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A high school principal hypnotizing his students and getting blamed for three unexpected deaths sounds like a bizarre scripted story.
But this isn’t someone’s invention. This was real.
After three students died within the same short period of time, Dr. George Kenney and his hypnosis sessions took the blame.
This week’s The Curious Case Of … delved into this strange and tragic story. Was Kenney really to blame?
This painful story began with only good intentions
In 2007, a Florida high school principal hypnotized students at an assembly during a lock-in. Despite a teacher’s report, this was only the beginning. From there, it extended to one-on-one sessions with students.
16-year-old Marcus Freeman began having one-on-one sessions with Dr. Kenney ahead of football games. Allegedly, the goal was to allow Freeman to ignore pain while playing football.
(Kenney has hit back at this characterization, saying that this was not a pain-resistance hypnosis, but to help him process what was going on on the field)
On March 15, 2011, Freeman was driving home with his girlfriend following a painful trip to the dentist.
According to his girlfriend’s report to police, he got a “strange look on his face” and then crashed into a tree. She survived with serious injuries. Freeman died.
Wesley McKinley was also 16 and undergoing hypnosis sessions from Dr. Kenney. He had three known sessions.
He was preparing to audition at Juilliard. However, the day of his death, he began acting strangely.
“It was Friday afternoon. Wesley had come home from school, walked past me, put his bookbag down and walked out the back door,” his mother recalled.
“He had told me friends were coming over,” she described. “I asked what time they were coming over, and he just walked past me out the back door … an hour later I heard sirens.”
According to Kenney, McKinley was a victim of “drama behind the scenes” and cyberbullying. He was unaware that McKinley was suffering from depression.
Three tragic deaths took place within a span of weeks
17-year-old Brittany Palumbo met with Dr. Kenney at least once in late 2010. Her goal was to improve her SAT score — by grappling with her test-taking anxiety.
Fast forward a few months, and Palumbo was stressed about not being accepted to UCF. She and her boyfriend of several years had also just broken up — a huge deal at 17.
(Unlike a number of other students, Palumbo did not find that hypnosis helped. She did not perform well on her SAT.)
On May 4, 2011, Palumbo announced that she was going to take a nap.
At dinner time, her parents discovered her dead in her closet.
No one believes that Dr. Kenney intended any harm to his students. Instead, they believe that he was allegedly irresponsible — and may have left them in vulnerable mental states, or inadvertently given them the tools with which to enter a detached state and end their lives.
Other students came forward to defend Kenney. Some cited how much they believe that sessions with him helped them — including with test scores.
The Florida Department of Health investigated a number of cases. They accused Kenney of violating state law — because he is not a licensed healthcare professional.
In June 2012, Dr. Kenney resigned. He also pleaded no contest to practicing therapeutic hypnosis without a license.
This is a misdemeanor offense. By taking this plea, he avoided the more serious charge of practicing therapy without a license. That felony charge could have meant prison time — and a loss of his retirement benefits.
There are no winners in this story — only sorrow
Following his plea, Kenney received two consecutive sentences of six months of probation. He was also ordered to complete 50 hours of community service.
In December 2012, the parents of Freeman, McKinely, and Palumbo filed wrongful death suits against the Sarasota County school board.
Per their suit, Kenney’s hypnosis allegedly led to the deaths of their teens. And they said that it was the school board’s responsibility to step in and prevent these unlicensed hypnotherapy sessions.
In October of 2015, the families and the school board reached a settlement. Each family received $200,000, the maximum sum.
There are no winners here. No one believes that Dr. Kenney intended any harm, and there are understandable doubts about whether his hypnosis sessions actually changed anything or played any role in these tragic deaths.
Dr. George Kenney Hypnotized High School Students Until 3 Teens Died was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.
The Hollywood Gossip
