RAEFORD, N.C. (AP) — The North Carolina health department is threatening to revoke the operating license for a psychiatric center where state records show patients as young as 6 were subject to physical and verbal abuse.

The Charlotte Observer cites an Oct. 26 department letter accusing the Canyon Hills Treatment Facility of failing to provide an adequately structured living environment and supervision.

According to records obtained by the newspaper, patients and nurses told state investigators that staff physically harmed clients, called them names and mocked them. The report says clients were punished for circulating a petition asking for more food. Records show at least eight clients in the 24-bed facility lost weight after being admitted.

A statement from Canyon Hills’ lawyer, Jonathan Charleston, calls the state’s findings “factually and legally unfounded.”

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