Victory Christian Academy

Victory Christian Academy was a locked-down Christian boarding school for girls located at 13050 Highway 89, Jay, Florida.

Girls as young as 10 were accepted at the facility.

The owner of the property and facility, Brother Michael Palmer, was a long-time associate of Reverend Lester Roloff.

Roloff was notorious for paddling pregnant girls in his homes for "unwed mothers" as well as declaring that he preferred "death or jail" to state licensing of his facilities.

Victory Christian Academy used to be located in California but Palmer and his wife moved the facility to Florida after a California judge ordered the facility to close and banned Palmer and his wife Patty from EVER working at another unlicensed facility in the state.

At the time, Palmer was on probation after being convicted of operating a community care facility without a license.

Palmer also owned Genesis by the Sea, located in Mexico.

Mexican authorities raided Genesis by the Sea on September 10, 2004 after finding evidence of abuse, neglect and a "punishment cell."

At the time, Genesis by the Sea was under the supervision of Russell Cookston.

Officials gave the program 48 hours to remove all children from the facility.

Several students and many of the staff members, including Cookston, were relocated to Victory Christian Academy.

Victory Christian Academy was accredited by FACCCA (Florida Association of Christian Child Caring Agencies).

At the time, the Vice President of FACCCA was Michael Palmer.

For more information regarding the Florida Association of Christian Child Care Agencies, please see our FACCCA page.

Palmer is still listed on the Board of Directors for Palm Lane Baptist Academy, which closed after numerous allegations of abuse against the school and it's Missouri sister-school, Mountain Park Baptist Academy.

Mountain Park closed as well and information obtained by ISAC indicates that employees of Mountain Park and Palm Lane were then employed at Victory.

For more information regarding Genesis by the Sea, Palm Lane, and Mountain Park, please see our Archives page.

Victory Christian Academy - Time Line

1982:

Michael Palmer opened his first facility in Escondido, California. Officials in California cannot locate any record of this unlicensed school.

1985:

Palmer, along with his wife Patty, found a new location for the school in rural Ramona, California. The site was formerly an FBI bunker surrounded by a 12 ft. high electric fence.

1988:

Carey Dunn was fatally injured at Victory Christian Academy when a stack of lumber fell on her. She was 15 years old. According to news reports, Carey was "helping" with a construction project. According to Carey's friends who also attended Victory at the time, the girls were forced to do the construction as a way to cut costs and because Michael Palmer didn't want "outsiders" at the facility.

1989:

November 13, Michael Palmer was convicted of operating an unlicensed community care facility (Victory Christian Academy) and placed on probation for 2 years.

1990:

October 22, the California Department of Social Services tried to gain entry into the facility but were denied access by Palmer himself.

Palmer refused to let officials review records, inspect the facility, or to interview any resident.

At this time, Palmer denied taking "clients" with behavioral or emotional problems.

1991:

February 14, the California Department of Social Services returned to Victory Christian Academy with an inspection warrant.

During this inspection, Bill Ranier, Licensing Program Analyst for the California Department of Social Services reviewed the records of all children housed at Victory Christian Academy.

Mr. Ranier determined that the children had been placed at the facility for the following reasons:

Substance Abuse

Suicidal Tendencies

Depression

Criminal Activity

Violence

Rick Peralto, Licensing Program Analyst II, State of California Department of Social Services, discovered a large metal cabinet containing plastic bins that were used to store both prescription and non-prescription medication for twenty-five children. According to Mr. Peralto's report:

Twenty-four medications had been removed from the original containers.

Fifteen medications had no label or medication identifier.

Three bins contained medications of indeterminate origin.

Several bins contained a mixture of pills of different sizes and colors.

Two of the bins contained in excess of 200 pills.

Two other bins contained in excess of 100 pills each.

A bottle of Vermox (used to treat worms in humans) listed the "patient" as Victory Christian Academy.

Jean Abrahamson, Licensing Program Analyst for the California Department of Social Services discovered the "get right" room.

According to Ms. Abrahamson's report:

This room was located in the corner of a larger sleeping room and was 4 feet high and 4 feet wide.

The walls and ceiling were wood.

The floor was cement.

The ceiling had a light bulb that was recessed and covered with wire so it could not be reached.

The light switch was located outside of the room with no control of the light inside.

The door had a peephole at eye level.

There was a lock on the outside of the door that could not be opened from the inside.

The door had a sign that hung on the outside that read "Happy Camper."

The room had a folding bed in it however; the room was not large enough to accommodate the bed when unfolded.

Staff person Miss Kristene informed Mrs. Abrahamson that no one was in the [get-right] room now but a girl had recently been placed there because of bulimia.

Official Court Document: Statements from Prosecutors, including description of the "get right" room

Steven Viero, Supervisor of Field Operations, California State Fire Marshal inspected the facility as well. Among his findings at Victory Christian Academy:

There were no "hard wired" smoke detectors.

2 of 3 battery operated smoke detectors had no batteries.

There were no sprinkler systems.

