At age 14, Rachel contacted police saying she had run away from home. When questioned by the Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS), she said her father beat her with a stick, hanger, or shoe, that she suffered from depression but was not allowed to get help, and that she had been sexually abused by a family friend, Leonard C., but her parents had refused to believe her and she was worried he would start abusing her younger sister. Rachel’s parents, Philip and Mary L., homeschooled their children. The family had had prior contact with DCFS: In 1987 daughter Cam (Rachel’s stepsister) was hospitalized due to Philip’s brutal abuse (as a result, she was sent to live with her mother); in 1989, daughter Charity was found to have suffered sexual abuse (Leonard C. was a person of interest); in 1993 the home was found to be filthy and contain 60 unsecured rifles and/or assault weapons (DCFS oversaw the family until this was resolved); and in 2001 daughter Elizabeth ran away because her father physically abused her (she spent the rest of her childhood in foster care). When DCFS investigated Rachel’s allegations, her parents denied any knowledge of any sexual abuse. They and their remaining minor children, Jonathan and Mary Grace, collectively denied that Philip had ever hit any of the children. Philip later changed his position, stating that he beat Rachel with a back scratcher when she was rebellious. During the investigation, Philip turned Jonathan and Mary Grace against their court appointed lawyer. The court found that Philip dominated his wife and children, and that each time a child opposed his control (Cam, Elizabeth, and now Rachel), the result was physical abuse from their father and no protection from their mother; that the Philip and Mary did not protect their children from sexual abuse; and that Philip was dishonest with investigators while Rachel was forthright. Based on these findings, Jonathan and Mary Grace’s lawyer petitioned for them to be sent to school for the protection they would gain from daily contact with mandatory reporters. Philip objected, claiming a right to homeschool.
Date: January 26, 2006
Location: Los Angeles County, California Read More
Posted: May 14, 2013 by rachel
6 Children of Patrick McMullen
Patrick McMullen raped his daughters, beat his wife and sons, and isolated his family in a converted nightclub with an eight-foot double fence from 1995 to 2001. Patrick, who was active in the John Birch Society, covered the windows with dark cloth and held his family hostage, confining them in what media described as a cult-like atmosphere. There were six children in the family; all were homeschooled (school officials visited the family in 1995, shortly before they moved into the converted nightclub, and were assured that the children were being educated at home). The terror ended when Patrick’s wife Christine finally took the children and fled. The children had been so isolated and controlled that they did not even know how to turn on a shower or use a crosswalk. Patrick was tried and convicted of child rape and indecent assault and sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Date: May 2001
Location: Salisbury, Massachusetts Read More
Posted: May 14, 2013 by rachel
Chrystal Ramirez and Sister
Chrystal Ramirez, 8 years old, died of abuse suffered at the hands of her adoptive parents, Rubin Stephen and Bettie Ramirez. She was beaten with a cane until her brain bled, and was also starved and severely malnourished. She was often restrained, taped at the wrists and ankles and chained to her bed. Her mouth was sometimes taped shut, and she was restrained often enough that she had bed sores. Her bedroom door was locked from the outside, and rigged so that a bell would ring if she tried to leave. Chrystal’s 10 year old sister was similarly starved and restrained, but her 7 year old brother showed no signs of abuse. Chrystal and her sister had attended school several years before, but after teachers reported that she was digging for food in garbage cans and child protective services made contact with the family, they were removed from school to be homeschooled.
Date: August 2007
Location: San Antonio, Texas Read More
Posted: May 14, 2013 by rachel
Brian Edgar and 2 Siblings
Brian Edgar, aged 9 years, died of asphyxiation after a sock was put in his mouth and he was covered from head to toe in duct tape as a punishment for stealing cookies. Doctors found that the boy had been bound extremely tightly around the chest and that he had vomited after being bound. Brian’s parents, Neil and Christy Edgar, who served as leaders of God’s Creation Outreach Ministry, had adopted him two years before. An autopsy revealed that the boy had been dead for several hours before being brought to the hospital, and that wounds on his wrists and ankles suggested he had been bound with a rope in the past. Neil and Christy Edgar and babysitter Chastity Boyd were each sentenced to life in prison, convicted of the first degree murder of Brian and abuse of two other adopted children. It was reported that Christy Edgar, who refers to herself as a prophet, claimed that God told her to tie up her children as a method of punishment. The family homeschooled.
Date: December 31, 2002
Location: Overland Park, Kansas Read More
Posted: May 14, 2013 by rachel
Rachel L., Jonathan L., and Mary Grace L.
At age 14, Rachel contacted police saying she had run away from home. When questioned by the Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS), she said her father beat her with a stick, hanger, or shoe, that she suffered from depression but was not allowed to get help, and that she had been sexually abused by a family friend, Leonard C., but her parents had refused to believe her and she was worried he would start abusing her younger sister. Rachel’s parents, Philip and Mary L., homeschooled their children. The family had had prior contact with DCFS: In 1987 daughter Cam (Rachel’s stepsister) was hospitalized due to Philip’s brutal abuse (as a result, she was sent to live with her mother); in 1989, daughter Charity was found to have suffered sexual abuse (Leonard C. was a person of interest); in 1993 the home was found to be filthy and contain 60 unsecured rifles and/or assault weapons (DCFS oversaw the family until this was resolved); and in 2001 daughter Elizabeth ran away because her father physically abused her (she spent the rest of her childhood in foster care). When DCFS investigated Rachel’s allegations, her parents denied any knowledge of any sexual abuse. They and their remaining minor children, Jonathan and Mary Grace, collectively denied that Philip had ever hit any of the children. Philip later changed his position, stating that he beat Rachel with a back scratcher when she was rebellious. During the investigation, Philip turned Jonathan and Mary Grace against their court appointed lawyer. The court found that Philip dominated his wife and children, and that each time a child opposed his control (Cam, Elizabeth, and now Rachel), the result was physical abuse from their father and no protection from their mother; that the Philip and Mary did not protect their children from sexual abuse; and that Philip was dishonest with investigators while Rachel was forthright. Based on these findings, Jonathan and Mary Grace’s lawyer petitioned for them to be sent to school for the protection they would gain from daily contact with mandatory reporters. Philip objected, claiming a right to homeschool.
