Inside Christian boarding school where runaways begged neighbours to call police

05 March 2024 , 02:06

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The owners of Lighthouse Christian Academy in Piedmont, Missouri, were arrested on charges of felony kidnapping as investigations into Missouri boarding schools are underway (Image: AP)

Life at Lighthouse Christian Academy in Piedmont, Missouri, was literal hell for many of the students there, according to witness accounts — ironic, given the school's Christian-based mission.

Now, as the two owners face felony charges for kidnapping, new details about life at the school have emerged as concerns erupt about the unregulated nature of private boarding schools in the state — and the dangers nonregulation poses to the students.

Larry Musgraves Jr., 57, was taken into custody on Friday evening at the ABM Ministries campus in Piedmont, which is a small town just 130 miles (209km) south of St. Louis. His wife Carmen, 64, who co-owns the boarding school for boys, was arrested a few hours later around 3am local time on Saturday when she went to go check on her husband at the jail, according to Wayne County Sheriff Dean Finch in a news release.

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Five students reportedly ran away from the boarding school and had a neighbour call the police (ABM Ministries Lighthouse christian academy/Youtube)

Both have been charged with first-degree kidnapping, a felony, and held without bond, and as of yet, they do not have attorneys listed. But what led up to the arrests, and why was the Wayne County Sheriff's Office investigating Lighthouse Christian Academy in the first place?

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The saga reached a climax with five runaway boys, some of whom were taken in by a resident neighbouring the school, which, according to its website, is located on a plot of 250 acres and has a pond, farm animals and lots of room to roam around and has up to 40 students, generally all boys aged 10 to 13 — though there have been female students — enrolled at a time. All of the students are considered "troubled," either with behavioural issues or learning impairments or mental health afflictions like ADHD and other very common but hindering disorders.

The boys who ran away in January reportedly went to the neighbour and asked her to call the police. She ended up taking them back home to their families. But even before that, Finch said he began investigating the school after a former student reached out to him to provide troubling information about the campus and the horrific things that had been going on there.

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The school served as many as 40 students, mostly boys aged 10 to 13, at a time, its website stated, and featured farm animals and a pond (ABM Ministries Lighthouse christian academy/Youtube)

That student, from Alabama, was the first to come forward. But she certainly wasn't the last, Finch said, adding that he began interviewing several other former and even current students. What she told him was that, on her 18th birthday, the Musgraves locked her in a small room "against her will" for an indefinite amount of time.

Finch said the department "anticipates more charges as the investigation continues, with more alleged victims coming forward." The Kansas City Star reported that all five of the boys who ran away from the academy, not just the two who went to the neighbour, were returned to their homes.

Other allegations against the school include a sexual assault claim against a former principal, who allegedly performed sex acts on a female student back in 2009 when the school was still coed. The federal lawsuit that was filed against him stated that the Musgraves failed to take action to protect the girl. Court records further stated that ABM Ministries and the Musgraves paid $750,000 in a settlement, while the principal himself paid $100,000.

Missouri's troubled boarding school history

ABM Ministries' Lighthouse Christian Academy isn't the only boarding school that has come under fire in the state of Missouri recently. In 2023, Agape Boarding School in Stockton, Missouri, was closed after investigations and lawsuits spanning years culminated into criminal charges and abuse allegations.

Agape Boarding School in Stockton, Missouri, also came under fire after abuse allegations came to light (TNS)

A former student at Agape said he was constantly raped and called "seizure boy" because of epilepsy from which he suffered, while other students have said they suffered permanent injuries after facing disciplinary action or being forced to work long hours of manual labour, it was reported.

The nearby Circle of Hope Girls' Ranch also became the subject of a federal probe after allegations of abuse arose at that facility in 2021. That same year, David Smock, the doctor at Agape, was charged with child sex crimes, and five other employees at the boarding school were also charged with lower-level counts of abuse.

Boyd Householder was charged with over 100 counts of child abuse as the co-owner of Agape Boarding School (Missouri Attorney General's Office)

Stephanie Householder, Boyd's wife, was also charged in the Agape Boarding School case (Missouri Attorney General's Office)

At Circle of Hope Girls' Ranch, former owners Boyd and Stephanie Householder were charged that year with around 100 counts of child abuse, which they pleaded not guilty to. They're set to face trial in November, while the cases against employees at Agape are still pending as they wait for their trials.

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Decades of unregulated abuse, finally curbed

The cases against Agape, Circle of Hope and later, Lighthouse, led to a new Missouri law that created regulations for religious schools and other private entities that previously had no oversight in the state for several decades. The law requires stricter rules for the facilities.

Specifically, it states that any unlicensed facilities must notify the Department of Social Services of their existence and provide extensive details about their ownership and personnel. All staff, contractors and volunteers working at the facilities must also go through and pass criminal background checks before they're allowed to work around children.

The previous law in the state, signed in 1982, allowed any religious care facilities like the boarding schools to be exempt from other state licensure requirements. The new law repeals part of that legislation.

Jeremiah Hassel