March 11, 2021 – 3:32 p.m
A Missouri couple that owned a faith-based boarding school for girls is facing 100+ charges of sexual, physical and emotional abuse — including statutory rape. Investigators say the abuse took place at the school, which operated outside of state oversight.
Boyd Householder, 71, was charged in Cedar County with 79 felonies, including six counts of second-degree statutory rape; seven counts of second-degree statutory sodomy; six counts of sexual contact with a student; one count of second-degree child molestation; 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. She’s accused of using duct tape to bind the wrists of a student.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the couple was still in custody and scheduled to be arraigned later in the day.
“There are no words that I can say here today to describe the mix of great sadness, horror, disgust and sympathy that I feel about these reports of cruel and almost unbelievable abuse and neglect,” Schmitt said.
“We intend to do everything within the power of this office to get justice for the 16 victims we’ve identified so far, and their families, and pursue truth and justice vigorously through our courts.”
In an earlier interview with The Star, the Householders denied that they ever abused a student.
The Cedar County Sheriff’s Office opened an investigation of Circle of Hope last year. After reviewing the case, Cedar County prosecutor Ty Gaither requested the attorney general’s help in mid-November, saying his county did not have the resources to handle the case on its own. Missouri Gov.
Mike Parson directed the attorney general’s office to assist with the investigation and possible prosecution.
Twenty-two of the charges against Boyd Householder allege repeated statutory sodomy, statutory rape and sexual contact with a student.
The charges detail multiple incidents of oral and sexual intercourse with a victim under the age of 17 and several instances in which Boyd Householder allegedly placed his finger in the victim’s vagina.
