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Principal's Hypnosis Sessions Linked to Teen Deaths
3 Nov
Summary
- Three teenagers died in 2011 after private hypnosis sessions.
- Principal Kenney practiced hypnosis without a license.
- Families settled with the school board for $600,000.
In 2011, three teenagers from North Port, Florida, died within weeks of each other. All three had participated in private hypnosis sessions with their high school principal, Dr. George Kenney, who was not licensed to practice therapeutic hypnosis.
Kenney, who had taken a hypnosis course in late 2009, began offering private sessions to students, claiming it helped with issues like test anxiety and athletic performance. He had previously hypnotized students in group settings and for school events.
Despite Kenney's denials of harm, the families of Marcus Freeman, Wesley McKinley, and Brittany Palumbo questioned his methods. Investigations revealed Kenney practiced therapeutic hypnosis without a license. In 2012, he pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges and received probation.
The families of the deceased students filed wrongful death lawsuits against the Sarasota County School Board. In 2015, a settlement was reached, with each family receiving $200,000, totaling $600,000. A direct causal link between Kenney's hypnosis sessions and the teenagers' deaths was never officially established.
