http://www.amcostarica.com/052203.htm15 year olds told they can go their own way
Prosecutor, police just let troubled youth walk out
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A prosecutor told youngsters going through an academic/disciplinary program in Orotina that they were old enough to leave on their own, according to a mother of one of the teens. And at least eight did.
Investigators raided the Dundee Ranch Tuesday in search of something wrong, mostly on the criminal complaint of Susan Flowers, whose daughter, Nicole, 15, was being held at the ranch. Both are U.S. citizens as are most of those at the ranch.
Ms. Flowers does not have custody, and the child was sent to the ranch by her father, who is in the United States.
Meanwhile, Casa Alianza said in a press release that it was satisfied by the search of Dundee Ranch after eight months of complaints.
The bulk of the complaints came from youngsters who were so out of control that their parents sent them to the private correctional facility or, as in the case of Mrs. Flowers, persons who were unable to maintain custody of their children in U.S. courts.
Casa Alianza downplayed the flight of the youngsters. But Ms. Flowers sent an e-mail to those who had followed the case:
"When the district attorney went there to talk with Nicole because of the petition I filed with the criminal court, he told the teens that if they were 15 through 19 in age, in Costa Rica they were free to leave Dundee.
"Front page [of Spanish newspaper Al Dia] has pictures of the kids running the f--- out of Dundee. On the inside is one of the owners Narvin Litchfield watching $240,000 worth of teens, 8 x $30,000 per teen, walking down that despicable dirt road. They were laughing and crying, carrying their pillow cases with their belongings. Pray these pictures get sent around the world."
Ms. Flowers said that some of the children, perhaps as many as 30, ended up with the Patronato Nacional de la Infancia and others were still on their own.
"Dundee is officially closed. The American Embassy is taking phone numbers from parents," said Ms. Flowers.
Joe Atkin, director of the ranch, said in a news story last Oct. 25 that the facility has housed around 200 youngsters in the last 14 months. He said most are there because they are rebellious, manipulative or involved in marijuana. The camp is part of a network that is based in the United States where it also is controversial.
Casa Alianza said that on Monday officials from the Dirección de Migración y Extranjeria inspected the camp and found that 100 of the 193 children did not have appropriate migration papers. It is not known if some of these youngsters were allowed to leave the camp.
According to its Web site, the Academy at Dundee Ranch program consists of behavior modification, a series of highly motivational emotional growth seminars, a progressive academic curriculum and a structured daily schedule that includes daily personal development courses. Dundee Ranch has an extremely progressive academic program that is accredited by the Northwest Association of Schools and of Colleges and Universities, said the Web site.
Casa Alianza said it had received a series of complaints from various parents, who feared for the physical and emotional integrity of their children, who were held there. Casa Alianza's Legal Support Office in turn informed the director of the Patronato, Rosalía Gil, several weeks ago, it said.
The ranch is in La Ceiba de Cascajal de Orotina. Casa Alianza and regional director Bruce Harris helped bring a case with Ms. Flowers before the Sala IV constitutional court. They alleged that the rights of Nicole were being violated, although how was not specified Wednesday.
The Sala IV did not agree, rejected the case and remanded it to family court, Casa Alianza said.
So Ms. Flowers presumably filed her criminal complaint, probably under the direction of Casa Alianza. As a result of the criminal complaint, investigators from the Judicial Investigating Organization, a judge and the prosecutor visited the camp.
Casa Alianza noted in its release that the girl, then 14, was taken to Dundee Ranch against her will from her home in the United States. In
letters to her mother, the girl wrote: "Please, whatever, take me out of here, please," said Casa Alianza. Casa Alianza did not say if it had contacted the father of the child who is in the United States and was the parent paying the bills. The father, as the parent with full custody, has the right to dictate where his child lives.
Ms. Flowers, a psychologist, came here months ago and worked at odd jobs in beach communities to enable her to stay near her child.
In describing what prompted his organization?s interest in Dundee Ranch, the Casa Alianza release explained; "To enclose children in tiny rooms on their knees or stomachs for hours is cruel and inhumane treatment and needs to be investigated by the authorities." The release gave no further details.
Probers arrest owner of ranch for troubled youth
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Investigators have detained Narvin Litchfield, owner of the Academy at Dundee Ranch for troubled youth, mostly from North America.
The arrest Thursday night came after two days of investigation at the facility in La Ceiba de Cascajal de Orotina. Officials said they were holding Litchfield for, among other allegations, deprivation of liberty of the youngsters placed in his charge by their parents.
Meanwhile, parents of the children there have been arriving from the United States to collect their children because officials said they would close the facility.
A group of youngsters fled the facility Tuesday when a public prosecutor told them they had rights under Costa Rican law and could not be kept there against their will. Some still are missing.
The Patronato Nacional de la Infancia said the facility did not provide appropriate food. Immigration officials said that more than half of the estimated 190 youngsters at the facility did not have correct paperwork to be in the country.
Although officials criticized the physical plant of the facility, television shots broadcast all over Costa Rica showed a swimming pool, computers and a mostly U.S.-style boarding school setting.
The campaign against the school has been carried on for at least eight months by a non-custodial
mother, Susan Flowers, who had a 15-year-old, Nicole Helene Deniken, at the school. The girl was sent to the school by the father who has custody under a U.S. court order. Ms. Flowers has been working at odd jobs at the beach in order to stay near her daughter.
She was assisted in her campaign by Casa Alianza, the child advocate organization.
Among the complaints that the Patronato had about the facility is that the staff of the school lacked training and that staffers managed communication between children and their parents.
The school is designed for troubled youth who have become involved in drugs, early sex, alcohol or other delinquent behavior. The school calls itself an academic behavior modification facility and awards students various liberties based on their progress. Their parents pay about $30,000 a year for the youngsters to study at the academy.
The walkout of youngsters took place when a public prosecutor told them that if they are over 15 they cannot be held against their will in Costa Rica, according to an e-mail Wednesday from Ms. Flowers.
The raid on the academy was not totally unexpected. The discipline that the academy used to train the youngsters is alien to Costa Rican child-rearing methods. Ms. Flowers has gone so far as to begin and lose a Sala IV constitutional court case, a sure way to attract official attention.
