SLC Sheriff, DA Investigating Abuse Allegations from Teens Sent to Ivy Ridge

By Andy Gardner.

OSWEGATCHIE – The St. Lawrence County district attorney and sheriff have opened investigations into physical and sexual abuse allegations by people enrolled at Academy at Ivy Ridge as teenagers.

The allegations are coming out in the wake of the Netflix documentary “The Program: Cons, Cults, and Kidnapping.”

In a March 11 press conference, the two officials urged any former students who were victimized and wish to come forward to do so. They also said members of the public who were not students at the Academy at Ivy Ridge should not contact them, as it impedes their investigations. They are also

Ivy Ridge was open in the town of Oswegatchie, near the city of Ogdensburg from 2001 to 2009. The facility was advertised as a place for parents to get help for troubled teens but was in fact a behavior modification program that used bizarre seminars to induce euphoria and exhaustion. The three-part miniseries talks about the physical, mental and sexual abuse the series director and several others who went there say they suffered at the hands of staff while they were teens in the 2000s. They were all sent there by their parents and detained against their will until they either “graduated” or were pulled out by their families.

During the press conference, St. Lawrence County District Attorney Gary M. Pasqua and Sheriff Patrick “Rick” Engle each said their offices have been flooded with phone calls and emails since the documentary premiered on March 5.

“We have received reports of physical abuse as well as sexual abuse,” Pasqua said. “Those reports we’ve received regarding physical abuse and sexual abuse will be investigated by law enforcement here in St. Lawrence County. Any individual who was a student at Ivy Ridge who believes they are a victim of a crime can and should reach out to my office or the sheriff’s department to report that. We welcome that.”

Any former Ivy Ridge students who want to report physical or sexual abuse to law enforcement can contact the St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office at 315-379-2222 or the St. Lawrence County District Attorney’s Office at 315-379-2225.

Pasqua noted that individuals from the general public who did not attend Ivy Ridge are also inundating both his office and the county sheriff’s department with phone calls and emails, seeking updates or offering suggestions on how to conduct the investigation. They emphasized that such communications could potentially hinder an already lengthy process of addressing all the criminal complaints.

“I ask the public, if you were not a student at Ivy Ridge, please do not reach out to simply look for information,” Pasqua said. “Please do not reach out to ask what we are doing … to provide suggestions or advice as to how we should conduct the investigation.”

“A lot of the comments we’re getting is what’s being done … I can assure you something is being done,” he added. “It’s going to take time. We’re talking about incidents, in some cases, that occurred 20 years ago. It’s not going to be a quick resolution.”

In “The Program,” the creators obtain entry to the closed Ivy Ridge facility and uncover a wealth of files and surveillance footage that remained untouched since its closure in 2009. They removed some of these materials from the premises, intending to use them for the documentary and to share with former students who want to review their past records. Nevertheless, not all items were taken. Those left behind are now regarded as potential evidence of criminal activity.

“Let us do our job. Let us collect that evidence,” the DA said. “The owner of that (building) is voluntarily letting us do what we need to do.”

He said anyone who harasses the people named in the documentary or trespasses at Ivy Ridge or could face charges.

“Law enforcement has received numerous calls from individuals who’ve been harassed because of the documentary that came out,” Pasqua said. “I understand the feelings that come from watching the documentary. You do not know the whole story at this point, especially if you were not there … It does not help the victims of these crimes … it may set back the investigation.”

A former staffer mentioned in the documentary is Tom Nichols, who worked as Ivy Ridge’s public relations coordinator and now is St. Lawrence County’s Republican elections commissioner. When contacted by phone on March 11, Nichols said that he had been advised against commenting on the allegations presented in the miniseries. When questioned about the source of this advice, he would not disclose it.

The documentary alleges Nichols’s involvement in fraudulent advertising. According to the creators, the photographs he captured for promotional brochures did not accurately depict the everyday reality at Ivy Ridge. Instead, they claim these images were crafted to present a misleadingly positive image to parents of the children enrolled there, portraying Ivy Ridge as something it was not. In a confrontation captured at Galilee United Methodist Church near Ogdensburg, where Nichols is a pastor, the filmmakers presented him with this accusation. In an audio recording, when questioned about the accuracy of his photos in representing Ivy Ridge, Nichols admitted, “No.”

Nichols is also a pastor at Galilee Church in Morristown. Upper New York Conference of United Methodists, which ceased being affiliated with the church prior to the documentary’s debut, released a statement distancing themselves from him. Nichols is also pastor at Kendrew Church in Rensselaer Falls.

The statements indicated that Nichols had been “associated” with the two churches, but both Nichols and these churches have since “disaffiliated” from the Upper New York Conference and The United Methodist Church. A divergence in viewpoints regarding the inclusion and treatment of LGBTQ+ individuals prompted the United Methodist Church to permit member churches nationwide to disaffiliate. The deadline for deciding on disaffiliation was December 31.

