Stockton, Missouri: Just over a month has passed since an attorney for 31-year-old Amanda Householder filed a lawsuit against her own parents of abuse that is said to have taken place at boarding schools that they ran.
Boyd and Stephanie Householder operated the Circle of Hope Girls Ranch in Cedar County, Missouri as well as later, Agape Boarding School in Stockton, Missouri which was overseen by the Agape Baptist Church.
In March 2021 102 charges were filed against the Householders for abuses believed to have happened at Circle of Hope.
Now, nine new lawsuits have been filed by former students which echo the allegations of abuse and also name five staff members from the schools.
The former students attended Agape Boarding School between March 2015 and June 2019 and accuse the school of negligence, infliction of emotional distress and battery by staff and fellow students. The suit details that some of the abuse involved torture and starvation.
"For nearly three decades, students at Agape Boarding School have experienced emotional, mental, physical and sexual abuse. Today, we filed petitions in Cedar County for nine of those victims, to pursue justice for the trauma they endured and to have their voices heard," one of the attorney's representing a former student, Ryan Frazier told the Kansas City Star on Friday.
The students, who now reside in eight different states spanning California to Massachusetts are requesting jury trials and seeking unspecified damages.
According to the Star, five similar lawsuits against the Circle of Hope Girls Ranch were settled last year for undisclosed amounts. Two new lawsuits have been filed against that boarding school in recent weeks.