Some times the ignorance of the uninformed is insufferable and I am continually amazed to the level of it in this forum. So many people post here on things they know nothing about but because it fits their own ideological agenda slander is pursued with religious fever... The ends some how justifies the means however untrue or inaccurate if you will. As a former staff at Dundee here are the facts from one who was there first hand and a up-date on what's the latest on the Dundee fiasco so he who has ears let him hear the truth.. We are expecting a complete clearing of Dundee by the fiscalias almost 2 year investigation to even see if there was a case to pursue of abuse at Dundee. This is supposed to be completed by the end of the month. Narvin Lichfield has never been formally charged of anything and in Costa Rica even though he was imprisoned overnight and slandered and defamed by almost ever newspaper in the world over the Actions of Mr. Vargas, the temporary since fired soon to be sued fiscal.. A fiscal can arrest anyone for 24 hours with no evidence but a hearsay accusation a part of Neapolitan law often used inappropriately by prosecutors in Latin America to label the accused and thus provide themselves cover for any abuse of the law like was clearly the case with Vargas and Dundee. (There is no accusations in the complete legal file or has never been any allegation that Narvin personally ever abused any child in our care)...As far as accusations of abuse at Dundee please note the article below on one Bruce Harris and then the posts and threads of "Amberly Lied"... This Mr. Harris was the person that was our main accuser even though he never had set foot on our campus or spoke to our students and staff. Mr. Harris made international news with claims of abuse of a girl at Dundee and pushed Vargas to re-review the original complaint that had been wisely shelved by the original and current fiscalia as what it was; simple hearsay by a non-custodial parent trying to subvert US law and take custody illegally like Carrie Brock, with allegations of abuse that her own daughter Nichole later denied before the judge right before the Vargas action. This same judge who was the legal authority not Vargas, who usurped her authority, as she demanded Vargas to stop before he started the now infamous riots . . I am looking forward to how this will all shake out; as the truth of this whole fiasco finally comes to light that Dundee though imperfect provided great services for the students in their care. As the U.S consulate General Ms Robin Morritz wrote to one of the parents as amberly knight began her fables "I know the staff at Dundee truly cares for the students in their care" Dundee and Narvin Lichfield was falsely accused and crucified by a press all too willing to print the salacious accusations of people of questionable character and dubious intent. Why??? Because it sells... Newspapers or magazines or whatever you choose. It?s the very nature of slanderous gossip its seductive and profitable and obviously practiced by allot of people for fun just take a look at this forum for validation of this. Ultimately though people like Bruce Harris, Vargas and amberly knight are living in houses made of glass and in time as we have said here from the start almost 2 years ago the truth will reveal them for who they really are. Karma has away of catching up with us all for what we send out is what we get in return and Mr. Harris has just learned this first hand. The accuser is now the accused and these other folks in time will have their day.
"People who live in glass houses ought not to throw rocks"
Covenant House fires its Central American program director
> --------------------
>
> By FREDDY CUEVAS
> Associated Press Writer
>
> September 17, 2004, 10:56 PM EDT
>
> TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras -- The director of Casa Alianza, a Covenant House
program that is Central America's most important children's rights
organization, has been fired because of a relationship with a boy the
organization had once helped.
>
> Bruce Harris, the regional director of Casa Alianza, "recently paid for
sexual favors from a 19-year-old Honduran youth" who had been a resident of
the organization's shelter until near the end of 2002, according to a
statement released Friday by Covenant House, Casa Alianza's parent
organization.
>
> The encounter took place in a hotel room in Tegucigalpa, the Honduran
capital, the statement said. "Mr. Harris had admitted that he acted
incorrectly," it continued.
>
> Honduran prosecutors were investigating and Casa Alianza, based in the
Costa Rican capital of San Jose, was cooperating, according to Covenant
House.
>
> Harris, 49, said in a letter released Thursday that he was leaving Casa
Alianza to spend more time with his family. In an e-mail to The Associated
Press late Friday, he declined to give details about the case, but said he
was "at the disposition" of investigators.
>
> "Sheltering behind a lie has never been my way, so I assume, as I always
have done, responsibility for my acts, correct or incorrect," Harris wrote.
"I do not want to have the boys and girls served by Casa Alianza pay for my
private life."
>
> In its statement, Covenant House said Pedro Fragoso, Casa Alianza's
director of internal auditing, had been tapped to replace Harris
temporarily.
>
> Covenant House spokesman Richard Hirsch said the agency's board met late
Thursday and decided to set up a committee to carry out an independent
investigation of the charges against Harris.
>
> "We're a child care agency, our primary concern has to be the good of the
children," he said. "When there's any question about that, we really have to
step back and look at" the situation.
>
> "The program is not one individual, it's all these people who work to
assist young people," Hirsch added.
>
> The news was a blow to an organization which has crusaded for the rights
of poor, abused and abandoned youth throughout Central America and which had
demanded that police crack down on sexual tourism by foreigners who had
preyed upon youths in the area.
>
> Casa Alianza worked with governments throughout the region to rescue
homeless youngsters who had been forced into prostitution rings or the
illicit drug trade. It even helped authorities in some countries organize
sting operations designed to catch police officers and other adults abusing
street children.
>
> The British-born Harris was well-known throughout Latin America as an
outspoken defender of children's rights.
>
> In January, a Guatemala court ruled prosecutors had failed to prove Harris
intended to damage or defame the wife of a Supreme Court justice when he
wrote about alleged influence-trafficking in adoption cases in 1997.
>
> Covenant House says it is the largest privately funded child-care agency
in the United States providing shelter and service to homeless and runaway
youth.
>
> In 1989, a former male prostitute said he had an affair with Covenant
House's founder, the late Rev. Bruce Ritter. Several other young men at
Covenant House also accused the Franciscan priest of seducing them.
>
> Ritter denied the charges, but was ordered to take a leave of absence when
questionable financial transactions surfaced. He later resigned.
>
> The Covenant House board eventually found no serious financial
impropriety, but extensive evidence of sexual misconduct. Ritter, who died
in 1999, was never charged with any criminal wrongdoing.
>
>
>
> Copyright (c) 2004, The Associated Press
>
> --------------------
>
> This article originally appeared at:
>
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ ... ional-wire>
> Visit Newsday online at
http://www.newsday.com>
