FL School Board Settles Hypnosis Cases

A Florida school district agreed to pay $600,000 to the families of three high school students who died after being hypnotized by a former principal. The Sarasota County School District board voted to accept the settlement, which brings an end to a years-long case that began after former North Port High School Principal George Kenney admitted he hypnotized a 16-year-old a day before the teen committed suicide in 2011. An investigation uncovered Kenny hypnotized as many as 75 students, staff members, and others from 2006 until the teen’s death. Another 17-year-old committed suicide in 2011 after she was hypnotized, and a 16-year-old died in a car accident after reportedly self-hypnotizing, which was a technique Kenny taught him.