KSP investigating Ohio County boarding school for abuse

Messenger Inquirer ^ | December 3, 2022 | Ken Silva Messenger-Inquirer

[Morgana]

Kentucky State Police responded to a first-degree criminal abuse complaint Oct. 24 at the Pilgrims Rest Ministry of Reconciliation, an Ohio County boys boarding school affiliated with the fundamentalist Baptist faith.

Details of the incident are unclear. Both KSP and the state’s Department for Community Based Services (DCBS) have declined to provide information about the case — citing an ongoing investigation into the facility.

“Premature disclosure of records generated in the course of this active investigation of alleged physical and sexual abuse of juveniles, at this early stage, would do irreparable harm to the investigation,” said KSP’s official custodian of records, Stephanie Dawson, in response to an open records request.

While government agencies are tight-lipped, former students say the abuse at Pilgrims Rest has been occurring for more than a decade. Records obtained by the Messenger-Inquirer show that KSP and DCBS investigated the school in 2011 and 2012, and again in 2020 — but law enforcement declined to pursue charges in those instances.

However, abuse allegations apparently persisted, leading to the latest ongoing investigation.

Neither Pilgrims Rest founder Kelly Vanderkooi nor any of his staff members have been charged over the matter. KSP said its investigation “has only just begun.”

Vanderkooi did not respond to numerous calls and messages seeking comment.

Pilgrims Rest’s Early YearsBefore starting Pilgrims Rest around 2004, Vanderkooi worked at the Agape Boarding School in Missouri. Agape currently faces its own abuse accusations in lawsuits and criminal charges filed last year against some of its employees — allegations that have nothing to do with Vanderkooi’s time there.

[Morgana]

Anyone from Kentucky know anything about this bunch?

[DocRock]

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[Nifster]

Sounds like a guy jumping from gig to gig