Alleged boarding school abuse focus of CNN report

A Lake County boarding school has found itself in the sights of CNN’s Anderson Cooper following accusations of abuse by former students.

Pinehaven Christian Children’s Ranch and School, located in St. Ignatius, is the focus of a three-part report on Anderson Cooper 360 as part of the show’s “Ungodly Discipline” series. According to former house parents and students of the school, staff members used pressure points to subdue students and one staff member choked students.

One man alleged he was sodomized while attending the school in the mid-1990s, and that he had never told anyone before.

Other former students argued the accusations were false, one even going so far as to say the school saved his life.

Bob Larsson, the 82-year-old preacher who runs the ranch, admitted pressure points — locations on the body where a small amount of pressure can produce a large amount of pain — were used to subdue unruly students, but that the punishment has since been banned under his order. Larsson told CNN’s Gary Tuchman that he believes the accusations are being driven by the influence of Satan.

According to its website, the ranch opened in 1976 on a 1,100-acre “kid and cattle” ranch about an hour north of Missoula, while the school facility opened in 1984. The residential, year-round program serves “troubled and disadvantaged youths” who have academic, social, behavioral or substance use issues.

The three-part report began Tuesday and wraps up tonight at 6 p.m.