Nicholas Alahverdian | A Victim of RI State-sponsored Torture - Debate Report 30/11/2019, 09:52

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Nicholas Alahverdian | A Victim of RI Ad

State-sponsored Torture
Emmy Skylar — September 24, 2018 add comment

Nicholas Alahverdian was hired at the tender age of 14 as a legislative aide for the
House of Representatives in the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. He
wanted nothing more than to go to school and work at his State House job. Nicholas
loved working in the House Chamber and serving the members of the RI General
Assembly.

A dysfunctional family

Alahverdian had a problem. His mother and stepfather drank heavily. This worsened
after they split and Nicholas lived with his alcoholic mother. Her drinking became RECENT POSTS
worse when Alahverdian’s grandfather died.
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She did not bring him to school. Instead, he spent his days at the library and then
went to the Capitol in the afternoon. Nicholas Alavherdian made his way to the Rhode How to Quickly Solve the Google Play
Island State House on the RIPTA bus. He traveled to downtown Providence on Authentication is Required Bug
Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays when the House and Senate met for legislative
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Life at the State House

Some people would find working in the labyrinth that is the Rhode Island State House
to be daunting and harrowing. Ever the quick learner, Nicholas didn’t feel that way. He
swiftly learned how a bill became a law, who the power players were, which clerk had
the best chance of putting a bill first on the committee docket, and other details that
most lobbyists take years to learn. Alahverdian learned from the best.

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Alahverdian charmed the legislators he worked with. He was invited to fundraisers and
the representatives and senators enjoyed his presence. Knowing that he was often left
hungry because of his mother’s alcohol addiction, the state legislators even gave him
money or invited him to their homes for meals. They wanted to make sure he would
have the basic necessities of life.

Nicholas was being abused and neglected at home, and this was common knowledge.
But what happened next would spark the most heinous case of torture and abuse that
the child welfare system has ever seen. Alahverdian began to demand that he be given
a normal and consistent school placement. This occurred after he was taken from his
mother due to her parental incompetence.

“A waste of taxpayer money”

The officials in charge of his case, among them a corrupt social worker named Ron
Razza, called Nicholas Alahverdian a “waste of taxpayer money.” Other DCYF staff
including Mike Burk (the same Michael S. Burk of the Tiverton, RI Democratic party
and longtime assistant to the Executive Director of DCYF) even lobbied state
representatives to get him fired from his job with the House of Representatives.

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Ron Razza

Nicholas Alahverdian took matters into his own hands and left the Rhode Island House
of Representatives Legislative Aide position on his own accord. He thought it would be
a temporary leave of absence.

The youngest lobbyist in history

Nicholas became a registered lobbyist in 2002 and advocated for foster care reform
and a permanent school placement. This was not just for him — it was a mission to
improve care for all children and adolescents in DCYF care. When Alahverdian
registered as a lobbyist, he became the youngest lobbyist in the history of the State of
Rhode Island.

Nicholas Alahverdian

Nicholas testified before committees and commissions. He issued detailed briefs on

the pitfalls and failures of the state agency charged with caring for neglected and
abused children. Alahverdian exposed the wrongdoings of staff and the criminal
records of employees and contractors. He made a concerted effort to illuminate the
inconsistencies in providing education. This was mainly due to the inherent instability
provided by the cruel and abhorrent practice of night-to-night placement.

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Alahverdian continued his advocacy work while in the night-to-night program where he
was denied a permanent home and academic placement. Nicholas began to draw
attention from more representatives and senators who demanded that Judge Jeremiah
order a permanent home to be found for him. But Judge Jeremiah and Governor
Carcieri had other plans for Alahverdian.

Nicholas Alahverdian began to get more and more attention. His case was covered by
The Providence Journal, NBC News, CBS News, ABC News, and Cumulus
Broadcasting, among others. Nicholas was even scheduled to appear on The O’Reilly
Factor and the Today show on NBC.

Enough is enough

However, Rhode Island officials had enough of the embarrassment. The corrupt
officials, namely Judge Jeremiah, Governor Donald L. Carcieri, DCYF Director Jay
Lindgren, and others worked to snuff Alahverdian and his story out of the press to
protect their reputation.

Judge Jeremiah

S. Jeremiah

Alahverdian was sent far from home where he was allowed to contact no one at all. He
was refused communication with the legislators who had fought on his behalf. He was
refused contact with lawyers. Alahverdian was refused to file a lawsuit or contact the
courts to contest the lockdown placements where he was unlawfully held.

The torture of Nicholas Alahverdian

When Nicholas Alahverdian was sent to Nebraska and Florida, the state officials knew
these facilities were dangerous. This knowledge was supplied to the state officials in
the form of grand jury reports issued by the respective states through what is called
the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children.

