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The Troubled Teen Industry / The Oregonian: Costa Rica School Called 'Horror Story'
« on: July 15, 2003, 11:58:00 AM »
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Metro Southwest News
Costa Rica school called 'horror story'
07/05/03
DANA TIMS
From the moment her ringing telephone woke her well past midnight May 20, Robin Crawford of Dundee knew something was wrong with her son, Cody.
Crawford had flown with her 16-year-old son to Orotina, Costa Rica, two weeks earlier to place him in what she understood to be a "supportive boarding school."
From Our Advertiser
A very different picture is emerging amid allegations of torture and abuse, two police raids, a Costa Rican court inquiry, U.S. Embassy intervention and talk of class-action lawsuits against the Academy at Dundee Ranch and its operators.
"What I saw when I finally got down there was something out of a horror story," said Crawford. She has since retrieved her son and is helping him recuperate at Pacific City. "Nightmare doesn't begin to describe it."
School officials did not return telephone calls this week seeking their side of the story.
Other people, however, are speaking out after what's been described as riots involving Cody Crawford and dozens of the 200 mostly U.S. students at the facility.
Cody, along with other Dundee Ranch students, gave closed-court testimony to a judge in Costa Rica before leaving the country with his mother in late May.
Robin Crawford said she has been contacted by at least two attorneys in two states seeking to initiate class-action lawsuits against the ranch.
Dundee Ranch -- not to be confused with Dundee, Ore. -- is a former ecotourism resort 55 miles west of San Jose, Costa Rica. It is coordinated by the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools. The association, which coordinates nine other schools with a total of 2,200 students in the United States, Mexico and Jamaica, is based in St. George, Utah.
The school's Web site promises prospective students a "world-class program in a world-class environment." A section titled "Behavior Modification" says, "Appropriate behavior is reinforced and rewarded" using a "merit system requiring each teen to earn their status and privileges through a standard program using a level system."
That's far from what Cody and other teens encountered once at the school, his mother said.
"At one point, they made him lie on the ground with his face in feces and urine," Robin Crawford said. "He was threatened with beatings if he so much as moved. Other children have separately and independently verified these things."
Crawford said she first heard of Dundee Ranch from her sister. Crawford persuaded court officials to let Cody attend the ranch after he was arrested on possession of marijuana and breaking and entering.
Mother inspected school Crawford inspected the ranch and found its facilities satisfactory. She agreed to pay $1,990 a month in tuition and figured her son would be in good hands.
"I only learned later that they showed me just a portion of the place," she said. "And the students I met turned out to be upper-level students who earned extra credit for taking part in their little show."
School officials imposed and enforced endless rules, Crawford said, which included keeping one's eyes focused downward, a prohibition on using the bathroom for hours after meals and bans on looking at someone of the opposite gender.
"It's extremely warm in that climate, yet the kids got only 20 ounces of water a day to drink," Crawford said. "Cody saw kids with open sores. They were getting almost no medical treatment."
Parents of some Dundee Ranch graduates defend the facility, which apparently is trying to mount a defense of its own against the allegations.
Owner defends program Narvin Lichfield, Dundee's owner, bought airline tickets to fly John Sortomme, a retirement planner in San Diego, and his daughter, a 17-year-old Dundee graduate, to Costa Rica to defend the school to journalists, according to Associated Press reports.
Chanel Sortomme went to Dundee "a very intelligent screw-up" who had run away from home three times, her father told reporters. She came out "a beautiful, intelligent, powerful young lady."
Even so, a number of students, including Cody, fled the ranch when Costa Rican authorities showed up May 20 and told them no one could be forced to remain. Riots broke out two days later, according to media reports, when Lichfield tried to reverse the order.
By that time, Cody had sprinted into the nearby jungle. He later said he tried to use the stars to guide him through the foliage to the U.S. Embassy in San Juan. Instead, a passing motorist picked him up and provided shelter until Cody's mother retrieved him.
Child agency investigating
PANI, Costa Rica's child welfare agency, is investigating complaints of abuse against the facility, which has closed. Ken Kay, president of the specialty schools association, will try to reopen Dundee Ranch this month, according to news reports.
Kay has not returned telephone calls.
When Crawford got the call telling her of trouble at the ranch, she wanted to fly to Costa Rica immediately. She said she delayed her trip a week on the advice of Dundee Ranch officials.
Once she got there, she located her son, who was living with a San Juan family. After talking with police and judicial officials, she and Cody returned to Oregon, she said.
After rushing to Idaho to attend her father's funeral, the pair returned home to Dundee last week.
"I don't know what's going to happen at this point, other than my own crusade to make sure these people don't harm any more kids," Crawford said. "Cody's been having nightmares every night. This can't happen to anyone else."