Exits were locked with key-operated dead bolts.

There was no mandatory fire watch.

After several additional inspections, Mr. Viero made the following determinations to the courts:

"The facility is still not in compliance and in my opinion, still constitutes an immediate threat to the health and fire and life safety of its residents. The few steps taken by Victory Christian Academy are not sufficient to make the facility safe."

"The need for an acceptable exit system and additional exits, the insufficient building construction, the absence of an acceptable fire alarm system and the necessity for a fire sprinkler system still result in the conclusion that the facility is unsafe, a fire threat, and should be immediately closed."

Official Court Document: Victory Christian Declared a Fire Hazard

Based upon these findings, Susana Halfon, Senior Staff Counsel for the California State Department of Social Services, made the following determination:

"There exists a serious threat to the health and safety of the young girls who are being provided services by Mr. and Mrs. Palmer and their staff."

Official Court Document: Declaration of Susana Halfon

Official Court Document: The Palmers Response to the State's Charges

1992:

January 15, Judge Judith McConnell banned Michael and Patty Palmer, as well as their employees, from owning, operating, or being employed by any unlicensed facility in the state of California.

Official Court Document: Court Order Banning Michael and Patty Palmer from Working at ANY Unlicensed Facility in the State of California

Official Court Document: Conditions of the Judgement Against the Palmers

May 28, Victory Christian Academy closed after an injunction was granted requiring Michael Palmer to obtain a license or close the facility.

Date Unknown, The Palmers moved Victory Christian Academy to Jay, Florida.

1994:

The parents of Rebecca Ramirez, a former student of Victory Christian Academy, accused Michael Palmer of sexual battery against their daughter.

Statement from Rebecca Ramirez, as Submitted to ISAC

Statement from Rebecca's Mother

Offical Court Document: Michael Palmer, Owner of Victory Christian Academy, Accused of Sexual Battery Against a Student

Love notes from Michael Palmer, written to Rebecca While She was a Student at Victory Christian Academy

1997:

Santa Rosa County police records show that four children complained to local authorities about child abuse at the facility.

2004:

ISAC has received the following complaints from the parent of a student who left the facility earlier this year:

As punishment, the child had been given "half portions" of food, resulting in drastic and unnecessary weight loss.

Staff members were seen hiding letters from parents, then telling the girls that their parents didn't send letters because "they don't care about you."

The parent spent over $600 on new clothing as required by Victory Christian Academy, however the child never received any of the clothing.

Instead, the child was given old, faded clothing - including underwear - that had been worn by previous students.

Contrary to statements made by Michael Palmer, there IS a "get-right" room at the facility, located between the chapel and the cafeteria.

A child had been in the "get-room" for over a month.

The child was not given her prescription medications during her entire stay at the school.

As punishment, the child was sentenced to write over 30,000 lines of scripture.

Students are allowed to inflict punishment on other students.

The girls are given no dinner on Saturday night.

Other nights, dinner may be nothing more than one bagel.

Michael Palmer's sermons are usually sex oriented.

The girls are required to sit in their beds for 5 hours each Sunday without talking and are ONLY allowed to read the Bible.

Staff members drink wine while on duty at the facility.

If a child vomits, they are forced to eat it.

As punishment, the child was required to wear a "silly dress" but NOT permitted to wear panties.

December 10, 2004 Michael and Patty Palmer registered two new corporations using the same address as Victory Christian Academy -

Lighthouse of Northwest Florida, Inc. and Good Samaritans of Northwest Florida, Inc.

According to documents on file with the state of Florida, Lighthouse of Northwest Florida was incorporated for the following purpose: Operate a Christian based educational and rehabilitation treatment program.

It is ISAC's opinion that Michael Palmer was attempting to change the name of the facility in order to distance himself from the history of Victory Christian Academy.

Good Samaritans of Northwest Florida, Inc. was incorporated to: Provide counseling services, administrative assistance and guidance services for religious institutions.

2005:

May 10:

Russell Cookston, who reportedly had been working in a supervisory capacity at Victory Christian Academy since the closure of Genesis by the Sea, filed documents with the state of Florida removing Michael and Patty Palmer as officers of Lighthouse of Northwest Florida.

The documents show Russell and Kimbra Cookston took their places as President and Secretary.

July:

ISAC spoke with a recent staff member of Victory Christian Academy who confirmed the existence of the "get-right" room.

The staff member also stated that parents are told "absolutely nothing" about the history of the facility or the allegations of child abuse which span more than 2 decades.

2006:

April 4:

The annual report for Good Samaritans of Northwest Florida, Inc. shows the corporation's address to be the same as that of Victory Christian Academy and Lighthouse of Northwest Florida. Michael and Patty Palmer are still listed as President and Secretary of Good Samaritans.

December:

ISAC received a letter from Russell Cookston in which the long-time associate of Michael Palmer confirmed that Lighthouse Christian Academy is operating in the same location and using the same phone number as Victory Christian Academy, on property owned by Michael Palmer.