hell Camp: Teen Nightmare.
Former military special forces officer Steve Cartisano founded the Challenger Foundation in the Utah desert in the 1980s – and its popularity skyrocketed
It charged parents $15,900 for the 63-day program and promised to ‘wear kids out until they’re good again’
The new trailer for Hell Camp: Teen Nightmare began by explaining that the Challenger Foundation was founded against a backdrop of social unrest.
It read: ‘The 1980s were a time when the world was changing. There was great concern that America’s youth were taking a wrong turn.”
And it was Cartisano, often called the “godfather of wilderness therapy treatment,” who decided to respond.
He founded the Challenger Foundation in 1988, based on the premise of ‘being made better through struggle’.
Cartisano, who believed in intimidating rebellious children into submission by surviving outdoors, previously said: “These kids need this, we’re saving so many more lives.”
Parents appeared to compete with high-profile attendees, even including two teenagers from the Winthrop Rockefeller family.
Dozens of families have had to pay the high registration fee, with the program reportedly raising $3.2 million in its first year.
The rules were strict and would involve “strip searches and military haircuts,” as Cartisano “adopted a drill-sergeant style of speaking that shouted ‘Yes sir!’ required. answers,” said Highland News.
The Challenger Foundation was founded in 1988 on the principle of ‘being made better through struggle’
Cartisano, who believed in intimidating rebellious children into submission by surviving outdoors, previously said: ‘These kids need this, we are saving so many more lives’
The rules were strict and would involve “strip searches and military haircuts” as Cartisano “adopted a drill-sergeant style of speaking”
It seemed like Cartisano was getting results to some extent as many hailed him as a “genius” who was “ahead of his time” with a “great idea”
There were also severe punishments for children who did not follow instructions properly, including having their rations taken away and being forced to carry heavy loads of cow dung in backpacks all day.
It seemed like Cartisano was getting results to some extent as many hailed him as a “genius” who was “ahead of his time” with a “great idea.”
But his bubble burst in spectacular fashion.
In 1990, camp participant Kirsten Chase, from Florida, had been hiking across the desert’s rugged Kaiparowits Plateau when she complained of a headache.
The 16-year-old girl, who had arrived at the program only three days earlier, then collapsed and died.
Her autopsy would later list the cause of death as “exertional heat stroke.”
Cartisano and the program were charged with negligent homicide and multiple counts of child abuse stemming from Chase’s death and allegations that other teens were starved and physically abused.
The allegations included children being “tied to trees” and “physically dragged.”
There were also severe punishments for children who did not follow instructions properly, including having their rations taken away and being forced to carry heavy loads of cow dung in backpacks all day.
Dozens of families had to pay the high registration fee, with the program reportedly raising $3.2 million in its first year
Cartisano and the program were charged with negligent homicide and multiple felony counts of child abuse stemming from Chase’s death, as well as allegations that other teens were starved and physically abused.
A witness in the trailer revealed: “They were emaciated, they were dirty, you couldn’t even tell they were children.”
And another claimed: ‘The doctor counted over 80 scars, marks and bruises.’
During the trial, Kane County Sheriff Max Jackson testified that Cartisano, then 38, had been “flippant” when told about Chase’s death, according to Tampa Bay Times.
Cartisano, father of four children, died in 2019 at the age of 63
He also said the Challenger Foundation does not have adequate procedures in place to deal with medical emergencies, adding From the moment the girl became ill, it took almost two hours for professional medical help to arrive.
The camp filed for bankruptcy and was closed in the aftermath.
Cartisano was ultimately acquitted of all criminal charges, but was civilly indicted.
He was subsequently banned from running any child treatment program in Utah, but later set up offshoots in Hawaii, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
Tragically, many attendees did not solely blame Cartisano for their traumatic experience.
In the trailer, a former contestant fought back tears as she concluded, “The hardest part about being there is knowing my parents did this to me.”
Cartisano, father of four children, died in 2019 at the age of 63.