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Governor Donald L. Carcieri

Nicholas was sent far from home in violation of Rhode Island General Laws as well as
U.S. federal law. Rhode Island law holds that a child be placed in the least restrictive
setting possible. Instead, Alahverdian was placed hundreds of miles from home in
places where he was allowed to contact no one and where he was beaten on a daily
basis.

Nicholas was also raped on multiple occasions at the facility in Florida, and news
articles covering the crime exist to support the claim made in Alahverdian’s lawsuit.
The rapist, Rhonda Smith, pleaded guilty in a Florida court.

The Bradenton Herald reported on October 23, 2004:

“ A technician at Manatee Palms Youth Services was arrested

Thursday on a charge she sexually battered a 17-year-old male
at the facility.

Rhonda A. Smith, 23, of Bradenton was accused of molesting

the teen on three separate occasions, according to an arrest
report filed by the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office. Smith
admitted to the battery, the report said, and she was arrested on
a charge of sexual battery.

According to the report, Smith was a clinical health technician at

Manatee Palms Youth Services, placed there by Advance
Personnel Services Inc. Advance Personnel Services officials
said the woman is no longer employed by the company and that
she was applying to the sheriff’s office the day the teen told
authorities about the battery. She is free on bond.

Officials at Manatee Palms Youth Services directed questions to

a corporate office. An official at its corporate office said the
company is cooperating with authorities but had no further
comment.

The Bradenton Herald also reported on another abusive individual hired by the Florida
facility and published it in the same article:

“ In August 2003, an off-duty Manatee Palms Youth Services

mental health technician was arrested for asking a 15-year-old
girl to have sex with him on camera, an arrest report said at the

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girl to have sex with him on camera, an arrest report said at the
time. The case against Jaimie Rivera, 43, is still pending.

Alahverdian was left at the Florida facility even as his RI DCYF social worker
demanded that he be removed due to the torture he was enduring when she visited.
The social worker remarked in official reports that Alahverdian was chemically sedated
beyond recognition. Nicholas was covered in contusions, scars, fresh bruises, broken
teeth, fingerprints around his neck, and black eyes.

Nicholas remained in the facility for six more months as the torture, beatings, and
abuse continued.

When Nicholas Alahverdian was finally released and flown back to Rhode Island in
June 2005, he was a shell of his former self. No longer was he the auspicious young
man who carried loads of books in his briefcase on his way to the State House with
stacks of legislative bills in the other arm. Nicholas was reduced to a zombie. His
cognitive functions and motor skills were impaired. Alahverdian was a vegetable.

Alahverdian was unable to read or write. Nicholas was exactly where Judge Jeremiah
and Governor Carcieri wanted him: first, in a place where he could not physically or
verbally expose the truth. Second, in a mental state that rendered him incapable of
expressing what the hell happened to him in these facilities that were absolute hell
holes.

What happened to Nicholas Alahverdian should never happen to any other kid —
anywhere — ever again.

Nicholas Alahverdian eventually made it to Harvard University where he excelled in his

studies in politics and literature. The power of the Rhode Island government to torture
him stopped at the Ivory Tower where his knowledge was allowed to grow without
restriction along with talented students and inspirational Harvard professors. Just like
Bob Kerr said in his 2002 Providence Journal column, we will hear from Nicholas
Alahverdian down the road, where he continues to wage his war against those who
would destroy the lives of kids.

Profile: Nicholas Alahverdian is a Harvard-educated scholar and political activist. As an

adolescent, Nicholas survived torture and abuse inflicted upon him by the Rhode
Island government under the direct orders of a chief judge and a governor following
his political activism against them while Alahverdian was an employee of the Rhode
Island House of Representatives.

Nicholas was sent to two facilities far from New England that had extensive records of
torture, abuse, and negligence. He was forced to remain in these abusive facilities until
his 18th birthday and was not allowed to contact anyone, go to school, or prepare for
adulthood. Alahverdian survived the torture, sued his abusers, settled in court, and
studied at Harvard University.

The primary scholarly focus of Nicholas Alahverdian is the intersection of philology,

rhetoric, and politics. He has been featured in The Providence Journal, NPR, BBC,
NBC, CBS, and ABC News as well as The Buddy Cianci Show, The Boston Globe and
countless other media entities.

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Emmy Skylar
Emmy Skylar started working for Debate Report in 2017. Emmy grew up
in a small town in northern Manitoba. But moved to Ontario for university.
Before joining Debate Report, Emmy briefly worked as a freelance
journalist for CBC News. She covers politics and the economy.

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About the Author: Emmy Skylar

Emmy Skylar started working for Debate Report in 2017. Emmy
grew up in a small town in northern Manitoba. But moved to Ontario
for university. Before joining Debate Report, Emmy briefly worked as
a freelance journalist for CBC News. She covers politics and the
economy.

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