According to the statement, the disaffiliation of Nichols’ churches became effective on February 9.

Galilee and Kendrew are currently identified as part of the Global Methodist Church, established in 2022 as a conservative denomination.

The statement asserts that Nichols’ previous work at the Academy was independent and was never sanctioned by the Upper New York Conference.

Furthermore, the statement outlines that within the United Methodist Church, accredited pastors are required to undergo a comprehensive process that includes mentoring, a criminal background check, psychological evaluation, and more.

It clarified that the Upper New York Conference had no prior knowledge of the events depicted in the documentary series nor of Nichols’ alleged involvement in the abuse.

Continuing, the statement said the United Methodists of Upper New York are committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of those they serve, particularly the most vulnerable. Congregations are mandated to implement and uphold a Safe Sanctuary policy to mitigate the risk of abuse among children, youth, and vulnerable adults participating in the ministries of their churches, districts, agencies, and ministry groups.

The statement also expressed solidarity with those affected by the alleged abuse and questionable practices depicted in the documentary, reaffirming a dedication to addressing abuse in all its forms within society.

Following the release of the documentary series, an undisclosed number of employees who have transitioned to working at the St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center have been placed on leave.

A spokesperson for Gov. Kathy Hochul released a statement that did not specify the number of employees placed on leave. However, the statement emphasized that state workers undergo background checks before employment. Additionally, it clarified that the state Office of Mental Health, responsible for overseeing the Psychiatric Center, had no jurisdiction over the private boarding institution.

“OMH takes allegations of abuse or neglect seriously, and takes measures to ensure state workers who have direct patient contact are thoroughly vetted, fingerprinted and undergo a criminal background check. The now-closed Ivy Ridge was a private facility. During its operations OMH had no oversight over the staff or their treatment of youth. We have placed individuals on leave as we assess this matter,” the statement reads.

The spokesperson further mentioned that OMH employees undergo cross-referencing checks against the Justice Center’s Staff Exclusion List and the state’s Child Abuse Registry prior to their employment.

OMH said that they would refrain from publicly disclosing the detailed employment history of any present or past employees.

Ivy Ridge promoted their graduation diplomas as officially recognized by New York state. Nevertheless, a scene from the documentary features the late John Sullivan, a former regional director at the New York State Attorney General’s Office. He recalls his involvement in an investigation during the mid-2000s that uncovered the Ivy Ridge diplomas as fraudulent.

“So they were issuing diplomas that were bogus, and we were then able to go in and say, ‘you know what? You are an educational fraud,” Sullivan says on camera in the series. “It was the largest educational fraud case in the history of New York state, until Trump University came up.”

The filmmakers further confront Nichols with an email they they say was among materials retrieved from the premises. In it, he discusses using MySpace, which he labels as a “hate site,” as a method of surveillance of former students. Dated Jan. 26, 2006, the email bears the sender name “Tom Nichols” at the top and concludes with his typed signature. Here is its content:

“Jason (Finlinson, Ivy Ridge director), I have mixed feelings about ‘us’ going to parents to ‘out’ students who frequent hate sites (My Space) and blister us verbally or in writing. On the one hand, its [sic] very offensive and hurtful when they say these things about us after all the hard work AIR put into helping them. Part of me wants to confront them.

However, on the other hand, we do have an opportunity to keep track of where they are and what they are doing. It gives us a chance to keep an eye on them to see if lawsuits are being formulated or if their behavior is getting worse. It is important to know their state of mind if they are trying to access the bbs in some way or get back to our facility to “visit.” If we expose their activity, we likely lose that ability to track them if they disappear because mom or dad got after them for their posts. I think it is good for us to know what they are up to and also find it helpful if someone wants to come back to know if they are friend or foe. It helps to know if they are coming here to quietly contact other kids for no good reason or to really say hi to staff, etc.

For example, knowing what we now know, I would not likely ask Tiffany [last name redacted] to be on our Alumni [Board]. I would also not want her coming back for a visit to go through the entire facility visiting or to be employed as staff or attending a dance etc. However, if we tell her mom and we lose that window, we lose that chance to track what others are saying and doing (lawsuits) that could harm AIR. They love to spill their guts there and that is a great advantage for us. If the kids find out we are actively browsing the site, they will go elsewhere to create another that we just need to hunt down.

As painful and angering as it is, I think we should monitor them but let the kids do their thing on the site and track them quietly. I know of a few times that posts have given us the heads up and information that helped head off people who wanted to access the website. George and Dave will also have more information to decide if people can return to visit. The only time it would be good to intervene would be if they threaten to hurt themselves or someone else.”