The owners of a religious boarding school in southwest Missouri have been arrested on dozens of charges of abuse, following an investigation by alumni who spoke out on TikTok.
Boyd and Stephanie Householder, the owners and managers of Circle of Hope Girls’ Ranch, were arrested Tuesday after the Attorney General’s office in Missouri filed a charge of charges.
In the court report, it appears that Boyd Householder (71) is facing 79 charges and one offense, including charges of child molestation, sodomy, sexual contact with a student and neglect of a child. Stephanie Householder, 55, is facing 22 charges of abusing or neglecting a child, and endangering the welfare of a child. The alleged incidents took place from 2017 to 2020.
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt told reporters at a news conference on Wednesday that his office has so far identified 16 victims and that he considers it one of the most common cases of sexual, physical and mental abuse against young girls and women. in Missouri history. ”
“There are no words I can say today to describe the mixture of great sadness, horror, disgust and sympathy I feel about these reports of cruel and almost unbelievable reports of abuse and neglect,” Schmitt said.
The home guards were detained at the Vernon County Jail, said Cedar County Sheriff James McCrary. They were to be arrested on Wednesday afternoon.
An attorney who represented the Housemates in civil legal representations said he would not represent them in the criminal cases. It was unclear on Wednesday whether the Housemates had a lawyer. Stephanie Householder earlier told NBC News that she and her husband deny all allegations against them.
Boyd Householder opened Circle of Hope in 2006 as a school that he said could reform rebellious teenage girls. Two dozen former residents had earlier told NBC News and “Dateline” that Boyd and Stephanie had used cruel punishments against girls on the farm, including withholding food, forcing them to perform manual labor and girls with a downward face to hold for as long as an hour.
According to Schmitt, witnesses told investigators that the occupants restrained girls with handcuffs and zippers and stuffed dirty socks in their mouths. One girl said Boyd pushed her off the stairs, and another said he advised her, according to Schmitt, to kill her.
According to loading documents, Boyd hit the heads of two girls against a wall, kept another girl in a room without light or sound ‘for a long time on multiple occasions’, poured hot sauce into a girl’s mouth and use adhesive tape and socks. to prevent a girl from using her hands for several days. Stephanie’s charges stem largely from allegations that she helped Boyd into dangerous restraints and allowed him to continue communicating with the girls after they assaulted them, according to the charges.
Since the boarding school began, concerned parents, staff and other Circle of Hope have reported at least 19 times to three sheriffs, state child welfare and education officials, the highway patrol and the Attorney General’s Office, according to interviews and records. acquired by NBC News.
However, these complaints did not result in complaints. According to an email from a highway patrol officer investigating Circle of Hope, a U.S. attorney in 2018 refused to prosecute. And child welfare and education officials had no authority to close the farm, a loophole that a dual bill pending in Missouri law seeks to close.
The wave of state action began after the daughter of the Housemates, Amanda, and women who attended Circle of Hope as teenagers began posting videos on TikTok last spring about abuse on the farm. The office has asked the sheriff of Cedar County to investigate, the office confirmed.
Last summer, about two dozen girls still enrolled in Circle of Hope were removed by government officials because more people allegedly came forward with abuse. The Homeowners voluntarily closed Circle of Hope in August and offered the property for sale.
Schmitt’s office joined the investigation in November after Cedar County prosecutor Ty Gaither asked for help.
Amanda Householder said in a TikTok on Wednesday morning that she never thought her parents would be held accountable.
“This is a moment that deserves to be celebrated,” she said, responding to news of her parents’ arrest. “I’m sad because they’re my parents, but something my parents would always tell me is, ‘You made your bed, now you have to lie in it. ‘Well, my parents made their bed and now they’ll have to lie in it. As difficult as it is for me, it’s time. ”
CORRECTION (March 10, 2021, 12:57 ET): An earlier version of this article incorrectly indicated how many charges Boyd Householder faces. That’s 79 (and one offense), not 80.
