Narvin Lichfield speaks out about ‘bias’ The Program on Netflix in huge angry Facebook post

Narvin Lichfield has recently found himself at the centre of documentary, The Program: Cons, Cults and Kidnapping. In the series, Netflix takes a look at the “troubled teen” industry, particularly focusing on a school called Ivy Ridge.

Parents would send their “troubled” children to schools like Ivy Ridge, under the promise they would experience therapy, sports and education, with the aim of changing their behaviours, and solving problems within the family. However, what they were actually met by was emotional and physical abuse, solitary confinement, and being treated like a prisoner.

Narvin Lichfield is the brother of Robert Lichfield, who is the founder of WWASP – the parent company responsible for schools such as Ivy Ridge. He’s spoken out about the Netflix series, and said it’s “bias” and questioned its “journalistic integrity”. He has said he was “falsely accused of abuse” and instead his schools “loved the kids and did everything in our power to make sure they had an appropriate experience.”

The post he made on Facebook is huge, and he’s responded to loads of the points made by Netflix. He also questioned why his estranged son was featured on the series to talk about him, when he says he is not fit to be interviewed.

The full post began: “In response to a recent Netflix documentary making claims of alleged abuse at programs connected to me personally, here are the facts as I have them in my possession; I was falsely accused in 2003 over 20 years ago by two male students at my school in Costa Rica by the name of Rancho Dundee. These two students I had never really met seeing that they came into the school while I was in South Carolina that summer.

“When a riot that was inappropriately, and even illegally started…I immediately got on a plane that night and left my aging parents who were in their 80s visiting me at my home in South Carolina from Utah. If I had been guilty of the alleged abuse of the two students I had never met, why would I go back to Costa Rica immediately and willingly?

“Four years later, when the case actually went to court, I was declared by the prosecutor to be innocent and they had no real legal allegations against me. As a matter of fact, the prosecutor himself asked for the non-guilty judgement which is very rare. To my knowledge this is the only legal accusation by any student directed against my person. We were licensed by the state DSS for over 14 years and we are proud to report that we never had a founded case of abuse in that time and certainly not one directed toward me personally.”

He has claimed he “never worked at Ivy Ridge and had nothing to do with its operation” despite the Netflix documentary saying otherwise, and said he “therefore cannot speak to what went on there.” He added: “My heart goes out to the woman’s experience in the Netflix documentary, who seems to have a personal vendetta against me personally or any person that may have been involved at Ivy Ridge Academy.” Narvin said he “can’t be held accountable for what others chose to do or not to do” at Ivy Ridge.

He then went on to talk about his estranged son Nathan, who was interviewed by Netflix for the series. He has questioned if Netflix did any background checks on Nathan, and has claimed he isn’t fit to be interviewed or used as a trusted source. “So any testimony from him should’ve been vetted or those facts should’ve been stated in order to provide some level of journalistic integrity of the Netflix documentary,” Narvin said.

Narvin Lichfield said his main problem with The Program on Netflix is that “it seems to try to paint with her own bias everything with one brush and tries to make everyone guilty that had anything to do with the programs. When in reality; like life it’s usually a little bit more complicated than that.”

He said: “One of the only truthful things it said was the teens before coming to the program were in cycle self destructive and/or dangerous behaviour.

“The show doesn’t focus on the 90 per cent of students who everyday made their beds, cleaned up their room, did their hygiene, did their chores, properly did their school work, and worked their program. Which left their parents in awe and appreciation, based on what they were doing before they entered the program. Instead, it focused on the 5 per cent or 10 per cent that were ‘rebels without a cause’ that started riots with the intent to destroy.

“I personally don’t condone or protect that inappropriate or illegal action in any form. I also believe too that we should do only good, which was my personal experience of over 20 years when we had dedicated people at both Rancho Dundee and Carolina Springs. Again I can’t speak for the other schools because I wasn’t there; but I can speak for my two schools. We loved the kids and did everything in our power to make sure they had an appropriate experience.”

The Program: Cons, Cults and Kidnapping is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, drops, quizzes and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook. 

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• The Program: So, where is Ivy Ridge and WWASP director Narvin Lichfield now?

• The Program on Netflix: What Paris Hilton has said about her links to ‘troubled teen’ schools

• The Program: Right, this is where Robert Lichfield the founder of WWASP is now