A FORMER teacher at the Academy of Ivy Ridge is facing renewed calls to be fired from her job after five ex-students accused her of serial sexual abuse and grooming in an investigation published by The U.S. Sun.
Amy Ritchie, 52, was accused of grooming and sexually abusing four former students while they were enrolled at Ivy Ridge in Ogdensburg, New York, as teenagers in the mid-2000s.
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A fifth former student claimed she was instructed to escort another underage classmate to Ritchie’s room on campus after hours and would be sitting mere feet from them while Ritchie – then the director of the girl’s program at the school – allegedly molested the classmate in her bed.
Ritchie has not been charged with nor accused by law enforcement of committing any crimes.
However, at least three of The U.S. Sun’s sources say they have reported Ritchie to the St. Lawrence County District Attorney’s Office for sexual abuse.
Attempts to reach Ritchie for comment have so far been unsuccessful.
St. Lawrence DA Gary M. Pasqua confirmed his office has received dozens of reports in recent weeks alleging physical and sexual abuse at Ivy Ridge but declined to name any of the accused faculty.
An investigation into those complaints remains ongoing.
Pasqua pledged that charges would be filed for any legitimate claims that fall within the statute of limitations.
Ritchie has been under scrutiny since the release of the Netflix documentary, The Program: Cons, Cults, and Kidnappings, a three-part series exposing years of alleged physical, psychological, and sexual abuse at the now-defunct troubled teen facility.
Ritchie worked at Ivy Ridge for seven years.
In The Program, she was accused of engaging in and enabling physical and emotional abuse against young girls placed in her care.
The documentary, which featured interviews with numerous former students, also referred to an unnamed female staff member whom they accused of serial sexual abuse and called a pedophile.
Five students later named that staff member as Ritchie in separate interviews with The U.S. Sun in a harrowing exposé published on Saturday.
Ritchie is currently on leave from her job as a mental health therapy aid at the St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center in Ogdensburg, pending the outcome of an internal investigation.
The Ivy Ridge alumni accusing her of sexual abuse have called for Ritchie to be fired immediately and criminally charged by the DA.
They all voiced concerns about Ritchie being permitted to share close contact with vulnerable individuals undergoing psychiatric care – with one alleged abuse victim likening her to a “kid in a f**king candy store.”
“That lady deserves to be in prison,” said the accuser, identified in The U.S. Sun’s investigation under the pseudonym Jane.
“I’m not the only person she did this to. She has hurt so many other girls,” Jane alleged.
“Knowing that she’s no longer working with vulnerable people and knowing that she’s in prison, unable to hurt anyone else, that will help me sleep at night.”
Kristin Schwab, who accused Ritchie of abusing her in the showers at the school, offered a similar plea to local officials.
“She needs to be removed immediately and should not be allowed to work in that environment ever again,” lobbied Kristin.
“The very least we can do is prevent her from being around other children or vulnerable people.
“I will do whatever it takes to make sure that happens,” Kristin continued.
“She is not safe to be around. I would not want my children in her care; I would not want my elderly grandparents in her care; I would not even want any pets to be in her care.
“She should not be responsible for the welfare of anyone or anything.”
Alexa Brand, who appeared in The Program and claims to have been abused by Ritchie countless times over a two-year period, says she had a panic attack when she learned about Ritchie’s latest line of employment.
She said that Ritchie was in charge of caring for another vulnerable population who would likely not be believed should they complain about any potential abuses.
“I also want to add on top of that, even though Amy sexually abused a lot of us, she was very physically abusive as well,” alleged Alexa.
“This was a woman who got a look of excitement on her face every time she was able to participate in the restraining or hurting of a child.
“All forms of abuse can happen within a psychiatric center […] making them a prime hunting ground for people like Amy.”
HORRIFIC ACCOUNTS OF ‘ABUSE’
New York’s Office of Mental Health has been contacted for an updated statement following the release of The U.S. Sun’s investigation into Ritchie’s alleged abuses.
A seemingly carefree Ritchie was photographed on Thursday, returning to her home in Ogdensburg, wearing a sweatshirt with the words “Life Is Good” emblazoned on the front.
