Phones in the St. Lawrence County district attorney's office started ringing off the hook recently, shortly after the debut of a documentary on Netflix last week.
"The Program: Cons, Cults, and Kidnapping" accuses a now-defunct academy near Ogdensburg of child abuse back dating back to the 2000s.
The district attorney shared his thoughts about the allegations with Spectrum News 1.
“It's unbelievable that we had something like that, you know, right here in the North Country,” St. Lawrence County District Attorney Gary Pasqua said. “I think Ivy Ridge probably sold itself as something very different than than what it was.”
From the moment Netflix dropped the documentary on the former Academy at Ivy Ridge near Ogdensburg, he said his phone has been ringing with calls from students of the academy since.
“I think the level of the physicality that these kids clearly went through, from the videos that were shown in the documentary, was above and beyond. I think that anyone understood,” Pasqua added.
The Program: Cons, Cults and Kidnapping was put together by a former student of the academy, a place with 460 students at its peak, which took in $3,500 a month from each of their families.
“Certainly, it sold itself as a high school and a learning institution where these kids were getting an education,” Pasqua said of the academy.
But the documentary was not about academic concerns, including those that came to light in 2005, when the attorney general found the academy was never accredited and, in essence, offered diplomas that meant nothing.
Instead, it presents a darker picture, including claims from students that staff were mentally, physically and sexually abusive.
“We want them to come forward so that we can hear their stories, so that we can talk to them, see if we can find any evidence to corroborate that and see what we can do going forward,” Pasqua said.
Pasqua says he's already received dozens of calls and emails from former students who believe they were abused. He expects dozens of more to come in over the next week or so.
He does, however, have a concern with the statute of limitations. After all, some of these allegations are 20 years old.
“We were going to take those on a case-by-case basis and see if there is anything that we can do on it on the criminal side,” he added.
In the days since the documentary aired, the area has become quite the attraction, so much so that the private owner of the property has blocked it off. There are posted signs everywhere, even a trail camera. It's because of that, and the fact that there is an active investigation, that Pasqua is asking people to stay away.
“We're working with the individual that owns that property to get any additional documentation that still may be there, to get that out,” Pasqua said of the investigation his office has opened.
Pasqua is also concerned with what he says is harassment aimed at those who used to be associated with Ivy Ridge. He says as of right now, everything is just accusations. He says any and all harassment needs to stop.
“Doing things like that, that's not getting justice for anyone who may have been abused at Ivy Ridge,” he said. "That is not going to make our job any easier. That is not going to get, you know, those individuals who work there potentially to cooperate with us if they have information.”
Pasqua is imploring everyone to let law enforcement and his office do their jobs. And if they can and need to, they will hold people responsible.
Pasqua said an investigator in the office is spending about 95% of his time on the case.