Dana Tims: 503-294-5973; [email protected]
Metro Southwest News
Costa Rica school called 'horror story'
07/05/03
DANA TIMS
From the moment her ringing telephone woke her well past midnight May 20, Robin Crawford of Dundee knew something was wrong with her son, Cody.
Crawford had flown with her 16-year-old son to Orotina, Costa Rica, two weeks earlier to place him in what she understood to be a "supportive boarding school."
From Our Advertiser
A very different picture is emerging amid allegations of torture and abuse, two police raids, a Costa Rican court inquiry, U.S. Embassy intervention and talk of class-action lawsuits against the Academy at Dundee Ranch and its operators.
"What I saw when I finally got down there was something out of a horror story," said Crawford. She has since retrieved her son and is helping him recuperate at Pacific City. "Nightmare doesn't begin to describe it."
School officials did not return telephone calls this week seeking their side of the story.
Other people, however, are speaking out after what's been described as riots involving Cody Crawford and dozens of the 200 mostly U.S. students at the facility.
Cody, along with other Dundee Ranch students, gave closed-court testimony to a judge in Costa Rica before leaving the country with his mother in late May.
Robin Crawford said she has been contacted by at least two attorneys in two states seeking to initiate class-action lawsuits against the ranch.
Dundee Ranch -- not to be confused with Dundee, Ore. -- is a former ecotourism resort 55 miles west of San Jose, Costa Rica. It is coordinated by the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools. The association, which coordinates nine other schools with a total of 2,200 students in the United States, Mexico and Jamaica, is based in St. George, Utah.
The school's Web site promises prospective students a "world-class program in a world-class environment." A section titled "Behavior Modification" says, "Appropriate behavior is reinforced and rewarded" using a "merit system requiring each teen to earn their status and privileges through a standard program using a level system."
That's far from what Cody and other teens encountered once at the school, his mother said.
"At one point, they made him lie on the ground with his face in feces and urine," Robin Crawford said. "He was threatened with beatings if he so much as moved. Other children have separately and independently verified these things."
Crawford said she first heard of Dundee Ranch from her sister. Crawford persuaded court officials to let Cody attend the ranch after he was arrested on possession of marijuana and breaking and entering.
Mother inspected school Crawford inspected the ranch and found its facilities satisfactory. She agreed to pay $1,990 a month in tuition and figured her son would be in good hands.
"I only learned later that they showed me just a portion of the place," she said. "And the students I met turned out to be upper-level students who earned extra credit for taking part in their little show."
School officials imposed and enforced endless rules, Crawford said, which included keeping one's eyes focused downward, a prohibition on using the bathroom for hours after meals and bans on looking at someone of the opposite gender.
"It's extremely warm in that climate, yet the kids got only 20 ounces of water a day to drink," Crawford said. "Cody saw kids with open sores. They were getting almost no medical treatment."
Parents of some Dundee Ranch graduates defend the facility, which apparently is trying to mount a defense of its own against the allegations.
Owner defends program Narvin Lichfield, Dundee's owner, bought airline tickets to fly John Sortomme, a retirement planner in San Diego, and his daughter, a 17-year-old Dundee graduate, to Costa Rica to defend the school to journalists, according to Associated Press reports.
Chanel Sortomme went to Dundee "a very intelligent screw-up" who had run away from home three times, her father told reporters. She came out "a beautiful, intelligent, powerful young lady."
Even so, a number of students, including Cody, fled the ranch when Costa Rican authorities showed up May 20 and told them no one could be forced to remain. Riots broke out two days later, according to media reports, when Lichfield tried to reverse the order.
By that time, Cody had sprinted into the nearby jungle. He later said he tried to use the stars to guide him through the foliage to the U.S. Embassy in San Juan. Instead, a passing motorist picked him up and provided shelter until Cody's mother retrieved him.
Child agency investigating
PANI, Costa Rica's child welfare agency, is investigating complaints of abuse against the facility, which has closed. Ken Kay, president of the specialty schools association, will try to reopen Dundee Ranch this month, according to news reports.
Kay has not returned telephone calls.
When Crawford got the call telling her of trouble at the ranch, she wanted to fly to Costa Rica immediately. She said she delayed her trip a week on the advice of Dundee Ranch officials.
Once she got there, she located her son, who was living with a San Juan family. After talking with police and judicial officials, she and Cody returned to Oregon, she said.
After rushing to Idaho to attend her father's funeral, the pair returned home to Dundee last week.
"I don't know what's going to happen at this point, other than my own crusade to make sure these people don't harm any more kids," Crawford said. "Cody's been having nightmares every night. This can't happen to anyone else."
Dana Tims: 503-294-5973; [email protected]