PANI
Rescues
20 Young
Americans
Who
Suffered
Various
Attacks
The
Patronato
Nacional
de la
Infancia
(PANI) -
Costa
Rica's
child
welfare
agency -
says it
rescued
on
Monday a
group of
20
American
minors
who
allegedly
received
psychological
and
physical
abuse by
managers
of a
reformatory
in
Puntarenas.
 |
The
academy
"Teen
Mentor"
has been
operating
since
2010 in
the
Hotel
Carra in
Tarcoles
de
Garabito,
Puntarenas.
The PANI
took the
action
to
intervene
following
complaints
from
three
psychologists
at the
academy.
Ten
children
were
transferred
directly
to a
PANI
shelter,
while
the case
is still
in under
investigation.
Parents
paid
from
us$600
per
month to
keep
their
children
between
the ages
of 13
and 18
in the
program.
PANI
officials
say all
the
youths
found in
the
academy
on
Monday
were all
Americans.
Jorge
Urbina,
manager
of the
PANI,
told the
media on
Monday
that the
U.S.
Embassy
in San
José was
in the
process
of
notifying
all the
parents
to come
get
theri
children.
The
action
by the
PANI
quickly
reminds
that of the
"Dundee
Ranch"
academy
back in
2004.
Academy
at
Dundee
Ranch
was a
behavior
modification
facility
for
United
States
teenagers
west of
Orotina.
It was
promoted
as a
residential
school,
offering
a
program
of
behavior
modification,
motivational
"emotional
growth
seminars,"
a
progressive
academic
curriculum,
and a
structured
daily
schedule,
for
teenagers
struggling
in their
homes,
schools,
or
communities.
The
facility
was
associated
with
World
Wide
Association
of
Specialty
Programs
and
Schools
(WWASP).
In May
2003,
authorities
in Costa
Rica
shut
down due
to
claims
of child
abuse,
and
investigated
the
school
and its
managers.
A new
WWASP
facility
called
Pillars
of Hope
was
opened
at the
site of
Academy
at
Dundee
Ranch in
2004.
During
its
operation,
Dundee
Ranch
was the
subject
of
multiple
allegations
of
abuse.
Parents
and
enrollees
claimed
that
food
being
withheld
as
punishment.
Former
students
complained
of
emotional
scars
due to
their
stay
there. A
judgment
in
Louisiana
caused
Costa
Rican
authorities
to
investigate
the
facilities.
A riot
occurred
at the
facility
in May
2003,
leading
to its
closure.
The
Costa
Rican
immigration
authorities
found
that 100
of the
193
children
enrolled
in the
program
did not
have
appropriate
migration
papers.
Narvin
Lichfield,
who was
the
director
at the
time of
the
facility's
closure,
was
jailed
in Costa
Rica for
a brief
period
at the
time of
the
closure.
He was
later
tried in
Costa
Rica on
charges
of
coercion,
holding
minors
against
their
will,
and
"crimes
of an
international
character"
(violating
a law
based on
international
treaties,
specifically
referring
to
torture).
On
February
21, 2007
a
three-judge
panel
found
Narvin
Lichfield
innocent
of the
charges
of
abuse.
During
the
trial
the
prosecutor
told the
court
that
there
was
insufficient
evidence
and
testimony
to link
Lichfield
to the
crimes
for
which he
was
accused. |
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