Brent Whiting
staff writer
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A Buckeye boot camp director convicted in the 2001 "tough love" death of a 14-year-old boy has been released from a Buckeye prison, authorities said.
Charles Franklin Long, 64, a self-styled "Buffalo Soldier," was placed on supervised release Feb. 18 from the Arizona State Prison Complex-Lewis, according to the prison officials. Long was sentenced in May 2005 to a six-year prison term after jurors in Maricopa County Superior Court found him guilty of reckless manslaughter and aggravated assault, court records show. The former Marine was charged in the July 2001 death of Anthony Haynes, a Phoenix boy who was a member of what officers described as a "tough love" military-style camp for troubled youths. Long, who headed the Buffalo Soldiers Re-Enactors Association, ran the disciplinary boot camp in the Buckeye Hills, not far from the Buckeye prison. Long claimed he founded the group to honor African-American soldiers who fought in campaigns in the 1800s. The supposed aim of the camp was to help modify the behavior patterns of troubled youths. In the case of Haynes, his mother had enlisted Long's help because her son had been caught shoplifting. Haynes died after Long had subjected Haynes and several other boys to a grueling "drop on request" exercise in 112-degree heat. After several hours, Haynes started acting erratically, began eating dirt, refused to drink water and eventually collapses in convulsions. Rather than seek medical attention, Long ordered the boy to a Buckeye motel, where a room had been secured where boot campers could bathe. Once there, a camp staff member placed Haynes in a bathtub, turned on the shower and left him there. He was later found facedown in the water, appearing to have defecated or vomited mud. The lifeless boy was taken back to the camp, where a staff member finally called 911. He was airlifted to a Phoenix hospital, where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy ruled the cause of death was "complications of near drowning and dehydration due to heat exposure." The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office closed the camp and Sheriff Joe Arpaio described Long's camp program as "organized torture towards children." Brent Whiting can be reached by e-mail at bwhiting@westvalleyview.com.