Note: This story contains discussion of abuse allegations.
For the second time since May, a small group of Missouri sexual abuse survivors gathered at the federal courthouse in downtown Springfield to denounce boarding school abuse in rural areas
David Clohessy is with Survivors Network for Those Abused by Priests, or SNAP. He's long had concerns about Missouri, where state law has relatively few regulations governing overnight-stay schools with religious ties.
Two schools in particular concern him: Agape Boarding School for boys and Circle of Hope Girls Ranch, where he says "almost unbelievably sadistic, bizarre and repeated criminal behavior" took place. He describes the two as "southern Missouri fundamentalist Christian boarding schools," both "now thankfully shuttered."
Clohessy was joined by two other Missouri survivors of child sexual abuse. Here’s Wright County resident Tim Bartin, laying out one of SNAP’s core concerns: "Many abuse cases are never reported. And there are way more sexual assault cases than any of us could ever imagine because of the lack of reporting.”
Bartin and the other SNAP members appealed for people who have survived sexual abuse to come forward — by contacting a trusted person, local law enforcement, the Missouri attorney general’s office or even the FBI. They say they find community and support by sharing the trauma in their past.
Robin Craycroft is a survivor who now works as a Springfield therapist. She treats women who’ve experienced sexual trauma and says that trauma has immediate effects — and ones that last a lifetime.
“Our brain doesn’t understand what’s going on with us," she says, referencing trauma. "And we immediately think that the world becomes a very dangerous place.”
The demonstrators also promoted a federal lawsuit filed against Circle of Hope Girls Ranch and Boarding School on Tuesday. Circle of Hope is located in Humansville, a town of 900 residents just 45 minutes north of Springfield.
Since 2020, the now-shuttered girls ranch has faced at least 26 lawsuits in state and federal courts from former students who say they were abused. A nearby boys’ boarding school, Agape, has faced at least 20 federal suits and 40 other lawsuits in state courts, all with similar claims.
Meanwhile, Circle of Hope owners Stephanie Householder and her husband, Boyd Householder, were charged with more than 100 abuse-related felonies back in 2021. Prosecutors allege the crimes were committed in connection with Circle of Hope.
Boyd Householder died in June. Stephanie Householder is set to face a criminal trial later this year. Prosecutors allege she committed 21 felonies including child abuse, neglect, endangerment and other crimes. Before he died, her husband was charged with roughly 80 crimes including felony sexual contact with a student, statutory sodomy and statutory rape.
The 25-page civil lawsuit was filed the day before the demonstration and is separate from Stephanie Householder’s criminal prosecution. The lawsuit seeks punitive and compensatory damages from Circle of Hope, the Householders and a Springfield-area pastor.
At one point during Wednesday's demonstration, Clohessy sighed. “It’s hard to know what to say," he told reporters. "This lawsuit — ah, I would caution you. It’s pretty alarming, it’s pretty upsetting.”
The plaintiff is an 18-year-old Missouri resident known publicly as Jane Doe or Plaintiff D.A. Her lawsuit says she was 13 when she came to Circle of Hope.
There, Plaintiff D.A. says she faced “abuse, harassment, forced servitude, assault, fraud” and other mistreatment by the Householders.
The details of the allegations are intense. In just one example, Boyd Householder is said to have wrapped the plaintiff’s head with tape, “infuriated” because she and another girl reportedly sang a Christian song while they were supposed to be enduring a punishment.
Meanwhile, Springfield-area pastor Jeffrey Ables is also named as a defendant. The lawsuit claims Ables was a Circle of Hope board member who learned of abuse problems at the school as early as 2008 — but failed to notify authorities.
Ables is also alleged to have hidden children from state investigators during his time as a Circle of Hope board member, after reports alleging abuse were made. Clohessy and SNAP are calling for Ables to resign or be terminated from his role as a pastor, a move they say would serve as a deterrent against people willing to abuse kids.
Their hope is that someday, there won’t need to be lawsuits like the one from Plaintiff D.A.
Clohessy saluted the courage of the young plaintiff: “I’m so grateful that this teenager realizes that she is no longer helpless. She can use the time-tested, admittedly flawed, but still wonderful American justice system to expose and prevent wrongdoing.”
Ozarks Public Radio was not successful Wednesday in reaching an attorney for Stephanie Householder for comment, or in reaching Pastor Ables at his church. The newsroom reached out to both by phone and email.
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