Prosecutors ask to dismiss charges against U.S. citizen accused of abusing children
April 19th, 2013 (InsideCostaRica.com) The Public Prosecutor in Orotina has asked a judge to dismiss the case against a U.S. citizen identified by the last name of Lichfield, against whom the National Institute for Children (PANI) had brought charges of child abuse at a private “rehabilitation academy” for teens which the man operated in the country.
PANI had charged that young people at the academy were both physically and psychologically abused.
The academy, called Teen Mentor, began operating in October 2010 on the premises of Hotel Carara in Tarcoles de Garabito, Puntarenas. Young people between the ages of 13 and 18, and all American citizens, were rescued by PANI in March 2011 following complaints from area residents and the children’s’ parents themselves.
Prosecutors said that they are asking the charges to be dismissed because after an extensive investigation, they were unable to find evidence of a crime.
According to the original complaint, the 21 children who were at the academy were subjected to “isolation, physical and psychological abuse,” and “were cut off from their families, among other abuses.”
ATTENTION: If you are seeing this message,
