Youths Complain of Abuse at Christian Boarding School

VALLEY CENTER —  Ray Swan says he knows that his idea of what’s best for troubled boys is not the most popular one.

But Swan, who runs the Rainbow Ranch, a Christian boarding school here, says he sees nothing wrong with the kind of discipline he metes out when the boys get out of hand.

A stray adolescent at Swan’s school might find himself writing 500 times “I will not curse.” If he refuses, he could be told to dig a hole, then fill it up. Or, if the boy becomes belligerent, Swan may send him to his “get-right” room, a 6-foot by 6-foot, windowless plywood box the kids have come to call “the hole.”

If the boys flail their arms or beat on the walls of the “get-right” room, they are put in handcuffs, he says. If they cry out or curse, they can be gagged with a piece of tape.

“The popular attitude would be to let these kids do their own thing as long as they don’t violate other people’s rights,” Swan said. “But we believe that doing your own thing often does violate others’ rights. And other people should be your prime consideration.”

To at least two of the boys who have spent time at Rainbow Ranch, Swan’s style of discipline is more than unpopular. It’s cause for alarm.

The boys, Donald Jacobson, 13, of San Jose and Mike Boland, 16, of Kansas City, Mo., fled Rainbow Ranch on Saturday. They have since complained about the ranch to San Diego County authorities through the mother of a friend. A deputy sheriff based in Valley Center confirmed Thursday that the school is being investigated.

In telephone interviews with The Times Thursday, Jacobson and Boland complained that the boys in Swan’s Christian school are being “brainwashed” and that anyone who resists is harshly punished.

Jacobson said he had been put in “the hole” about twice a week since his parents placed him at the ranch in January. Once, Jacobson said, he was put in the room for most of three days. He was let out on the second day but was forced to do push-ups until his knuckles bled, he alleged.

Boland said another boy at the ranch who had cursed was put in a chair with his hands cuffed behind him and then his arms were lifted up above his head while he screamed in pain. When the boy cursed again, Boland said, he was gagged. Swan confirmed that the boy was handcuffed and gagged but insisted that the youth had not been abused.

Both boys said they had seen others put in the hole and handcuffed, naked, for periods of time. Swan said in some cases boys’ shoes and shirts would be taken away to discourage escape attempts.

Both boys also complained about the school’s strict daily regimen, including rules prohibiting them from talking about rock ‘n’ roll music. They said they were punished if they failed to memorize Bible verses daily. They were made to sit through two hours of chapel study each day and pressured regularly to “find God,” they said.

“They are totally against rock ‘n’ roll,” Boland said. “You can’t sing it, can’t say the words, you can’t even mention it. You can’t tap your feet or your fingers. Whenever you mess up or do something against the rules, they give you 500 sentences (to write). If you said no, they put you into the hole.”

Swan agreed to talk to The Times on Thursday after he was told of the boys’ allegations, although he refused to allow photographs to be taken of the rugged, 10-acre ranch on Lake Wolford Road, or of the ragged collection of buildings that he said he and the boys are renovating.

Swan said he and his wife, Sherry, have been running the school, which is licensed by the state, since Nov. 1.

“This is a Christian boarding school,” he said. “Our mission is to take kids who have problems at home. We give them a home, discipline, love and an education.”

Rainbow Ranch doesn’t take boys who have been on drugs or who have otherwise broken the law, Swan said. The 14 boys who have been to the ranch since November are “rebellious at home” and “need a structured environment,” he said.

According to Swan and literature he provided, boys may be sent to the school by their parents for as long as a year. Standard tuition is $400 a month, though some pay less.

Students are allowed to bring their own clothes, but nothing “faddish” is permitted, according to school guidelines. No jewelry is allowed, T-shirts must be free of slogans, and makeup is forbidden. Hair must be cut above the ears and collar.

For the first two weeks after a boy arrives at Rainbow Ranch, he is allowed to speak only to the staff and his assigned “buddy.”

“All conversation (between the new boy and his buddy) must be positive,” the guidelines state. “It cannot deal with the past life of the new boy. It must be Christ-centered. Further, there may be no use of drug-culture language, or profanity.”

After three months in the program, the boys are allowed one 10-minute call to their parents each month. After six months, one family visit per month is allowed, but most parents live in other states.

Although Swan says the school has room for 60 boys, it now serves only 12. Six of the 14 boys who have been in the school since November have fled.

The boys sleep in bunk beds in the basement of the school’s main structure, about the size of a large house. The boys share one bathroom and shower, which means the last in line for showers often get cold water.

Upstairs is a large room that serves as a dining room and den. Sherry Swan cooks food in a normal household kitchen. The boys take their schooling--independent study--in another building. There, they study math, science, English, history and the Bible.

On Wednesdays and Sundays the boys are taken to the Fundamentalist Baptist Church of Escondido.

Swan allowed a reporter to speak to several students, including James Jackson, a 16-year-old from Arizona who ran away with Jacobson and Boland but was returned to the school by sheriff’s deputies. With Swan looking on, Jackson said he now likes the ranch and plans to stay.

“If you live by the Bible, you really can have a happy life,” Jackson said. “I don’t look at it as religion, I look at it as a way of life.”

“Amen,” Swan interrupted. “I have taught you well.”

Another youth, 16-year-old Glenn Cowles of Sacramento, said he believes that Swan’s disciplinary techniques, including “the hole” are fair.

“They have a choice,” he said. “If they apologize and agree to write their sentences, they can get out.”

Swan refused to allow a reporter to see or interview the fourth boy who escaped with Boland, Jacobson and Jackson.

In the telephone interview, Boland said his parents in Kansas City forced him to go to the ranch because he could not get along with his stepfather. Jacobson said he went voluntarily because he hoped to improve his troubled home life in San Jose, but soon discovered that life at Rainbow Ranch was even worse. He said he may return home.

Boland said he avoided punishment by grudgingly toeing the line while looking for a way to escape the ranch.

“I was trying to set them up so I could get out,” he said. “I wanted to build up their trust.”

Saturday afternoon, while Swan was away from the ranch, Boland, Jacobson and two other boys removed a dead-bolt lock from a door and sneaked out. They ran into the nearby hills and found their way to a restaurant by nightfall.

They called friends and talked to a gathering of farm workers while pondering their next move. When a deputy sheriff appeared in a squad car, the boys scattered. Two were detained, suspected of loitering, and were returned to the ranch.

Boland and Jacobson escaped, intending to hitchhike back to Missouri. Instead, the boys said, they got a ride the next day from a man whose family took them in, fed them and gave them a place to stay in Oceanside for a night. Boland said they told the man they had run away from home but now wanted to go back to their families. The next morning, the man bought them bus tickets to Missouri, and they arrived Wednesday night.

Nikki Cairns, whose son David is a friend of Mike Boland, notified The Times and encouraged the boys to tell their story to a reporter. Cairns also complained about the ranch to the San Diego County Department of Social Services. She is seeking custody of Boland as a foster child.

Marilyn Laurence, a spokeswoman for the Social Services Department, refused to acknowledge Thursday that the department was investigating the ranch. But Sheriff’s Deputy Chris Christiansen confirmed that he was looking into the matter.

“It is under investigation,” Christiansen said. He declined to elaborate.