‘They Didn’t Want Me’: White ‘Conservative’ Michigan Family Adopted Black Teen Then Abandoned Him Years Later at a Boarding School Accused of Torturing Students

A Michigan couple is accused of sending their adopted child to a boarding school in Jamaica that was shut down over heinous child abuse allegations, then deserting the teen in the foreign country for months. Thanks to the work of child welfare advocates, 17-year-old Elijah Goldman has safely returned stateside after he said he was left in Jamaica for months by his adoptive parents, Mark and Spring Goldman. The Goldmans, a wealthy and conservative Christian couple, adopted Elijah and his little sister from Haiti in 2017 when he was 11, according to the Detroit Free Press. The children lived with the Goldmans and their two biological kids in a $1.7 million lakefront home in Traverse City, Michigan. 17-year-old Elijah Goldman, center, was abandoned by his adopted parents. (Photo: YouTube/Carthy Zone) Elijah depicted his initial years with the Goldmans as bright, describing a nurturing and familial living experience where he felt loved and welcomed. In school, he made friends and was on the track team. “Initially, my family was loving and helped me learn English and learn how to read,” Elijah wrote to the Free Press. “Then I became a teenager.” Elijah wrote that rebellious behavior in his teenage years was...