Tim Rogers
trogers@ticotimes.net
Weekly Edition: Tico Times, Costa Rica
September 5 - September 11, 2003
As Utah native Narvin Lichfield continues efforts to reopen his beleaguered "tough-love" Costa Rican facility for wayward teenagers, eight more former U.S. students of Dundee Ranch Academy filed affidavits alleging abuse suffered at the hands of the former academy's staff.
The affidavits, presented to the Prosecutor's Office by child advocacy group Casa Alianza, tell a story of abuse and neglect at the academy, as well as negligence on the part of the Costa Rican government, which allowed Dundee to remain open for seven months after learning about allegations of misconduct there.
"I have seen many cases of mistreatment and abuse placed towards the students that attend the academy, many of which could have been very easily avoided if the government was doing their jobs and stopping all this nonsense the moment it was brought to their attention," wrote former Dundee student Codi Rouvinen, 14, in an affidavit obtained by The Tico Times. "[The government] chose to claim they were blind."
Located on the isolated pastoral grounds of a former hotel in the Pacific slope town of Orotina, Dundee Ranch was closed last May, following two government interventions to investigate allegations of rights abuse and minors being detained there against their will.