She’s a kid in a f**king candy store.
“Jane”
She was spotted again the following day, driving around the town in her pickup truck, wearing cargo pants, a hoodie, and dark shades.
A bumper sticker on the back of her truck read, “I hope something good happens to you today.”
One of her neighbors approached The U.S. Sun and bemoaned that everyone in the area “knows who she is,” what she has done, and they’ve “had enough of her.”
Ritchie left Ivy Ridge in 2008, departing just months before the school shut its doors for good in 2009 after being denied accreditation by the state’s education department, causing enrollment numbers to plummet.
The facility ostensibly presented itself as a disciplinarian boarding school and was operated in association with the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools.
WWASPS at one time had 11 troubled teen facilities in operation across the US and abroad but all of them have since shut down following various controversies.
Ritchie left Ivy Ridge for another WWASPS facility on the California-Mexico border, the Sunset Bay Academy, which also has been subject to allegations of child abuse and mistreatment.
She returned to Ogdensburg some years later and lives a short drive from Ivy Ridge’s abandoned campus.
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In The U.S. Sun’s investigation, Ritchie was accused of abusing four women in the showers at the school, in their dorm rooms, in Ritchie’s bed, in her office, and in some instances, even in their own homes.
Alexa Brand claimed Ritchie would groom her alleged targets by “lovebombing” them, smothering them with compliments and physical touch, and offering selective affection in an otherwise loveless environment.
Ivy Ridge operated on a convoluted points system, and students were awarded points for following the rules and punished with deductions for any perceived breaches.
Typically, Alexa said Ritchie paid the most attention to female students with higher point totals, otherwise referred to as the “upper levels.”
Those within Ritchie’s inner orbit were made to feel protected and loved, but they also had to be seen to be “working the program” to remain in her favor, according to Alexa.
Ritchie would sometimes shun girls without warning, strip them of their points, ignore them, and force them to work their way back up the program to regain her trust and favor.
In her experience, Alexa said once she’d managed to re-accumulate her points, Ritchie began pushing boundaries with her, involving physical touch that eventually escalated into full sexual contact.
She alleged that it was clear to her that resisting Ritchie’s advances would see her demoted to the lower levels again, forcing her to comply.
Alexa alleges that she was abused more than a dozen times by Ritchie throughout the 23 months she spent at the school.
The abuse allegedly happened in her dorm room when her roommate was away, in Ritchie’s on-campus quarters, and during out-of-school visits to local parental support groups.
Alexa further alleges to have been sexually abused by Ritchie on at least three occasions at her family home after leaving Ivy Ridge.
According to Alexa, Ritchie would ask her parents to come and stay with them periodically to sustain her and Alexa’s “special relationship.”
Alexa’s parents were unaware of the alleged abuse, Alexa said.
Alexa provided The U.S. Sun with a copy of an email – dated April 12, 2005 – sent by Ritchie to Alexa’s mom, describing Alexa’s recent visits with Ritchie, writing that Alexa appeared to be pushing her away and their “unique relationship” in a different direction.
Alexa claimed Ritchie’s cycle of behavior was an insidious and deviously constructed grooming pattern that she witnessed numerous other young girls fall victim to.
The described pattern of behavior mirrors what six other sources told The U.S. Sun about Ritchie’s actions, whether experienced first-hand or observed from afar.
A DISTURBING PATTERN
Cynthia Lane and Kristin Schwab were both sent to Ivy Ridge by their parents after experiencing trauma that led them down dark paths.
Cynthia accused Ritchie of feeding off the fact she lacked a maternal figure in her life and using her familial trauma to groom and later allegedly sexually abuse her.
She claims she was sexually abused by Ritchie at least five or six times during her 12-month stay at the school.
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Cynthia, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, is still working to recover some of her memories from Ivy Ridge.
While she has no visual recollections of the alleged abuse today, she can remember touch, sensations, and sounds, and can recount the moments leading up to each reported encounter with Ritchie.
Cynthia also kept a detailed journal during her time at the school, writing in one January 2005 entry, “I was raped…I was raped – I was raped.”
