Everything about this story is disturbing.
Since 2006, the “Circle of Hope Girls’ Ranch and Boarding School” in Missouri has been home to hundreds of girls who were sent there because their personal behavior or life circumstances required them to go somewhere with more discipline and oversight.
An archived version of the website shows how this place, started by Boyd Householder and his wife Stephanie, was marketed as a place with Christian values:
We use the BIBLE to teach them that they are to obey their Parents and the authority over them.
We understand the The LORD JESUS CHRIST is the ONLY answer and the ONLY HOPE that these girls have to change their life and have a different future. That is why we have them read their Bible EVERY morning, we have devotions and prayer time with them every evening and attend Berean Baptist Church in Springfield, MO every time the doors are open.
You can probably guess where this is going. According to Tyler Kingkade of NBC News, numerous complaints about the place regarding physical and sexual abuse have forced the place to shut down:
… Parents and former residents said they reported that Boyd used physical restraints as punishments, placing girls face down for as long as an hour, while he pressed a knee into their necks and other residents were forced to squeeze the target’s pressure points. Boyd, 71, and his wife, Stephanie, 55, withheld food as punishment or if they thought a girl was overweight, and forced children to stand and stare at a wall for hours at a time for days in a row if they didn’t follow the ever-changing rules, the parents and former residents said.
…
The Missouri Department of Social Services said there were four reports of misconduct at Circle of Hope since 2006 that the agency substantiated: one of neglect, one of physical abuse and neglect, and two regarding sexual abuse.
The reason this place was allowed to remain open for so long was the utter lack of regulation in Missouri, where private schools like this one are able to create their own rules. Without solid evidence of wrongdoing — as opposed to anecdotes — there was nothing law enforcement could do. The state couldn’t shut them down. So the abuse continued.
It was only when Boyd and Stephanie’s daughter Amanda — who hasn’t spoken to her parents since 2016 — began speaking out publicly about her parents’ abusive ranch that the story finally started getting traction. She posted video after video on TikTok featured her own memories and the stories of other victims, and quickly accumulated tens of millions of views.
@exposingcircleofhope @supermanda911 thank you for standing up ##whereisrachaelkellso ##iseeyousurvivor ##cult ##truecrime ##troubledteenindustry ##exposecoh ##fyp
@exposingcircleofhope ##duet with @bridge_troll ##iseeyousurvivor ##troubledteenindustry ##exposethem ##cult ##truecrime
It’s sad that it took a viral social media channel to draw the proper attention to this Christian abuse, but the floodgates have finally opened.
… The Cedar County Sheriff’s Department and the state Department of Social Services opened an investigation, which is ongoing, and in August the state removed two dozen girls from the ranch, effectively closing it. The Householders decided this month not to reopen their school rather than deal with the government.
On Wednesday, two former residents, both anonymous, filed lawsuits against the Householders: One accused Boyd of raping her as a minor multiple times in 2015 and said that Stephanie was aware of the abuse and did nothing to stop it. The other alleges that Boyd threw her into a wall and to the ground, and the Householders fed her so little that she lost 40 pounds in two months when she was placed there in 2014. The suits did not state whether the alleged abuse had been reported to state or local authorities.
There’s a long way to go before the Christians who ran this apparent torture chamber face any real consequences for it. But the whole story is a reminder that Christianity is not synonymous with goodness. It’s very often the opposite. In this case, it was nothing more than a cover story for two people who used their power to hurt children.
Incidentally, Amanda is trying to fundraise to buy back the property, in order to turn it into “something it should’ve been from the beginning, A place of healing.”
(Thanks to Som for the link)