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By Julian Coman
Sunday Telegraph
June 3, 2003
Lawyers, surgeons and business people seeking solutions to their children's problems paid $30,000 to $50,000 yearly to send them to Dundee Ranch in Costa Rica.
The solutions turned out to involve alleged physical torture, filthy living conditions and the loss of basic human rights. After a raid by Costa Rican police officers, Narvin Lichfield, the school's owner, was arrested on May 22 for alleged physical and psychological mistreatment of pupils.
A picture of cruelty has emerged since the school closed last week, prompting the State Department to issue an official warning to parents about "overseas behavior modification programs."
The school, which had 200 students, was one of 10 supervised by a private educational network that promised "tough love" for unruly teenagers.
One girl from Salt Lake City was sent to Dundee Ranch in January 2002 after using drugs. The school Web site said that student rooms were "well-appointed, with air-conditioning, ceiling fans and individual hot showers." Staff supposedly were "highly trained and bilingual."
"The Web site was completely misleading," the girl said. In reality, she claimed, the regime was overly harsh. "There were six 'levels' and at the first three you were not allowed to speak to your parents. A lot of the time you were not allowed to speak to anyone."
Every pupil feared "being sent to OP." "The name stood for 'Out of Population'," the girl said. "The OP room was small. You were isolated and made to kneel in the same position for hours without moving."
Stories abound that pupils were made to walk 500 times around a swimming pool in the midday sun as another punishment. Teens allege that those who resisted were held in arm locks for up to 30 minutes.
Dundee Ranch was based in Costa Rica, where staff costs are low. With the exception of Lichfield, staff were mainly hired locally and spoke little English.
Amberly Knight, a former Dundee administrator, told the Costa Rican authorities she believed that unfiltered drinking water had led to widespread stomach illnesses.
"Officials from the American embassy sometimes came to inspect the school but they always announced their visit in advance. The day before the embassy came we were given a day off to wash our clothes and ordered to clean up the whole school."
Dundee Ranch belonged to the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools based in Utah.