Cynthia said Ritchie presented herself as a savior during her first few months at Ivy Ridge, swooping in to rescue her whenever she found herself in trouble.
Like Alexa, though, Cynthia claims that occasionally she’d be kicked to the curb by Ritchie as part of some cruel, twisted loyalty test.
Ritchie would issue Cynthia the cold shoulder for days or even weeks on end, she claimed, stoking a determination to get back in Ritchie’s favor by any means necessary.
For Kristin Schwab, it was a different story.
Throughout her time at Ivy Ridge, Kristin said Ritchie treated her with relentless cruelty rather than selective kindness.
Every morning, lower-level Ivy Ridge students were given just 15 minutes to wake up, get showered, dressed, and line up in the hallway before class.
Conditions inside the school were dirty.
Many of the girls had mold in their hair or had extreme cases of athlete’s foot.
The vast majority of the girls also smelled – some worse than others.
Those deemed the worst offenders would be singled out by staff for designated showers during the school day, four of The U.S. Sun’s sources recounted.
Kristin was one of those chosen.
During the first encounter, Kristin claims she was pulled into the shower room by Ritchie and another female staff member, who told her to remove her clothes because they were going to “teach” her how to wash herself.
Ritchie and the female staff member then proceeded to toss Kristin’s underwear back and forth, smelling them and remarking at the scent in front of her.
“And then they came into the shower with a washcloth to bathe me like a toddler,” alleged Kristin.
Kristin claims to have been sexually assaulted in this manner by Ritchie at least 10 times in the school’s showers.
Kristin said she doesn’t recall Amy removing her clothing “but there were definitely multiple times where she came inside the shower and was touching me,” she alleged, fighting back tears.
“She has a washcloth in her hands but I don’t think the washcloth ever touched me – it was her hands.
“And she would tell me over and over again all these nasty things, that I’m dirty, that I was disgusting, that she had to do this, that nobody was ever going to love me.”
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‘IT STARTED WITH A CANDY BAR’
Another student, speaking on the condition of anonymity, independently corroborated Kristin’s allegations, claiming to have witnessed the abuse herself.
The student, referred to under the pseudonym “Jane,” said she was also forcibly showered by Ritchie on occasion and felt helpless to stop her alleged abuse of Kristin.
And, like Alexa and Cynthia, she claims she was groomed by the girls’ dorm director for months, which eventually led to similar acts of sexual abuse.
“It started with candy bars,” said Jane.
“She’d give me a Hershey’s bar and then it turned into special activities, like going outside and playing soccer or basketball and things like that.”
One of the privileges afforded to Ritchie’s favorite students, all of the women said, was fulfilling tasks away from their peers, like cleaning.
Eventually, Jane said that Ritchie asked her if she’d be willing to clean her personal quarters on campus, which she agreed to do.
Over the next six months, Jane claims Ritchie continued to push physical boundaries with her, beginning with stroking her hair and massaging her shoulders.
Then, one night in her dorm, Jane – then 15 – claims Ritchie asked to climb into bed next to her and began molesting her.
Jane recounted, “She started talking and then pushed my hair behind my ear and started heavy-petting.
“I remember it getting sexual in the bed, and I remember just laying there pretending I was asleep because I didn’t know what to do.
“And then she got mad at me because I didn’t react in the way that she wanted.
“She got so mad at me, that she told me she wasn’t going to waste her time with me and stormed out of the room.
“The first thing I thought was, ‘F**k, I f**ked up.'”
