Boarding school abuse victims presser in St. Louis MONDAY May 13
High profile victim settles unusual lawsuit vs. her parents
She also starts new group for boarding school survivors
She & others blast Missouri politicians including legislators
AG ‘ignored our plea’ last month & should ‘do Zoom call with us,’ they say
Activists also target St. Chas. politician who ‘is trying to take us backwards’
SNAP: He seeks ‘special, dangerous privileges’ for these controversial facilities
WHAT
A nationally-known survivor, activist and whistleblower will
--disclose the settlement of her highly unusual civil lawsuit against her parents and
--discuss the upcoming criminal trial of her mom and dad on 100+ felony charges stemming from their severe and years-long abuse of kids at a now-shuttered Christian boarding school south of St. Louis.
Holding signs and childhood photos at a sidewalk news conference, she and other survivors of abuse in religious settings will also
--announce the formation of a new non-profit support & advocacy group for adults who suffered sexual, physical, emotional, and educational abuse in ‘faith-based’ boarding/reform schools,
--disclose what they call a ‘callous & insulting’ recent letter from Missouri’s Attorney General,
--hand deliver a letter urging the AG to hold a Zoom call with other abuse victims, and
--blast a St. Charles state representative who’s pushing a bill that they say increases the risk of abuse by reducing the recently-enacted ‘bare-bones’ state oversight of these mostly for-profit facilities.
WHEN
Monday, May 13 at 11:15 a.m.
WHERE
On the sidewalk outside MO AG Andrew Bailey’s office in the Wainwright Building, 709 Chestnut Street (corner of 7th) in downtown St. Louis
WHO
Three-four abuse victims including Amanda Householder (whose experiences have been profiled on Dateline, Rolling Stone, the Daily Beast, Dr. Oz, and an Amazon Prime documentary), two local men, one who’s a Protestant victim and whistleblower and another who for 30 years headed SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org)
WHY
---1) In 2021, Householder sued her folks Boyd and Stephanie Householder – for beating her for their sexual gratification and forcing her to impose harsh punishments on other students at a remote, for-profit, largely “under the radar’’ and essentially unregulated facility, Circle of Hope Girls Ranch in Humansville. Amanda was also instrumental, in part by using her 233,000 TikTok followers, in getting prosecutors to file 100+ felony charges against her parents. (Their trial is set for this fall).
In recent years, criminal charges, civil lawsuits, and media reports have exposed severe abuse of kids in at least four similar facilities in Missouri (Agape School in Stockton, ABM Ministries a.k.a. Lighthouse Christian Academy in Piedmont, Kanakuk Kamp near Branson, and Circle of Hope).
Householder, now of California, is also forming a new, independent organization of and for boarding school victims “so no one who has suffered and is suffering like us will ever feel helpless and alone” and “so we can do everything possible to prevent this horror in the future.”
The group strongly suspects that kids are being hurt now at some of the two dozen similar institutions across the state, many of which have quietly opened in or moved to remote parts of Missouri because there’s virtually no state oversight of or restrictions on them.
---2) A month ago, at a news conference in Jeff City, a handful of abuse survivors begged AG Andrew Bailey to investigate the growing scandals in these facilities. He refused to respond to their pleas, instead sending them a three-sentence generic form letter.
Now, they’re asking Bailey to join a Zoom call with victims “so he can better understand our pain and take action to safeguard boys and girls right now.”
---3) A St. Charles politician is trying to REDUCE - not expand - state monitoring and oversight of these largely unregulated, ‘under the radar,’ institutions. Along with industry lobbyists, he wants to gut the ‘bare minimum’ state safety standards the legislature imposed for the first time on these largely unregulated, ‘under the radar’ facilities just two years ago.
Rep. Adam Schnelting (R-69) – a minister - admits that his measure “allows child agencies and organizations that practice their Christian faith to continue practicing by self-regulation. . .doing what they’ve always done, operat(ing) under their own set of standards.” He’s at 573 751 5365 or [email protected]
Victims want him to withdraw the proposal and pledge to never re-introduce it and also meet with them via Zoom soon.
NOTE - - - This event is the kick-off of a four day ‘outreach & education effort’ in which survivors will be in Springfield on Tuesday, Jeff City on Wednesday and Kansas City on Thursday exposing and warning the public about serious wrongdoing in several of these facilities and prodding elected officials to take action to safeguard kids now.
Additional links:
https://religionunplugged.com/news/why-the-fight-against-clergy-sex-abuse-continues
https://www.davidclohessy.com/blog/snap-to-mo-ag-investigate-boardingnbspschools
https://dss.mo.gov/provider-services/children/residential-program/license-exempt/index.htm
https://dss.mo.gov/provider-services/children/docs/cd-license-exempt-agencies.pdf
CONTACT
David Clohessy 314 566 9790, [email protected], Doug Lay 314 646 9316
