The program and its pioneering methods promised such amazing results that the public and other schools would presume it was cheating, Jensen told the victims, so they would have to keep it a secret. He told some of the boys he was compiling data from his program that would eventually be published and marketed and that the boys may be able to share in the royalties, another reason to keep it quiet.

Several of the victims interviewed by The Gazette said because they were young and naïve, and because they trusted Jensen and school officials, they believed the program was working.

Jensen used that belief to convince the boys to recruit others, including in some cases their younger brothers, into the program, the victims alleged. He also used that belief to encourage older boys to intimidate anyone considering leaving the program or exposing the program. Several victims said they were told they would be labeled homosexual within the school if they didn’t comply with the program’s demands or didn’t keep the secret.

In the program, boys would move through as many as 10 levels, each one escalating to more invasive abuse.