Florida men seek probe of 32 unmarked graves at boys school

[babylonsister]

Florida men seek probe of unmarked graves at boys school
By Mary Ellen Klas | Miami Herald


TALLAHASSEE -- Convinced the 32 unmarked graves at the Florida School for Boys in Marianna are the bodies of boys abused and killed decades ago there, four former residents of the school are demanding the governor and state and federal attorneys investigate.

The four men, all of whom suffered from brutal beatings while students at the Marianna-based school for delinquent boys in the late 1950s, sent letters to Gov. Charlie Crist, the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. attorney general alleging that the boys were victims of state-sponsored hate crimes and murder.

Their goal, they said, is for ''every last child, Caucasian, Hispanic and African-American who disappeared from the Florida School for Boys accounted for and, whatever relatives he may have, be given peace at last,'' said Michael O'McCarthy, 66, who resided at the school in 1958-59.

The men learned of the graves six weeks ago when the Department of Juvenile Justice invited five of the men back to the school to dedicate a plaque outside the white cinder-block building where they were beaten, known as the White House, and to close it down forever.

The graves were on what officials used to call ''the colored side'' of the school and the men now believe they remain unmarked ''to hide the nature of those children's deaths,'' O'McCarthy said.

more...

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/57358.html