Posted on 05/17/2024 5:31:28 PM PDT by Morgana
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Advocates for victims of abuse at Missouri boarding schools on Monday urged the state’s attorney general to launch an investigation, work with local prosecutors and take other steps aimed at stemming the tide of abuse.
Three Christian boarding schools in southern Missouri have shut down since 2020 amid wide-ranging abuse allegations levied by current and former students. Several people affiliated with those schools are facing criminal charges. Advocates who worry that more abuse is going unpunished gathered Monday outside Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s St. Louis office to demand action.
“This is a structural problem,” said David Clohessy, a longtime advocate for abused children and former leader of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “These are facilities that are remote, independent, private, sometimes for-profit, largely under the radar with little or no scrutiny, state oversight, monitoring or supervision. It’s a recipe for disaster.”
A spokeswoman for Bailey said in an email that the attorney general’s office does not have jurisdiction to prosecute criminal cases, except when appointed as special prosecutor by the governor or a court.
“As a former prosecutor, Attorney General Bailey takes crime very seriously,” spokeswoman Madeline Sieren said, adding that Bailey “has taken substantive action to combat human trafficking where the law allows.”
Amanda Householder, now 33, is among the former students who claimed she was abused. Her story was different than most, though: Her parents, Boyd and Stephanie Householder, owned Circle of Hope Girls Ranch in remote southern Missouri until it closed in 2020 after investigators removed about two dozen girls.
Boyd and Stephanie Householder are scheduled to go to trial in November on a combined 100 charges accusing them of abusing girls at Circle of Hope. Boyd Householder, 74, was charged with 22 counts of having sexual contact, including sexual intercourse, with one girl who was younger than 17 at the time.
Sieren said the Attorney General’s office is handling prosecution of the Householders — proof that Bailey and the office are taking the issue seriously, she said. Three prosecutors are working on the case, she said.
Also, 16 former residents said the Householders frequently restrained them with handcuffs, whipped them with belts, taped their mouths shut and struck or punched them for minor offenses such as singing.
Messages were left with attorneys for the Householders. Phones listed as those of the couple have been disconnected.
Amanda Householder sued her parents, accusing them of beating her and forcing her to impose harsh punishments on other girls at Circle of Hope. She announced Monday that the lawsuit was settled but declined to discuss details.
Amanda Householder said she is forming a new nonprofit aimed at helping those victimized at boarding and reform schools.
“We have to be the voices for kids that are going through what we went through years ago,” Householder said.
Other Missouri facilities operating as Christian boarding schools also have come under intense scrutiny in recent years.
Agape Boarding School in Stockton closed in 2023 after abuse allegations. In 2021, Agape’s longtime doctor was charged with child sex crimes and five employees were charged with low-level abuse counts.
In March, ABM Ministries’ Lighthouse Christian Academy in Piedmont shut down after kidnapping charges were filed against the husband-and-wife owners, who were accused of locking a student in a room. A teacher also was charged with abuse for allegedly injuring a 15-year-old boy while boxing.
For decades, Missouri had among the most lax boarding school regulations of any state in the nation. A 1982 state law gave religious boarding schools free rein and the state no way to monitor how kids were educated. Even the state Health Department had no oversight, including for schools that claimed to address mental health, behavioral and addiction issues.
A new law was adopted in 2021 after extensive reporting from The Kansas City Star found that several faith-based boarding schools, including Agape, relocated to Missouri after being investigated or shut down for abuse or neglect elsewhere.
The new law sets minimum health and safety requirements for boarding schools, which still don’t have to be licensed. It mandates background checks for employees; requires adequate food, clothing and medical care for students; and says parents must be allowed access to their children at any time without prior notice.
Several students have run away from southern Missouri boarding schools in recent years, often claiming abuse. Two 15-year-olds went missing Saturday at a boarding school near Ava but were found safe Monday at a nearby cabin. Messages were left with the sheriff. A school official said it isn’t yet clear what prompted the boy and girl to leave.
Children are far more likely to be abused by government school teachers than religious school teachers, but that would be be very inconvenient to acknowledge.
You’re right, of course ...
I’ve been accused of engaging in a cover-up for saying that.
But I was comparing Catholic institutions to others ...
Agree. They need to clean out the gutters.
Like the did in Canada? Abuse Victim Advocates™ - is that a union?
And the government schools never have to fear being shut down.
The mass graves that never were.
True. No mass graves were found after all the hype. Suddenly they have been downgraded to unmarked graves. It was illegal to ship an infected dead person across country at that time. So burial was on site with a wood marker which rotted away over the years. Many American Indians believed the deceased person should never be named again to keep the Chindis(spirits) away.
The problem with the Indian schools is kids were sent there against parents’ wishes. Parents could not check up on them and prevent abuse.
That was then. This is now.
In today’s world parents can and should check up on kids no matter if it’s a public or private school.
This week alone I’ve posted about two suicides over kids being bullied.
AS for these fly by night private schools? Parents should read up on them before sending kids there. Read both the negative and the positive reviews. Talk to former parents and students personally.
Look at it this way these schools cost a lot of money. When a lot of you go buy something say an appliance you read up on it, read the reviews both good and bad then decide which one to buy. Why not the same for a school for your child?
Nope most of these parents are so freaking stupid they just drop the kiddo off and are gone.
Oh the school’s rule is you can’t see your kid for such a period of time? Would you allow the public school to do that? Oh hell no you would not. That is how abuse happens. When any place is trying to keep you from your child then you know abuse will happen.
It happens in the public schools with this transgender crap. They kept the parents in the dark, and not told parents things.
The reason it’s worse at these religious schools is now your child is away from you 24/7 sometimes for years.
Perfect description of government schools. Heck ... parents don't even need to drop their kids off ... the big yellow bus comes and collects them.
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