A southwestern Missouri couple was arrested this week and both are now facing over 100 child abuse charges after accusations of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse of at least 16 girls at a boarding school they operated for several years emerged.
Updated: 3:21 PM PST, March 11, 2021
Boyd and Stephanie Householder on Tuesday were arrested and charged with 102 felonies between them, the attorney general’s office said.
A Missouri couple who owned a Christian boarding school they said was aimed at helping to reform rebellious teenagers allegedly subjected young girls to sexual, physical and emotional abuse, officials said. Boyd and Stephanie Householder on Tuesday were arrested and charged with 102 felonies between them, the attorney general’s office said.
The Householders, who operated the Circle of Hope Girls Ranch in Cedar County since 2006, are being held in Vernon County Jail, FOX4 News reported.
Boyd is charged with 80 offenses, including multiple counts of second-degree statutory rape and sodomy. The charges against his wife range from abuse to endangering the welfare of a child, CBS News reported.
The former owners of a girls' boarding school in Missouri are facing more than 100 felony charges between them related to the abuse of 16 victims at the school, according to charging documents.
Missouri Reform School Owners Charged with Abuse
The owners of a former Christian reform school for girls in southwest Missouri are charged with more than 100 counts alleging they sexually, emotionally and physically abused girls for years.
Sixteen former residents of the Circle of Hope Girls Ranch in Cedar County say Boyd and Stephanie Householder frequently restrained them with handcuffs, whipped them with belts, taped their mouths shut and struck or punched them for minor offenses such as drinking from a spring or singing.
Several of the charges allege Boyd Householder, 71, sexually abused the girls.
Attorney General Eric Schmitt said during a news conference Wednesday that the alleged victims also said they were forced to shovel manure for hours on end, stand with their noses against a wall while handcuffed for days at a time, and were locked in rooms without beds or lights.