I want to go home

"Should anyone seek to subvert those laws or set them aside, him I will oppose either in common with others or alone."         ~ Oath of the Young Men in Athens

There is a not-for-profit high school so rich that they felt entitled to allow and cover up both the rape of children and the wonton theft of land from their neighbors. It’s still happening. But now the timing is right and the gears are beginning to turn. Our job is to tell the truth about what we have seen, heard, and endured. We will not wait any longer, we will not stand by and allow these criminals to continue to cover up their spree of evil deeds. It would be bold of us to say we have uncovered and documented a conspiracy between a High School, a water company, a land conservancy, and the local government at several levels, because that just sounds ludicrous. But it is the truth.

The administration of the Thacher School in Ojai, California, would like you to believe nothing ever happened. On the surface we saw pride, greed and envy play center stage, but over the many years we have been able to conduct a deep investigation into their conduct, and what came to light is a bizarre and disconcerting narrative. The whole town of Ojai went into a dark place, though many had an inkling that things weren’t right, no one with leadership had the courage to stand up and do something about it. People will tell themselves all sorts of things to make sense of the past, and their role, or inaction, in it. So much so that our fabrications -- if we tell them to ourselves often enough — become the truth in our minds. This story revealed a systemic sickness that riddled an entire town in broad daylight.

What are the odds that an award-winning documentary filmmaker would be dropped right into the middle of this mess. Robert Hudson first fell victim to this madness as the Thacher School initiated a war by proxy to drive him off his land. But Hudson did not retaliate, did not shrink away in fear and defeat— he went quiet, and began to observe, collect, listen and wait. This has been a decades-long process, done in secret in order to protect the safety of the children caught in the middle. To launch this project right now is a necessity. We have stood by and watched the public be duped over and over. 

Years ago, Hudson uncovered evidence of the sexual misconduct as far back as 2007, that has only now come to light to the public. Through a trusted insider and expert in harassment, we alerted the administration and trustees to the reality of staff misconduct towards those they were entrusted to protect. But they refused to even read the documents, and stated that “we were wasting our time” and “not to contact them again”. Since allegations of sexual assault have gone public, the trustees immediately tried to minimize their negligence and are now attempting to control the narrative with internal investigations. But the truth is that this behavior is not a one-off tragedy, it's a symptom of something much bigger. We all wonder where the law enforcement are in all of this. We informed them about the suspicious conduct of the school and about what was occurring, again, as far back as 2007. They said, “we can’t help you…but we know what they are trying to do.” They also said, “you should wear a gun to protect yourself”.

We have had very little to work with to uncover this story. We had to lay low for our own safety, and to protect the safety of all involved. But here is the fortunate news: we got everything, their whole playbook, and now we're ready to launch a public and transparent campaign, and we are going to do it together, with your help. The incidents surrounding this school are systemic, and deliberate. We do not consider them to be school administrators and trustees anymore, those days are over. We now refer to them as criminals under investigation. This network has learned behaviors and practices to operate this way with impunity for many years. In a way, it's all of our fault; we the public allowed them to do this without adequate oversight, and they used that opportunity to take advantage of children, parents, neighbors, and to co-opt the public as well as the public service agencies at every level.

Unless we act, the Thacher School will continue to remain in place, taking no responsibility or accountability for their actions both against the children trusted to their care, their community, and as our case shows, their neighbors. The previous headmaster did not retire, he tried to escape; the current headmaster didn’t take leave, she tried to escape. But we must not let them escape, we will track them down, this story will not fall through the cracks again. Yes, this will challenge the very foundations of the town and even the county, due to its participation in the schemes to protect and promote the school, but truth will win out.

The purpose of this GoFundMe campaign is simple: topple what has falsely stood and bring a reckoning of the truth. No more lawyers bought with the money of parents of students. No more damage control to save the reputation of the school. This is good vs evil, and good will win. We need your help with the resources to build our organization to maintain the narrative of truth. 

Hudson discovered as a neighbor that what they were doing to him, they were doing to kids on campus as well. This strangely gave him strength to continue the fight. Now we want the town of Ojai to be free. We want Hudson to be able to go back home, to a safe place, not to be afraid anymore — he has feared for his life for more than 15 years. Most people would have snapped, or retaliated, but he didn’t. He champions non-violent protest and has had to work very hard to live it out. He needs your help to fix this. Help us to tell this story in the way it needs to be told, to protect all of the people that want to come forward and tell the truth, and to establish safety for those working on this project. This evil grew slowly in the dark, this evil grew strong. But it can only survive if good people continue to do nothing. With your help we will expose the deceit and complicity through a series of actions that culminate in a documentary film about the whole adventure. We will prevail. 

In light of what has been found out about the school already, the theft of my land is just the tip of the iceberg. But we can’t rest on our laurels, we have to get into action to unveil the coverup, so that so many that have been lied to can finally learn the truth. In case you have not seen the news already surrounding the school we have linked several articles that have come out this past year. What we will be revealing is that this is not just a one off tragedy, it's an entire learned behavior of a corrupt organization, one that we have documented and studied for over a decade, and will now educate people about our findings as we move forward. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/17/us/Thacher-school-sexual-abuse.html

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-06-22/thacher-school-sex-misconduct-report-stirs-rage-ojai

https://nypost.com/2022/03/29/elite-thacher-school-is-hit-again-with-sexual-abuse-allegations/

https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/top-officials-depart-from-california-boarding-school-following-report-of-sex-abuse-tied-to-founders-relative/