Kriti Mehrotra
As the daughter of Bethel Boys Academy founder Herman Fountain, Esther Fountain admittedly had free reign to do whatever she wanted to the teens enrolled at her father’s institution. It didn’t matter if she was younger than most of them; she was allowed to bully them, order them around, and even witness their thrashings if she wished, per HBO Max’s ‘Teen Torture, Inc.’ However, Esther now knows better in every sense — she regretfully concedes she was once a part of the problem, but that was before she became a survivor herself in her early years.
Esther Fountain’s Childhood Wasn’t as Happy as Many Might Expect
Although Esther seemingly grew up in a big, cozy family surrounded by comforts as well as stability, she doesn’t shy away from the fact she has come to believe her father was a manipulator. “My dad, he’s a con artist,” she asserted in this original, speaking out about her own experiences and against her troubled teen industry tough love spearheading father for the very first time. “He can manipulate people and get away with it,” she somberly added. “It’s this weird mental power thing… My dad, he has complete control over women. He finds women that he can control.”
According to Esther’s account, not only did she and her sister always have to wear skirts to maintain a traditional look, but they were also apparently expected to endure everything silently. She added it ostensibly included peeping toms, them being inappropriately touched even at a young age by those boys from the “juvenile delinquent” facility who were allowed into their home as Herman’s favorites, along with more. In fact, this youngster was once molested, too — a boy from the nearby dormitory had broken into her room through the window wearing a mask before touching her and threatening her life.
Esther genuinely thought her assailant would kill her if she told anybody. Yet, she still gathered the courage to reveal her ordeal to her mother the very next morning in the hopes of some consolation as well as a solution. But alas, per the production, nothing ever became of it — that’s when the Mississippi native purportedly began realizing Bethel Boys Academy was more important to her father than his family.”He was our father, but he was not a good person,” she concluded. “..and if I was to defend him, I would be just like him,” which is something she appears to fear — she wants to be better.
Esther Fountain Will Do Anything For Her Loved Ones
While Esther has seemingly long since relocated to Southern Louisiana, she never misses an opportunity to be there for her loved ones; whether good times or bad, she’s never too far away. Thus, it comes as no surprise that even though she doesn’t appear to have a relationship with her father anymore, she still holds a special place in her heart for her home state and is close to her siblings, nieces, and nephews, particularly her nephews. So, be it graduations, sports games, long weekends, celebrations like holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, or tough times, she doesn’t mind making the trip east or inviting them over to Louisiana.
Coming to an even more personal front, we should mention Esther is in a very happy, healthy romantic relationship with a professional sound mixer and father of one, Andrew DeRitter. Their favorite restaurant actually appears to be Vestal in Layfette, and the past 1½ year or so has been such a beautiful ride for them that they’ve managed to integrate themselves into one another’s families too. As for Esther’s professional standing, while she prefers to keep this aspect of her life well away from the limelight these days, we do know she supports movements like End Overdose and once also tried raising funds for the Alzheimer’s Association.
Read More: Robert Aaron Rudd: Where is the Bethel Boys Academy Survivor Now?
