27 More 'Possible Graves' Found Near Fla. Reform School Infamous for Beatings, Sex Abuse

Twenty-seven possible graves were found on the site of an infamous defunct Florida reform school where former students said they were beaten and sexually abused.

Graves at the former property of the Dozier School for Boys, west of Tallahassee, have been found in the past. The recent discovery would bring the number of known burials to 82.

PVC pipe crosses marking 31 grave sites in that cemetery had little correlation to bodies buried below, reports theOrlando Sentinel. The newest discoveries are outside of the cemetery, within a sector for African-American boys in what prior to 1968 remained a segregated rural campus.

The Dozier School for Boys in Florida.

As many as 100 or more deaths — including those who died in a 1914 fire — may have occurred on the campus during its 111-year existence, according to estimates from university researchers, theOrlando Sentinelreports.

‘I Know for a Fact That Some Boys Died’

The men who came forth to allege horrific acts undertaken during their years at the school organized themselves as the “White House Boys,” so named after the squat, white cinderblock building where they say they experienced or witnessed harrowing beatings, sexual abuse and death.

University of South Florida Anthropology Team

“Some of the ‘boys’ who didn’t know each other were telling me the same stories,” former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi told PEOPLE in 2013. “Some of the children who died were as young as 6. We needed to investigate.”

A former inmate at the school, Roger Kiser, told PEOPLE that same year: “I was raised in an orphanage. When I was 13, I ran away, and a judge sent me to Dozier. I saw the campus and thought, ‘I’m in heaven.’ But the abuse started immediately.”

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“I was assigned to work in the hospital,” he said. “I saw boys with all sorts of injuries. One of the adults took a liking to me and would make me perform sex acts on myself while he watched. I know for a fact that some boys died. Two boys put another boy in the washer and killed him. He was buried in the graveyard. When boys ran, the guards would release the dogs to tear them up.”

“It has taken a long time, but now everyone knows I was telling the truth after all,” he said.

The latest revelation affirms the beliefs of Bryant Middleton, of Fort Walton Beach, who was sent to Dozier for “incorrigibility” in 1959, according to theTampa Bay Times.

“We’ve been trying to tell the state of Florida that there’s more bodies out there for a long time,” he told the outlet. “I’m in possession of a list of 130 some odd boys who died at the school or disappeared and whose last known resting place we can’t find.”

In 2018 the state deeded about 360 acres of the school’s former property in Marianna, on Florida’s Panhandle, to Jackson County.

The governor’s letter to Chairman Clint Pate of the Jackson County Board of County Commissioners asked the county to “develop a path forward” while cleanup at the site continues “to ensure this issue is handled with the utmost sensitivity and care.”

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go towww.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

source: people.com