Circle of Hope owners ‘firmly assert their innocence,’ want lower bond in abuse case
Boyd and Stephanie Householder, charged last week with abusing girls at their southwest Missouri boarding school, are “very good people” who should be released on bond pending trial, their attorney said this week.
“Both Boyd and Stephanie firmly assert their innocence in these allegations,” Springfield criminal defense attorney Adam Woody told The Star.
“They’re both extremely well thought of in the community, they have tremendous support, they’re both very good people, church-going people, and they have outstanding reputations and spotless records.”
The Householders were arrested March 9 and charged with 102 crimes — all but one are felonies — that include statutory rape, sodomy and physical abuse. They have been held without bond in the Vernon County Jail. Both have pleaded not guilty.
“Neither Boyd nor Stephanie deserve to be in custody right now,” Woody told The Star, “and I’m hopeful they will be released on bond.”
Woody filed motions in Cedar County Circuit Court on Monday calling for a reduction in the couple’s bonds. A hearing on the issue was scheduled for Wednesday morning, but it was not taken up because the Missouri Attorney General’s Office — which filed the charges — requested a new judge in the case. The attorney general’s motion did not say why that request was being made.
The judge assigned to the case, Cedar County Associate Circuit Judge Thomas Pyle, on Wednesday granted the request and forwarded the case to the presiding judge, according to online court documents. The presiding judge then reassigned the case Wednesday afternoon to Barton County Associate Circuit Judge James Nichols.
The Householders owned Circle of Hope Girls Ranch near Humansville until it closed in September after authorities removed two dozen girls amid an investigation into abuse allegations.
Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced the charges against the couple at a news conference March 10, calling it “one of the most widespread cases of sexual, physical and mental abuse patterns against young girls and women in Missouri history.”
Boyd Householder, who turned 72 on Wednesday, was charged with 79 felonies, including six counts of second-degree statutory rape; nine counts of second-degree statutory sodomy; six counts of sexual contact with a student; 56 counts of abuse or neglect of a child; and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. One count of second-degree child molestation is a misdemeanor.
Stephanie Householder, 55, was charged with 22 felonies, including 12 counts of abuse or neglect of a child and 10 counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
In addition to the numerous sexual abuse allegations against Boyd Householder, the charges detail former students’ reports of physical abuse, including being restrained by Boyd Householder, who would push his knee into the backs of girls and apply pressure to certain areas of their bodies. Boyd Householder also is accused of slapping or striking girls with his hands, a belt, paddle or whip; slamming girls’ heads or bodies against walls; shoving one girl’s face into horse manure; and pouring hot sauce down a girl’s throat.
Other allegations include stuffing dirty socks in a girl’s mouth then spraying her face with a hose, making it difficult to breathe; binding a girl’s ankles with zip-ties; and handcuffing one girl after restraining her for singing, then pushing her down the stairs, causing her to land on her face.
The Householders also are accused of forcing girls to stand with their noses against a wall and hands behind their backs for days and even weeks at a time and ordering girls to remain in the “push-up position” for long periods.
The charging documents also allege that Stephanie Householder used duct tape to bind the wrists of a student and allowed her husband to have continued contact with several girls after he physically assaulted them.
Missouri currently has no oversight of Christian reform schools, which has allowed abuse and neglect to go unchecked for decades. In September, the Star’s investigation of Circle of Hope prompted Rep. Keri Ingle, a Lee’s Summit Democrat, to request a hearing. That led to two identical proposals that would for the first time require some regulation of these schools.
The House Children and Families Committee unanimously passed the measures on Feb. 24, and on Thursday — the day after the attorney general announced the charges against the Householders — the House Rules Committee approved the bills on a 9-0 vote. They now head to the House floor for debate, and the sponsors say the chances of passage are good.
“There is wide support in the House,” said Rep. Rudy Veit, a Wardsville Republican who with Ingle sponsored the measures. “The charges filed last week highlight the need for this legislation.”
This story was originally published March 17, 2021 at 1:33 PM.
