BY JEFF CHUDZINSKI and JIMMY LAWTON, North Country This Week

CANTON -- The St. Lawrence County Sheriff's Office and District Attorney's Office, in conjunction with State Police, are actively investigating allegations of mental, physical and sexual abuse that occurred at the Academy at Ivy Ridge between 2001 and 2009.

In a press conference held today, March 11, at the County Courthouse, District Attorney Gary Pasqua urged patience with the investigation, saying it will take time to properly vet and investigate each abuse reported.

The flood of tips, calls, emails and questions began shortly after the airing of "The Program: Cons, Cults and Kidnappings" first aired on Netflix last week. The documentary series that details the abuses that occurred quickly shot to number one on the Netflix charts.

Calls come pouring in

Pasqua said his office, along with the Sheriff's Office and State Police have received numerous calls from individuals not only in St. Lawrence County, but across the state and nation.

"My office takes those reports very seriously, as does all of law enforcement, including the agencies you see here," Pasqua said.

Pasqua said the agencies would vet each report as they come in before they make contact with the individuals on a case-by-case basis "to determine what, if anything can be done regarding their case."

According to Pasqua, each office has received numerous calls asking what is being done regarding the abuses and why nothing has been done until this point.

"I can assure you, something is being done. It is going to take time. You're talking about incidents that happened in some cases over 20 years ago. So this is not going to be a quick resolution," he said.

Students urged to come forward

Pasqua urged any former students of the academy who suffered abuse or believed they were a victim of a crime to come forward and reach out to the District Attorney's Office or Sheriff's Office to report the incident.

But not all calls have been constructive, something Paqua urged residents against.

"I ask the public that if you were not included in that (academy), I do urge, please do not reach out simply looking for information. Please do not reach out asking what we are doing. Please do not reach out giving us advice or providing suggestions about how we should conduct the investigation," he said.

Pasqua acknowledged that a documentary like "The Program" is going to "elicit a reaction in people."

"Reaching out to law enforcement, whether it's by phone or through these emails, is not going to help our investigation. If you do not have first-hand information, it is simply going to deter and distract law enforcement from helping those individuals who were there. So I ask, please do not reach out in those instances," Pasqua urged.

Allow police to investigate

Though Pasqua would not confirm which individuals came forward seeking assistance from law enforcement to deter harassment for their potential involvement at Ivy Ridge, he asked the public to remain patient while facts are sorted.

"I understand the reaction that is going to come from watching some of the things that were on those videos but it is not a reason...it does not give you a free pass to go and harass anyone, whether it be a person or business or anyone or anything here in St. Lawrence County,"

"Law enforcement has also received numerous calls from individuals who have now been harassed because of the documentary that came out. I can understand once again the feelings that come from watching these videos and watching the documentary, but what you have to remember is law enforcement is doing this investigation. Simply watching this documentary does not mean you know the entire story," he said.

Pasqua noted that it is possible that individuals working at the facility may not have known about the abuses.

"You don't know how long they worked there, or what their role was there. Simply jumping to conclusions could be detrimental to our investigation," Pasqua said.

Pasqua also urged those who want to see Ivy Ridge to not go.

"We are working with the owner of that facility to facilitate getting all of the documentation or anything that's left there from there into law enforcement custody. It is a massive undertaking. It is going to take a little bit of time, but having individuals who are curious and want to see it for their own fun or curiosity is also not going to not help us. It's not going to help the investigation and it's not going to help the victims of physical or sexual abuse, by having individuals drive up from other counties or other states to take a sightseeing tour through those buildings," he said.

Likewise he asked people to stay away from the facility so evidence can be collected.

Pasqua said the site is also not taped off at this point and no search warrant has been issued in relation to the facility, nor is it in the custody of law enforcement.

"The owner of that property is voluntarily letting us do what we have to do,” he said.

But Pasqua acknowledged that the county lacks the resources for constant surveillance.

"You have to remember this is a property that has sat vacant, as far as I know, since 2009, when the school closed because all the files and everything that are there are from 2009 when school closed," he continued.

Statute of Limitations

Pasqua acknowledged that for the crimes that have been spoken of and reported, each has a statute of limitations but he would not offer specifics of what those statutes might be.

"There's a statute of limitations in both areas, whether it's for the assault or sex offenses. There's the potential for that but I'm not going to speak specifically to it until any individual who was there that I didn't reach (does reach out) or had a chance to come forward," Pasqua said.

Pasqua said he wants to meet with the victims individually first to discuss options with them before going public with the information.

"I want them to have the chance, if they choose, to come forward with their story and then have the ability to hear it directly from us whether or not we are able to go forward with their charges and why I think that's most appropriate," he said.

Pasqua also noted that despite the abuse allegations in the documentary series, no reports of abuse exist in any of the files he has examined with the District Attorney's Office.

According to Pasqua, the only files found were those related to the 2005 riot that began with the boy's side of Ivy Ridge.

NYS not currently involved

Pasqua also commented on the potential involvement of the state Attorney General's Office getting involved, saying he would welcome them to assist, however no contact has been made at this time.

"My job is seeking justice for the people of St. Lawrence County, prosecuting crimes that have occurred in St Lawrence County and that's my main focus. I'm going to do that and focus on that and not wait for anyone else to act when we have that ability. If someone else steps in or begins an investigation, we will work in conjunction with them without problem, but at this point, it's the agencies that you see standing in front of you," he said.

But those agencies are feeling the strain of numerous calls and emails, with Sheriff Rick Engle saying it was "taxing" on his department.

According to Engle, one investigator in his office has been handling all complaints since the documentary came out, saying it was all he had worked on today.

Pasqua spoke of the cooperation between the three departments, saying it was not necessarily a task force per se, but each department working in conjunction with the other "to facilitate the investigation as quickly as possible."

"It's basically an all hands on deck until we get everything we can out of there and then we'll go from there," he said.

In the meantime, Pasqua said the departments will continue to handle calls from students who were at Ivy Ridge before evaluating each situation and deciding how to best move forward with each complaint.

"Please reach out to us if you believe you are the victim of abuse. We are here to help you if we can. We do take this seriously. We're not going to turn a blind eye to it and if we can help you we will," Pasqua said.