LA-area 'boot camp' operator sentenced for abuse
Los Angeles-area operator of youth 'boot camp' gets jail for child abuse, teen sex assault
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) -- A man who ran a Southern California "boot camp" for troubled youngsters has been sentenced to nearly 4 1/2 years in prison for child abuse and kidnapping, and for sexually assaulting two 14-year-old girls.
Forty-three-year-old Kelvin McFarland also was ordered last week to register as a sex offender. Los Angeles County prosecutors say he pleaded no contest in July to nine charges, including extortion and false imprisonment.
Authorities say McFarland, who called himself "1st Sgt. Mac," ran a camp in Pasadena and Altadena that supposedly used military-style discipline.
Videos made at the camp showed instructors shouting at a boy wearing a heavy auto tire and several kids vomiting after being repeatedly ordered to drink water. Prosecutors say McFarland also handcuffed a truant girl.
