‘There is no closure’: Mother of former Ivy Ridge student describes horrors

OGDENSBURG, N.Y. (WWTI) — “It began in 2004, and I was worried about him.”

This worry forever changed the lives of Ann Herold and her son Jayson.

In 2004, Jayson Herold was 14-years-old. Ann said he faced struggles with mental health. This concerned Jayson’s mother and she researched alternate education options.

Ann came across the Academy at Ivy Ridge in Ogdensburg, New York and worked with a recruiter who enrolled Jayson in the program. According to Ann, Ivy Ridge was described to her as a “therapeutic educational” program.

However, this was far from her family’s experience.

“They brainwashed us,” Herold explained. “They had us believe that everything that was going on was to help your son or daughter.”

Herold and her daughter drove Jayson to Ivy Ridge in March 2004. He remained a student at the “school” until December 2004.

 “They physically and mentally abused him all those months,” Herold expressed. 

Ann said that Jayson endured horrors every day he was at Ivy Ridge. In a Zoom interview, she explained one incident where her son was physically beaten.

“The director thought my son had heard about a student that was planning on escaping. And they were I think it was the gym. And he grabbed my son by the neck and he threw them across the room and he smashed into a wall,” Ann said. “Now, obviously, he wanted my son to be an example for the other students to see.”

Although Ann knows about these occurrences now, she said she remained in the dark while her son was at the Academy.

Herold explained that Jayson often wrote her letters that were screened by employees. She and her daughter also visited the school, where they weren’t allowed to hug Jayson when they saw each other.

She realized how much this had impacted Jayson when he returned home to Connecticut.

I thought it was the right thing. And when he came home, he. He was so upset with me. Mom, how could you do that? I was a good kid. He attempted suicide three times, and he has a permanent mental illness. He hears voices all day long. He has a nurse that brings him his medication,” she expressed.

It’s been 20 years since Jayson Herold left the Academy at Ivy Ridge, but the nine months he spent there changed his life forever.

“There is no closure,” Herold exclaimed. “How can you have closure when your son or your daughter is permanently disabled for the rest of their life? Is that what I wanted for his life? No, I didn’t want this for his life.”

The Academy at Ivy Ridge is now under investigation following the debut of “The Program: Cons, Cults and Kidnapping” on Netflix. The true crime series alleged that students of Ivy Ridge were abused sexually, physically and psychologically.

An official investigation into the Academy at Ivy Ridge began on March 11, 2024.

The National Sexual Assault Hotline provides free support at 1-800-656-4673. A chat option is also available on the organization’s website. The hotline is operated by RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network), a national anti-sexual violence organization.

If you or someone you know is thinking of harming themselves, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline provides free support at 1-800-273-8255. U.S. residents can also be connected to the Lifeline by calling or texting 988 or chatting at 988lifeline.org. For more about risk factors and warning signs, visit the organization’s official website.