Judge Won’t Toss Out Boys Ranch Charges

A judge has refused to throw out portions of the charges against three former officials of the OK Boys Ranch.

Attorneys for the three had asked that some charges of criminal mistreatment be dismissed on grounds the statute of limitations had expired.

In issuing the ruling late Tuesday, Thurston County Superior Court Judge Daniel J. Berschauer wrote that the alleged criminal mistreatment was a continuing crime and part of an alleged pattern of neglect.

The defendants in the case are Thomas Van Woerden, founder of the Olympia group home for boys and its director from 1971 to 1993; Collette Queener, an assistant director and later director of the home; and Laura Rambo Russell, the ranch’s longtime head counselor. All face charges of criminal mistreatment, a second-degree felony, for allegedly failing to protect boys at the ranch from abuse.