State evidence not enough for charges in Ranch For Kids case

The Lincoln County Attorney’s Office will not pursue charges against a former facility for troubled youth in Rexford after reviewing a state investigation into allegations of child abuse at the site.

County Attorney Marcia Boris said she received the results of the investigation into Ranch for Kids conducted by officials with the Montana Department of Criminal Investigation (DCI) on Dec. 10. After an initial review of the reports, Boris said she lacked enough evidence to level felony charges against the program.

A more thorough analysis was conducted alongside a state case agent in early March, she said, but it once again came up lacking.

“We talked through the whole thing, and we were both in agreement that there are no felony charges that can be filed based on a lack of evidence,” she said.

Speaking in generalities, Boris said that interviews performed by state investigators revealed conflicting evidence. One felony charge she looked into pursuing proved to be too specific based on the information gathered by DCI.

While pursuing a misdemeanor charge based on the report was possible, the statute of limitations for prosecuting the potential offense had expired by the time state officials handed over the investigation to local authorities.

When news of Boris’ decision broke, a few residents decried her conclusion, describing it as an injustice on social media. Boris stressed that she was bound by the facts gathered in the investigation.

While a prosecutor can file charges if they have probable cause, Boris said it would be unethical to do so unless the evidence proved the violations occurred beyond a reasonable doubt.

“We have to look at the evidence; we have to look at the facts,” she said. “Our guiding principle in filing charges is: Can we prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt to 12 people?”

Boris said the DCI investigation revealed no evidence of sexual abuse against the children removed from the Ranch for Kids facility in 2019.

Officials with the Department of Public Health and Human Services were able to act on allegations of abuse when removing children from the facility. Boris said this threshold is much lower than the level required to press charges.

She asked any residents with information regarding sexual abuse at the site — or in general across Lincoln County — to contact local law enforcement.

Boris also urged anyone who wished to discuss her decision over the investigation to contact her office. Though criminal justice information statutes restrict what she can discuss, Boris said she would provide as much information as she could.

“Call and ask. If I can't tell you, I’ll tell you I can’t tell you,” she said. “And if I can, great, and maybe you will have a better understanding.”

DCI personnel opened an investigation into the Ranch for Kids program after health officials with the state Department of Public Health and Human Services removed 27 children from the Ranch for Kids in July 2019.

An administrative judge ruled in favor of the removals and also called for the permanent suspension of the program’s license to operate.

The Daily Inter Lake reported at the time that children, ages 11 to 17, were removed from the ranch due to serious allegations of egregious, chronic and persistent child abuse and neglect.

The judge’s decision listed activities alleged to have occurred at the Ranch for Kids that violated state law. Among the offenses, ranch personnel were accused of abusive disciplinary walks, restricting food for participants, withholding medical attention, physical and verbal abuse of participants and a failure to report sexual abuse between participants and individuals who had direct access to participants.