Academy at Ivy Ridge investigation: Evidence seized, still receiving complaints

CANTON, N.Y. (WWTI) — Last weekend, dozens of former students faced their nightmares.

During the last week of April, Academy of Ivy Ridge “survivors” held a rally at Ogdensburg City Hall, where they demanded justice and action.

The former “behavior modification program in Northern New York is currently under for alleged physical, emotional and sexual abuse. These allegations first stemmed from the Netflix series “The Program: Cons, Cults and Kidnapping,” which claimed that students were abused while the school operated from 2001 to 2009.

Since the series’ debut, many former students have described similar incidents of abuse.

Rob Pedersen, a student at Ivy Ridge from 2002 to 2004, helped to coordinate the rally. Similar to others, this was Pedersen’s first time visiting the area since he left the program.

“It was kind of an eerie feeling,” Pedersen described. “We were driving to the hotel at first and passing the school… ‘the school,’ it was weird because I haven’t been back up there in 20 plus years.”

Although Ivy Ridge holds horrific memories for many, investigators have taken over. As of May 1, St. Lawrence County District Attorney Gary Pasqua confirmed that authorities have seized all evidence from the former school grounds.

“In terms of the information that we wanted to get out of there, we did that with the cooperation of the owner of that property,” Pasqua said. “What is left there? You know, is it anything that is something that we were going to take as part of our investigation? but the owner of that property has made it very clear he doesn’t want anyone on that property and he’s made law enforcement aware of that.”

According to Pasqua, the District’s Attorney’s office has received up to 100 complaints from former students, families and those associated.

The District Attorney added that the investigation could result in numerous criminal charges.

“If we are able to progress with any of the complaints that I’ve made there, it would be with criminal charges,” Pasqua explained. “That’s all going to depend on what the complaints are and what we can actually prosecute that isn’t barred by a statute of limitations problem. And we will discuss that, you know, on a case-by-case basis with those individuals who have made complaints.”

For now, their investigation is far from over.

“We don’t want to rush anything. We want to make sure we hear from anybody and everybody who’s had an experience that they want us to know about. And however long that takes, you know, we’re prepared to go through that process,” Pasqua expressed.

Pasqua could not confirm which specific agencies are involved. An official timeline for the investigation of the former Academy at Ivy Ridge has not been released.

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