Timeline of events: Academy at Ivy Ridge
- 2001: Academy at Ivy Ridge is opened by Jason Finlinson in Ogdensburg, New York
- 2003: Congressman Rep. George Miller urges the US Attorney General to investigate Ivy Ridge and the 10 other WWASP facilities in the US and aboard over allegations of “an ongoing practice of physical and emotional abuse of children”
- 2004: Attorney General declines to investigate WWASP, citing a lack of jurisdiction
- 2005: Male students plan and carry out a riot at the school to protest inhumane living conditions; 12 were arrested and numerous others escaped but were later caught
- 2006: New York’s Education Department writes to Finlinson and voices concerns over “serious deficiencies” in Ivy Ridge’s education practices and health and safety protocol
- 2006: The state determined Ivy Ridge to be a behavior modification center, not a school, thus barring the facility from issuing student diplomas. The school was later fined
- 2009: Ivy Ridge closes its doors for good, following years of bad press which caused enrollment numbers to plummet
- 2024 (March 5): A three-part documentary series made by Ivy Ridge alumn Katherine Kubler is released on Netflix, exposing countless claims of physical, psychological, and sexual abuse
- 2024 (March 7): Jason Finlinson loses his job as a safety operations manager at a Utah-based construction facility
- 2024 (March 9): Ivy Ridge’s abandoned campus is listed for sale for $850,000
- 2024 (March 11): St. Lawrence County District Attorney Gary M. Pasqua announces dozens of physical and sexual abuse claims at Ivy Ridge are under investigation
Jane claims her resistance was met with retaliation.
Within days, Ritchie demoted her down two levels in the program.
After restoring her status several weeks later, Jane claimed to have caught Ritchie smirking at her in the hallway.
“I knew what that smirk meant,” said Jane. “I knew what she wanted me to do, so I did it. That’s how it all started.
“And Amy made me feel like if I told anyone, it would ruin our relationship. So I kept it close because I knew she was my only way out of there.”
A PREDATOR’S CLUTCHES
Two other students who attended Ivy Ridge between 2003 and 2006, Michelle Rue and Julie Peysakhova, said they’d both often observe Ritchie coming into the girls’ dorms at night, sometimes even their own, to hang out with some of the students.
Felicia Sanger, who attended Ivy Ridge between 2005 and 2007, claimed she’d often be tasked with covertly escorting her roommate to Ritchie’s bedroom after hours.
Ivy Ridge’s rules stated that at least three people had to be present in any encounter between a student and staff; either two staff members and one student, or two students and one staff member.
Following that rule, Felicia alleges Ritchie would distract her with the television or a coloring book while Ritchie sexually abused her friend less than four feet away in bed.
Felicia claimed she witnessed the abuse happen more than a dozen times.
“It took me until my 20s to realize what was going on was f**king gross,” she said.
“And I felt terrible knowing that I’d kind of hand-delivered somebody I care about to a predator […] that’s been really hard to come to terms with.”
After leaving Ivy Ridge, Alexa, Cynthia, Kristin, and Jane were contacted by Ritchie in some way, sometimes for years after, including in emails, messages on Facebook, and with some even meeting up with her for coffee.
The last time Felicia saw Ritchie was a week after her graduation in March 2007, when she went to visit a friend from Ivy Ridge in New England after a member of the friend’s family died unexpectedly.
To Felicia’s surprise, Ritchie had also traveled to the girl’s home for the funeral and was invited by the friend’s family to stay the night.
They all slept in the basement, and Felicia says Ritchie and Felicia’s grieving friend shared the same bed.
Eventually, the girl had to beg her parents not to let Ritchie visit anymore, Felicia claimed.
The story mirrors allegations made by Alexa Brand, who claims she also had to ask her parents to stop letting Ritchie see her after she left Ivy Ridge.
She told The U.S. Sun even after her parents cut contact, Ritchie would continue to reach out to her periodically on Facebook, attempting to reminisce about memories from Ivy Ridge and the times they shared.
Alexa eventually agreed to meet Ritchie in 2013.
As soon as she saw her, she said her blood ran cold and she realized at that moment that the alleged “unique relationship” they’d shared at Ivy Ridge was, in fact, child abuse.
“I wanted nothing more than to get away from her,” recounted Alexa.
“I knew it wasn’t OK, that what happened shouldn’t have happened, and that it was wrong.
“And she was pretending that everything was normal and that she was so happy to see me.”
She continued, “I was describing this to someone the other day, but when you’re the prey of the predator, even once you reach adulthood, there’s always this talon that’s latched onto you somehow.
“And even today, coming forward, I worry about hurting her feelings or her being mad at me for telling the truth.”
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.
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