Past accusations about a director of schools for troubled teens have caught up with him in Canon City.  Randall Hinton, 32, is charged with assaulting a female student at the Royal Peak Academy, 615 Pike Avenue.  Third-degree assault, false imprisonment and reckless endangerment are the official charges against Hinton. 

The year-old academy enrolls about 45 students from across the country, and is the site of St. Scholastica, a former Catholic girls' school. According to court documents, an academy employee reported the incident because she "could not deal with the way students are treated."  The incident happened December 30.

"She was restrained by Mr. Hinton in a proned-out position on the floor," says Capt. Allen Cooper of the Canon City Police department, "for a period in excess of six hours.  During that time period, he used a wrist lock to restrain her--which was applied periodically."  According to court documents, the student was not allowed to use the bathroom and suffered minor injuries.  She also had run away from the academy a day earlier, because of what she believed was cruel treatment.

But the attorney representing Hinton and the academy contends Hinton had a legitimate reason for his action.  "The girl at some point went into some kind of rage," explains Michael Gillick.  "(She) took a stapler and started stapling her hands and fingers, then started hitting herself in the head and face.  The person who reported this to police did not see what happened, didn't see what the girl was doing, didn't understand the danger this girl had presented to herself."  Gillick says Hinton acted properly, as he's trained to do in such a situation.

However, Cooper says other students have complained about Hinton's methods.  And court documents list students who suffered black eyes, bruises and bleeding after being disciplined by Hinton.  Even an academy staff member called Hinton a good man but confessed "he may have an anger problem."

Previous reports describe Hinton as working for the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASP), an organization which has operated schools in Mexico, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and Costa Rica.  The schools stressed "tough love" as behavior modification for difficult teens.  Some students at those schools complained of receiving pepper spray and other forms of discipline from Hinton.  In fact, he's blamed for the suicides and other deaths of at least three former students who apparently couldn't recover from their treatment by him.  But Gillick says Hinton never was charged in any incident until now.  Two years ago, WWASP tried to open a similar school at the site of an former military academy in Missouri, but the local town council denied the request after learning of the previous allegations.

Gillick says town officials do not understand how the academy tries to help troubled teens--and if they did understand, Hinton would not be charged.  According to Gillick, police and social service agencies have ignored invitations to tour the academy.  He believes police mishandled the situation.  "The police acted certainly very inappropriately-maybe illegally--during (a) search warrant, interviewing children without a guardian or parent, without separating the children."  Gillick also thinks police owe Hinton an apology.

Cooper says the incident doesn't make him concerned about overall safety at the academy.  "It's generally one or two individuals who are involved, who get a little out of control--if that's the case.  That remains to be seen."

Hinton posted a bond of $2,500 and is free until his scheduled court appearance Tuesday afternoon.  The academy remains open.  Some parents have withdrawn their kids from the academy.  There's no indication about whether the female student involved in the incident remains enrolled.