Beaten, waterboarded, starved, and even whipped: that’s what a teenager from Michigan had to endure after his adoptive parents abandoned him in the Atlantis Leadership Academy, a correctional school in Jamaica.

Elijah Goodman was stranded waiting for his caretakers to take him home, but the day never came. Local authorities soon received reports of abuse and neglect at the school as the controversy sparked international concern, resulting in the firing of five staff members and the subsequent closing of the academy.

Elijah was adopted from Haiti at age 11 by a wealthy conservative Christian couple, but he was left isolated and frightened in the foreign country in September 2023 and had to endure the nightmarish conditions of the establishment for seven months before he was relocated.

The now-17-year-old boy finally returned to America on September 3, 2024, but remained apart from his adopted family, and he states they “didn’t want [him] home.”

“I appreciate them for bringing me to the US, but they abandoned me,” Elijah said in an interview with the Detroit Free Press. “I’m staying strong, but it hurts.”

A wealthy Christian couple from Michigan is under investigation for abandoning their adopted son in Jamaica for seven months, where he was abused and tortured

Image credits: Chelsea Maldonado

At the academy, Elijah endured horrific abuse, including being cut with a razor and beaten with a hammer. Other boys shared the different punishments they were subjected to, such as being waterboarded, beaten while tied to railings, and forced to fight for sport. 

Despite the school being closed, Elijah’s parents refused to pick him up.

“You got whipped, you got pipes beaten on you,” recounted one of the at least eight teens removed from the school at the time to NBC News. “But if I told someone, I was afraid of getting jumped by the other staff.”

“I don’t know how I made it out alive,” another wrote, describing Atlantis Leadership Academy as a “living hell in paradise.”

Image credits: Children’s rights attorney Dawn Post

According to Elijah, his foster parents left him in Jamaica due to “behavioral problems,” which included watching pornography and other undisclosed “offenses.”

He heard back from the couple in April 2024, when, during one of the many court proceedings the teenager was a part of, the parents called and told him they “didn’t believe that they were abusing [him].”

The Detroit Free Press claims to have tried to contact Elijah’s parents “numerous times,” leaving voicemails and sending text messages. The paper states to have received a single response from the mother, which read: “If you would please send us your questions in writing we can consider responding.”

The teenager’s future remains uncertain as authorities scramble to determine where he should live and what the repercussions for his abandonment should be

Image credits: Paris Hilton

Michigan officials have claimed that the adoptive parents, identified as Mark and Spring Goldman who live in a sprawling lakefront home in Traverse City, told them they had a plan to get the teenager out of Jamaica but “were not advised to travel there.”

Children’s rights attorneys such as Dawn Post, who has been fighting for Elijah since meeting him in Jamaica earlier this year, do not buy the parent’s defense.

“They were specifically told, ‘Your son was abused.’ And they didn’t even send him clothes,” she said. “What makes it so astounding is that these wealthy parents think they can get away with it.”

The attorney went on to explain that, despite reaching out to multiple local government agencies like the Governor’s Office, Department of Health and Human Services, and Child and Protective Services, no one stepped in to help Elijah resume his life in the country.

“If it was a biological parent, believe me, you’d have an abandonment case against them,” she explained, believing that the couple is receiving preferential treatment due to being adoptive parents.

International adoptions in the United States have decreased by 93% since 2004, with a success rate that decreases exponentially the older the child is

Image credits: Aaron pruitt

Post believes that immigrant children, especially teens or pre-teens, who are adopted by Americans are at risk of getting abandoned because their complex backgrounds create a number of psychological issues that would-be parents consider to be “too problematic.”

“It’s unfathomable to me how, as a country, we’re failing these kids,” the attorney explained.

Lawyers from Californian law firm Embolden Law estimate that about 10 percent of adoptions fail between placement and finalization. Additionally, around 1 to 3 percent fail after finalization or are dissolved.

Image credits: Usafacts

“Dissolutions often occur when the adopted child has problems that his or her adoptive parents are not equipped to support,” the firm added.

International adoption in the United States decreased dramatically between 2004 and 2022, according to data from the Bureau of Consular Affairs. Going from 22,987 at its peak to 1,517.

Haiti, the country where Elijah was born, is the 6th country with the most adoptions by US citizens, while Colombia and India are at the top.

Netizens were left outraged by the couple’s treatment of their adopted son, with many criticizing the conflict between their self-proclaimed Christian values and their actions

“No matter how much you pray, go to church on Sunday and write blogs about how faithful you are, that still won’t cover anything if you are rotten inside,” wrote one reader.

“These people are monsters,” stated another.

“How are the parents not facing charges?” one reader asked.

“They’re rich. That is why. They’re rich,” another replied.

“Abandoning the kid in a foreign country also means the kid doesn’t have the documentation to even work while over there, not above the table.”

Elijah’s custody and housing are, at the time of writing, uncertain, with lawyers advocating for his placement in protective custody. According to reports, he reunited with his father last Thursday (September 5), and he offered for the teen to live in an apartment in Utah.

The teenager currently resides in a hotel as he awaits a resolution. He’s in high spirits and shared his vision of the future with the press.

“I have resources to become a successful man and take care of my family in Haiti,” he said. “And one day, make my own. I am hopeful.”

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