Triangle Cross Ranch, which recently changed its name to Sunlight Mountain Boys Ranch, will continue to operate after its license was revoked by child welfare officials.
James Stukenberg for NBC NewsA Wyoming ranch accused of abusing children and forcing them to perform manual labor lost its license earlier this year after state officials documented a litany of safety and sanitary violations. But the ranch found a way to stay open and will no longer need a license to care for children, a development that has alarmed youth rights advocates.
The facility, which typically has five or fewer boys enrolled at a time, will now operate without a license because the owner said last month he was appointed guardian of the youth living there, a department spokesman said. The spokesman said the owner provided copies of the paperwork, which was filed in Wyoming.
And state officials will no longer conduct regular welfare inspections going forward due to another licensing exemption for ranches or farms that do not offer services to children who are homeless, delinquent or have an intellectual disability, according to the department’s rules. “It’s incredibly troubling that they would have decided to go this route after losing their license to be a child caring facility,” said Donna Sheen, founder and director of the Wyoming Children’s Law Center, a nonprofit. She noted that the Department of Family Services will now need a specific allegation or complaint in order to investigate the ranch.
In a brief phone call, Gerald Schneider, the ranch’s owner, confirmed that the program is now known as Sunlight Mountain Boys Ranch. The website under the new moniker is nearly identical to the Triangle Cross Ranch website, uses the same email and phone number, and lists the same staff members, but it does not mention its previous name or the lack of licensure. Schneider declined to answer additional questions and hung up, and the ranch did not respond to an email seeking comment.
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