The owners of the Circle of Hope Girls Ranch in southwestern Missouri were arrested on Tuesday on dozens of abuse charges, after a state investigation followed allegations alumni made on TikTok last year.
Boyd and Stephanie Householder, owners of the religious boarding school, were taken into custody Tuesday evening, the same night Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced that more than 100 charges were filed against the couple.
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“The charging documents allege extensive, and horrific, sexual, physical, and mental abuse perpetrated by the Householders,” Schmitt said in a press release. “My office has worked tirelessly to investigate this case and will continue to work around the clock to ensure that justice is obtained in this case.”
Boyd Householder, 71, faces 79 felony charges and one misdemeanor, including charges for child molestation, sodomy, sexual contact with a student, and neglect of a child. His wife, Stephanie Householder, 55, faces 22 felony charges, for child abuse and neglect and endangering the welfare of a child, that were alleged from 2017 to 2020.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the couple remains in custody and is scheduled to be arraigned in the evening.
The Householders previously told the Kansas City Star they never abused a student.
The investigation into the school came to light following TikTok videos that surfaced last year, made by the Householders’ daughter, Amanda, and women who attended Circle of Hope as teenagers, who alleged of abuse taking place at the ranch.
The videos prompted the Cedar County Sheriff’s Office to investigate the claims, according to a report by NBC News.
Last summer, about two dozen girls still enrolled in the school were removed by state officials as more allegations came to light.
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In a TikTok posted on Wednesday, Amanda Householder said it was a day to be celebrated.
“This is something that should be celebrated,” Householder said. “I am sad because they are 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’re going to have to lie in it. As hard as that is for me, it’s about time.”