Date: January 26, 2006
Location: Los Angeles County, California Read More
Posted: May 14, 2013 by rachel
3 Children in North Pole, Alaska
Kenneth Rarick sexually molested three children in North Pole, Alaska, while living with their family as a live-in homeschool teacher from 1997 to 1998. During this time Rarick also taught at a nearby private school run by a charismatic church. Rarick was already a known sex offender after sexually molesting a boy in 1982, but there are no restrictions in Alaska on sex offenders teaching in private schools or teaching homeschooled children. Rarick was found guilty and sentenced to 32 years in prison.
Date: 1998
Location: North Pole, Alaska Read More
Posted: May 14, 2013 by rachel
Child of Andrew and Carolyn Mayer
Andrew and Carolyn Mayer sent two of their children off to church alone one Sunday so that they could be alone with their 16 year old daughter. Carolyn watched as Andrew, the girl’s stepfather, raped the girl and successfully impregnated her. Carolyn, a mother of three, was unable to conceive and the couple devised a plan to use their daughter as a surrogate mother to bear them another child. They planned to put Carolyn’s name on the birth certificate and raise the children as siblings. The press reported that the couple were devout evangelical Christians who homeschooled their children and rarely let them out of the house, and also that Andrew had been sexually abusing the girl for the past five years. The abuse came to light when the girl spoke to an aunt about it.
Date: 2000
Location: Port Charlotte, Florida
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Posted: May 12, 2013 by rachel
Child of Peter and Deedra Mitchell
Peter and Deedra Mitchell withheld food from their six year old adopted son, locked him in a basement, forced him to sleep on a rubber mat, handcuffed him, and hung him upside down in a garage, spinning him until he vomited. The boy was severely malnourished when he was discovered by a social worker responding to a tip made to a child abuse hotline. The couple had two biological children and four other adopted children, but only the one boy was singled out for abuse. All seven children were removed from the couple’s care. The older children, including the abused boy, had attended public school until a year before, when they were withdrawn to be homeschooled. The school said they hadn’t noticed any signs of abuse at the time. The accusations surprised many as Peter and Deedra Mitchell were well known in their community as loving parents who compassionately took in adopted children in family groups. However, the couple plead guilty and were sentenced to probation. After taking parenting classes they regained custody of all of their children except for the one they had abused.
Date: September 2004
Location: Kansas City, Missouri
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Posted: May 12, 2013 by rachel
Child of Matthew and Amy Sweeney
An 8 year old adopted son of Matthew and Amy Sweeney ran away from home after yet another beating and sought help from a neighbor. The child had deep bruising across his arms and back that indicated that he received frequent brutal beatings, but was otherwise healthy. The neighbor reported the abuse and he was removed from his adoptive parents’ custody. The child had been adopted from Russia five or six years earlier and was being homeschooled.
Date: July 2012
Location: Bristow, Virginia Read More
Last Updated: November 8, 2019 by rachel
Adam Herrman
Doug and Valerie Herrman are accused of abusing their adopted son, Adam, and of not reporting he was missing after his 1999 disappearance at age 11 or 12. The couple continued to collected adoption subsidy payments until what would have been Adam’s 18th birthday, but told family that Adam had returned to state custody. The case came to light when someone reported that the boy hadn’t been seen in nine years. When questioned, the couple told police that Adam ran away. Relatives alleged that the Herrmans had abused Adam by punching him, pulling his hair, spanking him with a wooden spoon or belt, depriving him of food, and making him sleep in a bathtub without a blanket or pillow. Suspicions of abuse were reported by Adam’s school in 1998, after which the Herrmans withdrew Adam to homeschool him. The case is being investigated as a death.
Date: 1999
Location: Towanda, Kansas Read More
Posted: May 11, 2013 by rachel
Children of Tom and Debra Schmitz
All 18 of the children living with Tom and Debra Schmitz, some adopted and some biological, were removed from their home after a nurse in their employ reported abuse and neglect. Many of the children had been placed with them illegally, but the Schmitzes insisted that they felt called by God to care for needy children and were loving parents and not abusive. The couple were accused of beating their children, locking them in cage-like bunk beds, holding the children’s heads underwater, forcing one child to eat his own vomit, locking the children in a dark cellar, tying children into their beds, putting the children on a diet of bread and water as punishment, lancing a boil with a rusty box cutter, and forcing the children to dig what they were told were their own graves. Debra homeschooled four of the children, citing behavioral problems. The nurse who reported the abuse said Debra told her she was going to begin homeschooling one of the older children because she was concerned that the girl would talk to a school official about her mistreatment. The couple had been accused of abuse in Wisconsin before moving to Tennessee, but social workers had found the accusations unsubstantiated at that time. The couple’s older biological daughter, who was no longer in the home when their children were removed, said that her mother had once been a “normal mom” but that she had changed. The couple ultimately plead guilty to the accusations.
Date: June 2004
Location: Trenton, Tennessee Read More
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