Archive | January 2014
31/01/2014  

219. Mountain Park Academy

Mountain Park Academy also mentioned as Mountain Park Boarding Academy was marketed as religious boarding school. It was located in Patterson, Missouri. It was founded by Reverend Bob Wills, who moved to Patterson when he ran into legal issues at his previous boarding school located Hattiesburg, Mississippi. (See entry: 199. Bethesda home for girls)

The facility closed closed in 2004. After the closure of Mountain Park some of the employees went on to work at ABM Ministries and other prison-styled religious boarding schools in Missouri.

The conditions the teenagers were forced under included use of corporal punishment. Some of the students became so desperate to leave the school and the horrible environment that they killed a student because the conditions were better in prison. This tragedy for the Futrelle family who lost a son is a prime example of how extreme religious boarding schools can push young lives over the edge. The horrible conditions at the school was the cause. The two murderers who was locked up for life became the tool.

It didn’t sound like a fun place to be as a teenager.

Sources:

30/01/2014  

218. The Government Secondary school in Mamudo in Yobe state

This is an odd post even for this blog. Normally when we write about a place it is because the children have mailed us with information about poor treatment. Normally the employees are responsible. Sometime it is just a negative peer group experience based on a toxic environment which the school allows to exist.

However in this case the students seemed to like the school. But some people in the community didn’t like the education provided. The youth would be become too informed to support the criminals cause. So they decided to attack the school with weapons and kill some students so the parents would pull their children and the entire community will sink down having only an uneducated population to support it.

A school like this should have a strong security. It should have guards. However the level of the security was too low and criminals were able to enter the school and kill some of the students. 42 students died.

It is safe to say that it was not fun as a child to be victim for such criminals.

Sources:

29/01/2014  

217. Grenham House

Boys aged down to 7 were forced to enter a regime consisting of fear and corporal punishment. Today such a school would have been closed. A student died there. Fortunately while tragic caused by an illness and not the awful violence the employees were responsible for.

The boarding school is closed now. However it is still safe to state that it was not a place for children to stay while the school was in existence.

Sources:

2021 update

An well-known author has come forward with his experiences at the school when he was a child.

Captain Corelli’s Mandolin author Louis de Bernières, 66, reveals ‘hellish abuse’ he suffered at hands of two ‘sadistic’ teachers at English boarding school (The Daily Mail Online)

28/01/2014  

216. The Gunnery School

The Gunnery School was once recognized as a fine place to get your exam. Students could even avoid the cruel life boarding students normal speak about and be day students at the school. However lack of a security system to protect students against abuse from employees allowed the former Dean and house parent Robert Reinhardt to use 4 students in an improper way for which he got 9.5 years in prison. He will have to register as a sex offender when he is released.

It didn’t sound like a fun place to be as teenager. Hopefully the present management has improved the security and screening of employees so this terrible event will not be repeated in the future.

Sources:

25/01/2014  

215. Living Water Refuge

Living Water Refuge was funtamentalist Baptist boarding school located in Hartville, Missouri. It was closed by the authorities due to results of various investigation. They used corporal punishment.

It is safe to say that it was not a fun place to stay as a teenager.

Sources:

22/01/2014  

214. LUC Boys Ranch

The (Lives under Construction aka LUC) ranch claims to be able to handle boys suffering from various mental issues. In the case of two boys the employees proved not to be proper educated because the wrong approach used on the boys created such an anger in the boys that they most likely went out and killed a marriaged couple down the road.

It is safe to state that the approach used by the ranch on the boys was far from professional and it cannot be a fun place to be as a teenager.

Sources:

2018 Update

According to a lawsuit the ranch are alleged to have covered sexual abuse up. It correct it would explain why the teenage runways were so desperate to escape from the ranch that they committed murders in order to do it. They must had been scared to death.

Source:
Suit: Missouri ranch for troubled boys covered up sex abuse (Southeastern Missourian)

2021 Update

A new lawsuit was filed in 2020.

Source:

Missouri boys ranch faces new sexual assault suit (KTLO News)

19/01/2014  

213. Hope Baptist Bible Academy

Hope Baptist Bible Academy was investigated by the authorities and closed down. An Employees was convicted. They used corporal punishment.

It is safe to say that it couldn’t have been a fun place to be as a teenager.

Sources:

18/01/2014  

212. Heaven’s View Christian Boarding Academy

Heaven’s View Christian Boarding Academy run by Rev. Judi Tillett seems to be closed. It is fine because restricted communication with parents, combined with odd punishments makes it safe to state that it wasn’t a fun place to be as a teenager.

Sources:

15/01/2014  

211. Heartland Christian Academy

Heartland Christian Academy uses corporal punishment. The authorities tried to intervene, but smart highpaid lawyers managed to get the school out of trouble.

A ruling the court doesn’t change the fact that it cannot be a fun place to be as a teenager.

Sources:

10/01/2014  

210. Circle of Hope Girls Ranch

A few years back an english girl named Chanel Mare escaped from this private Christian detention. Luckily for her she managed to move back to England where she restablished her life. The remaining girls at the ranch were not so lucky. They continued to function as cheap labor in the field receiving “Christian” guidance.

It doesn’t sound like a fun place to be as a teenager.

Sources:

2020 update

The authorities have intervened against the facility. Girls have been removed into the care of the state pending further investigation. As result of this case the legislators of Missouri now looks at the almost bizarre lack of laws covering religious boarding schools in their state. If a child abuser really wanted peace from the law, all he should do is to create a religious boarding school in Missouri and then no authority at all will even look at his business.

This is a list of recent articles:

2021 update

The owners have been arrested charged with many felonies. The only odd thing about these arrest are that the charges against them display very normal behavior from the employees and owners in many other Missouri facilities privately and some publicly managed. What makes them special beside the fact that survivors were very much on social media, is not to say. It could and should happen with the managers of many other facilities in Missouri too.

Circle of Hope Girls’ Ranch owners charged with abuse after women spoke out on TikTok (NBC News)

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