The owners of a Christian boarding school in Missouri are jailed and charged with kidnapping crimes
The husband and wife, owners of a boys’ boarding school in Missouri, have been jailed and charged with misdemeanor assault by a county sheriff after a lengthy investigation.
Wayne County Sheriff Dean Finch said in a news release that Larry Musgraves Jr., 57, was arrested Friday evening on the campus of ABM Ministries in Piedmont, a small town 129 miles (209 kilometers) south of St. Louis. Carmen Musgraves, 64, was arrested around 3 a.m. Saturday when she came to the jail to check on her husband, Finch said.
Both have been charged with first-degree kidnapping and jailed without bond. The Musgraves do not yet have any attorneys listed. On Monday, a phone message was left at ABM Ministries, the newest Christian boarding school in Missouri, that was under legal scrutiny.
The ABM Ministries website states that the facility, operated as Lighthouse Christian Academy, is a private Christian boarding school for boys ages 10 to 13, located on 250 acres that include a spring pond and an animal pasture. On average it has about 40 students, according to the website. The website claims success in helping boys who are struggling, have a learning disability, or are dealing with ADHD or other disorders.
Finch said his office has received reports of five runaways from the school since early January. In one case, two boys were picked up by a local resident and taken home. The boys asked her to call 911.
But Finch said his investigation began several months ago after he was contacted by a former student living in Alabama. He then interviewed other former students, and eventually current students.
According to a probable cause statement, the former student told Finch that on her 18th birthday, she was locked in a small room and “held against her will.” The statement does not specify how long she was allegedly held in the room.
The sheriff’s department “anticipates additional charges as the investigation continues, with more alleged victims coming forward,” the news release said.
All five boys who had run away since January have returned to their homes, the Kansas City Star reported.
The school became coed in 2009 when a federal lawsuit accused a former principal of sex acts with a female student and alleged the Musgraves took no action to protect the girl. Court records show that ABM Ministries and the Musgraves agreed to pay $750,000 in settlement, and the client agreed to pay $100,000.
In 2023, Agape Boarding School in Stockton, Missouri closed after years of investigations, lawsuits, and ultimately criminal charges following allegations of abuse. A former student claimed he was raped and called “seizure boy” because of his epilepsy. Others said they suffered permanent injuries from being disciplined or forced to do long hours of manual labor.
Allegations of abuse at Agape and the nearby Circle of Hope Girls’ Ranch led to a state law in 2021 requiring stricter regulations for such facilities. Missouri previously had virtually no oversight of religious boarding schools.
In 2021, Agape’s longtime doctor David Smock was charged with child sex crimes and five employees were charged with minor assaults. Those cases are still pending.
Also in 2021, Boyd and Stephanie Householder, former owners of Circle of Hope, were charged with approximately 100 counts of child abuse. They have pleaded not guilty and will appear in court in November.
Former students of ABM Ministries said justice is long overdue. Juliana Davis, now 34, said she was abused at the school in 2006 and 2007.
“I’m glad he took us seriously,” Davis said of Finch. “There’s a whole group of us who have been trying for decades and speaking out about what happened to us and what we saw.”
Another former student, Alysa Baker, 31, remembers being put in a chokehold and holding her head underwater during her college years from 2005 to 2007.
“I never in a million years thought charges would ever be filed,” Baker said. “We just wanted the school to close and the kids to be sent home.”