Boarding school co-owner wants out of jail, saying she may lose foot due to blood clot
For the third time since March, a judge has denied bond for the co-owner of a girls’ boarding school in southwest Missouri who with her husband faces trial on felony child abuse charges.
David R. Munton, presiding judge for the 28th Judicial Circuit, issued the ruling this week after Stephanie Householder’s attorney filed a motion July 6 saying she was suffering from a blood clotting disorder that had caused a clot to form in her right foot.
“Upon her last visit to the emergency room she was informed that she might lose her foot if it is not corrected,” attorney Adam Woody of Springfield wrote in the motion. “Defendant requests that she be released so that she can properly take care of her blood disorder and save amputating her foot.”
Losing her foot, Woody said, would significantly increase Stephanie Householder’s need for care and her risk for secondary infections, hospitalizations and other health issues.
“Additionally, there is no way the Vernon County Jail has the facilities or medical care system necessary to address Defendant’s medical needs either now, or especially if her foot is forced to be removed,” Woody said in the motion. “The jail undoubtedly has no interest in caring for a new amputee, nor any interest in the potential liability that severe of a medical issue would cause.”
Woody said Stephanie Householder was willing to wear an ankle monitor, which he said was more than was necessary “to secure the Defendant’s appearance at trial, the safety of the community, and the safety of the alleged victims and witnesses.”
At a hearing on the issue Monday in Cedar County Circuit Court in Stockton, Woody said Stephanie Householder’s condition “has reached emergency status” and that emergency room visits had become “a very routine occurrence.”
But prosecutors with the Missouri Attorney General’s Office argued that they had seen no doctor’s diagnosis or other medical documentation regarding Stephanie Householder’s condition.
Prosecutors have strongly objected to releasing both Householders, saying they are a flight risk and a danger to the community and their alleged victims.
Woody argued, however, that Stephanie Householder’s condition “eliminates any flight risk that she may be” and “significantly reduces any danger she may be.”
“She’s not going anywhere,” he said, adding that her right foot was so swollen that it “is probably twice the size of her left foot.”
Munton told Woody at Monday’s hearing to provide additional medical documentation to both the prosecution and the court, indicating he would make a ruling after it was received.
Shortly after the hearing, the Attorney General’s Office filed a response, saying Woody told prosecutors last week that he would provide medical documentation to support the request to release Stephanie Householder. Woody then emailed the prosecutors 10 pages of documents dated March 26 through June 21, prosecutors said.
“None of this documentation indicates that Defendant is in any imminent medical danger, nor does it support a necessity to release Defendant,” the motion said. “To the contrary, the most recent documents show that Defendant’s condition of deep vein thrombosis is improving.”
The motion said that Woody told prosecutors he would provide more recent documentation but hadn’t done so by Monday afternoon. It also noted that during Monday’s hearing, Woody argued that Stephanie Householder was not receiving adequate medical care.
“However, the limited medical documents provided indicate that Defendant is receiving ongoing medical care,” the motion said. “Additionally, there was no testimony or evidence that Defendant’s medical condition requires release.”
Monday’s hearing was the third bond modification hearing for Stephanie Householder. The couple’s next court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 9 in Cedar County.
Stephanie and Boyd Householder closed Circle of Hope near Humansville after about two dozen girls were removed during an investigation last summer.
Boyd Householder, 72, faces 78 felony charges, including six counts of second-degree statutory rape; nine counts of second-degree statutory sodomy; six counts of sexual contact with a student; 55 counts of abuse or neglect of a child; and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. He also is charged with one count of second-degree child molestation, a misdemeanor.
Stephanie Householder, 56, is charged with 21 felonies, including 11 counts of abuse or neglect of a child and 10 counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
Both have pleaded not guilty and are being held without bond. They have been in custody since March.
The Householders opened Circle of Hope in 2006 after Boyd Householder trained at Agape Boarding School in Stockton. That school is currently under investigation by the attorney general for allegations of abuse.
