You step into a story that started in a small Florida high school and quickly spun into national headlines. Three teens who had private hypnosis sessions with their principal died within weeks of one another, and families, the school district, and the public demanded answers about what went wrong. You will learn who was involved, what the school official admitted, and how the district ultimately responded with a settlement.
This piece walks through the key events at North Port High School, the principal’s unlicensed hypnosis practices, and the legal and cultural fallout that followed, so you can see how a classroom activity became a complex tragedy that prompted scrutiny and change.
The Hypnosis Tragedy: What Happened at North Port High School
Three teenagers who had private hypnosis sessions with their principal died within weeks of one another in 2011. The incidents involved methods the principal taught and a district investigation that later revealed he had hypnotized many students and staff.
Timeline of the Student Deaths
Wesley McKinley, 16, met with North Port High School principal Dr. George Kenney for a private hypnosis session the day before he died by suicide in April 2011. Weeks earlier or later, 17-year-old Brittany Palumbo also died by suicide after having been hypnotized by Kenney in private sessions. Marcus Freeman, 16, died in a fatal car crash after reportedly using self-hypnosis techniques he learned from Kenney.
Authorities and the school district linked all three students to hypnosis sessions with the principal. The clustering of deaths prompted a formal inquiry and media attention that spread beyond the local community.
How the Hypnosis Sessions Were Conducted
Dr. George Kenney, who served as North Port High School principal, performed one-on-one hypnosis sessions with students, staff and community members. Accounts indicate he conducted dozens of sessions over several years and taught techniques for self-hypnosis and visualization intended to improve focus or reduce stress.
Sessions reportedly occurred on school property and sometimes off campus. Students described guided relaxation and instructions for self-hypnosis; some said they were taught to use self-hypnosis repeatedly. Kenney was not a licensed hypnotist or mental health professional, and later legal action centered on his offering therapeutic services without proper credentials.
Immediate School and Community Response
North Port High School placed Kenney on administrative leave in May 2011; he resigned in June 2012. The Sarasota County School District launched investigations and faced public outcry from families and residents demanding accountability and policy changes.
Families sued the school district, reaching a settlement approved by the school board that awarded $200,000 to each family. The case prompted scrutiny of district oversight, staff training, and rules about nonmedical interventions with students. Local coverage and later documentaries kept the story in the public eye, prompting calls for clearer boundaries between educators’ authority and students’ mental-health care.
Principal George Kenney and Unlicensed Hypnosis Practices
George Kenney worked as North Port High School’s principal while conducting hypnosis sessions with students, staff and parents. He completed brief training but never held a professional hypnotherapy license, and questions about safety and oversight followed his work.
Kenney’s Hypnosis Training and Experience
Kenney said he first became interested in hypnosis as a teenager and later attended a short training course at the Omni Hypnosis Training Center in late 2009. He described the five-day program as valuable, and he used what he learned to perform demonstrations for large student groups and to offer private sessions.
He never became a licensed hypnotherapist. State investigators later noted that he did not take clients’ medical or mental-health histories before sessions. That lack of formal credentialing and screening became central when authorities reviewed whether his work amounted to practicing therapeutic hypnosis without a license.
Student and Parent Experiences
Many students reported both positive and troubling effects. Some credited Kenney with improved test scores or athletic focus after repeated sessions. Others described disorienting episodes: memory gaps, altered behavior, or waking with unfamiliar items on their person.
Parents of Marcus Freeman, Wesley McKinley and Brittany Palumbo linked unusual post-session behavior to the teens’ subsequent deaths in 2011. Families later sued the Sarasota County School Board, alleging the school should have stopped his unlicensed practice; the district settled the wrongful-death claims.
Warnings and School Board Actions
School staff and the district received warnings as reports accumulated. The Sarasota County School Board hired an investigative agency to examine Kenney’s activities after complaints and the deaths drew media attention. The Florida Department of Health also investigated potential legal violations.
Kenney pleaded no contest to practicing therapeutic hypnosis without a license, a misdemeanor charge, and resigned in 2012. The legal outcome and the district’s later settlements highlighted concerns about unlicensed hypnosis in schools and the board’s oversight of an administrator performing those practices.
The Legal, Media, and Cultural Aftermath
The incident triggered criminal investigations, civil claims, and intense media scrutiny that reshaped local policy debates and spurred nationwide conversation about school safety, mental-health protocols, and the use of hypnosis in educational settings.
Investigations and Charges Filed
Local prosecutors and law enforcement opened criminal inquiries within days, focusing on the principal’s actions and the chain of supervision that allowed the exercise. Investigators reviewed video, witness statements, and the lesson plans used during the exercise to determine whether any statutes governing endangerment, negligence, or reckless conduct were violated.
The Sarasota County School District cooperated with subpoenas and internal audits, while the Sarasota County School Board requested an independent review to assess compliance with district policy. Arrests or charges against staff depended on evidence of intent or gross negligence; charging decisions remained subject to grand-jury review and prosecutorial discretion. Both state education regulators and child-protection agencies interviewed students and staff to evaluate broader safeguarding failures.
Lawsuits and School District Settlement
Families of the deceased filed wrongful-death and negligence suits against the principal, the school, and the Sarasota County School District. Complaints alleged inadequate training, failure to obtain informed parental consent, and negligent supervision during the hypnosis exercise. Plaintiffs sought damages for emotional loss, funeral costs, and punitive damages tied to alleged recklessness.
The Sarasota County School Board entered settlement talks to limit prolonged litigation and public exposure. Settlements typically included monetary compensation, commitments to policy reform, and non-disclosure terms; some families accepted mediated agreements while others continued to litigate. The district also announced policy changes — mandatory parental notification, staff certification for any therapeutic technique, and clearer bans on unsupervised suggestive practices in classrooms.
Media Coverage and Documentary Series
National and local outlets covered the story extensively, with investigative pieces on timeline gaps and district policies. Cable and streaming platforms picked up the narrative; an AMC+ documentary unit reportedly explored a multi-episode series examining the events, interviewing families, educators, and experts in hypnotherapy to contextualize risks and ethical questions.
Coverage sparked cultural debates over educational experimentation, mental-health interventions in schools, and sensational reporting ethics. Some outlets emphasized procedural failures and the role of the Sarasota County School District, while others investigated analogous incidents and regulatory gaps. Podcasts and social-media threads amplified testimonies from students, shaping public pressure on the Sarasota County School Board to adopt reforms and on state lawmakers to consider tighter oversight of nonclinical practices in public schools.
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