At least five children were sexually abused by their siblings. Their father, Brian Keene (pictured left), knew about the abuse and did nothing to stop it. The children were homeschooled.
Brian Keene and his wife had at least nine children, including: James (b. 1990, pictured second from left), Elijah (b. 1992, pictured second from right), Megan* (b. 1997), Josiah (b. 1999, pictured right), Samantha* (b. 2000), Emma* (b. 2003), Tyler* (b. 2005), Ava* (b. 2007), and Mason* (b. 2008). The children’s mother left the family in 2014 and later died. Reports said at least some of the children had attended school in the past, but none of the children had attended in years. Brian Keene reported he had not provided instruction to the children since his wife left. The children were not given adequate food and their clothes had holes; the home had no heat, smelled like a “backed up sewer”, had holes in the walls and floor, and was overrun with pests. The family dog was also neglected. None of the children had seen a doctor since at least 2009, since according to Brian Keene “none of them were ever sick”; however, Mason walked with a limp due to an untreated foot injury from unsafe conditions in the home.
Around 2005, when Elijah was about 13, he began repeatedly sexually abusing his sisters Megan (then age 8) and Emma (then age 2). He began molesting Samantha around 2012 (when she was 12). James also sexually abused Emma; and James, Elijah, and Josiah all sexually abused Tyler and Ava. Brian Keene knew about the abuse and attributed it to his sons’ “raging hormones.” The abuse continued for years.
The abuse came to light when Samantha left the home, bringing Emma, Tyler, and Ava with her. In April 2019, police received a suspicious vehicle complaint and found Samantha and the children in the car; she reported their home was unsafe and the children subsequently disclosed the abuse. Brian Keene was charged with child neglect, and James, Elijah, and Josiah Keene were all charged with numerous counts of sexual assault of a child.
*not their real names
Date: April 8, 2019
Location: South Milwaukee, Wisconsin Read More
Last Updated: April 29, 2021 by clmccracken Leave a Comment
Martha Peight
Martha Peight, b. 1989, was sexually abused by her father, Daniel R. Hostetler. Martha was homeschooled.
Hostetler abused Martha multiple times between 2002 and 2006. In 2007, Martha’s brother reported the abuse to David R. Fisher, the pastor of their Mennonite congregation, Shaver’s Creek Christian Fellowship. Fisher ordered Hostetler to confess to the congregation and counseled Martha to forgive Hostetler. The authorities were never notified. Fisher and Hostetler refused Martha’s request to go to a counseling center.
The abuse came to light in 2018 when Martha disclosed it to her therapist. The therapist reported it to the authorities. Hostetler pleaded guilty to indecent assault and Fisher pleaded no contest to endangering the welfare of a child.
Date: January 2018
Location: Morris Township, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania Read More
Last Updated: May 10, 2019 by clmccracken Leave a Comment
Megan Walls, and 3 siblings
Megan Walls (pictured, b. 1997) was sexually abused by her father, Michael Walls. Megan and her siblings were homeschooled—Walls distrusted the government and told Megan school would “brainwash” her.
Walls married Megan’s mother M.S. when he was in his twenties and M.S. was 14 years old. Walls and M.S. had four children together: A., B., Megan, and Mi. The children’s mother left the family around 2000, shortly after Mi.’s birth. Within a year or so, Walls began raping Megan, who was then around 4. He continued to rape her multiple times per week until 2013. Megan testified that she didn’t realize there was anything abnormal about the rapes, and that Walls instructed her not to tell anyone about them. According to authorities, the children’s lives included physical and mental abuse, “no socialization, little communication with family, no friendships to speak of, and no schooling, formal or otherwise.” At trial Walls “admitted he neglected his children’s’ homeschooling.” A family member, likely Walls’s mother E.W., also alleged that Megan’s older brother sexually abused Megan. When the children were rescued, Mi. had a speech disability.
The abuse came to light in June 2013 when authorities received a tip about educational neglect and sexual abuse. They interviewed Megan and Mi., who were the only children still living at home, but they denied the abuse. Walls was ordered to surrender custody but instead fled to Florida with the children. He was apprehended and the children were placed in foster homes and began to attend school. Megan finally disclosed her father’s sexual abuse to a teacher in May 2014. In 2016 Walls was convicted on 24 counts of rape, among other charges. After his conviction was overturned in 2018, he was re-tried and again convicted of the same charges in 2019.
Date: June 25, 2013
Location: Sandusky, Ohio Read More
Posted: April 28, 2019 by clmccracken Leave a Comment
Girl by the Smiths
A 9-year-old girl was beaten, starved, and imprisoned by her uncle, Joel Smith (pictured left), Joel’s wife Amanda Smith (pictured center), and their 19-year-old daughter Allison Smith (pictured right). The girl was homeschooled.
It is unclear how the girl came to live with the Smiths, but she thought of them as her parents and sister. The girl was pulled from school in 2017 and the family “claimed to have the girl in a homeschool program, but no one could name the specific program.” The girl reported she was educated by a LeapPad learning tablet. The girl endured extreme abuse, including: being forced to stay outside in all weather; forced to do extreme manual labor such as moving rocks and digging holes; beaten with numerous objects including a livestock sorting stick, including a beating for making a mistake in her schoolwork; forced to take freezing and scalding showers; choked and threatened with death; forced to wear diapers and not allowed to use the toilet; starved so that she ate paper and moldy food out of the trash because she was hungry; and kept handcuffed inside a playpen at night. When she was rescued, she had an infected and untreated laceration from the handcuffs, was covered with bruises, and was severely underweight.
The abuse came to light when the girl ran away from home and was reported missing by the Smiths in early April 2019. When authorities found her she disclosed the abuse. The Smiths, who were later arrested in Missouri, were charged with child abuse and neglect.
Date: April 5, 2019
Location: Salina, Oklahoma Read More
Last Updated: April 24, 2019 by clmccracken Leave a Comment
Abdul-Ghani Wahhaj, and 11 relatives
Abdul-Ghani Wahhaj (pictured), age 3, died as a result of medical neglect by five of his family members. Their compound also housed 11 related children, ages 1 to 15, who were malnourished and neglected. The children were homeschooled.
Abdul-Ghani, who had hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, was the child of Siraj Wahhaj and Hakima Ramzi of Jonesboro, Georgia. After a trip to Saudi Arabia in 2017, Wahhaj decided he wanted to stop giving Abdul-Ghani his seizure medication and use prayer to treat his illness instead. In November 2017, Wahhaj abducted Abdul-Ghani and took him to a remote area in New Mexico where he established a compound with his second wife Jany Leveille, his sisters Hujrah and Subhanah Wahhaj, his brother-in-law Lucas Morton, and the women’s 11 other children. According to the grandfather of some of the children, “they were homeschooled and the adults moved them to the compound because society wouldn’t accept their Islamic religion.”
“The compound consisted of one small trailer buried in the ground and covered by plastic with no water, plumbing or electricity.” The children were malnourished and filthy, and they later reported the adults had trained them to use firearms in order to attack government institutions. Instead of giving Abdul-Ghani his medication, Wahhaj and his family members “would read verses from the Quran over the boy to rid him of evil spirits.” Abdul-Ghani died December 24, 2017 and the family buried him in a crawlspace, reportedly believing he would come back to life.
The abuse came to light when a family member called the authorities in August 2018 to report that the family was starving. Authorities raided the compound and found Abdul-Ghani’s remains. Wahhaj and Leveille were charged with child abuse, “but after prosecutors missed a deadline to provide a preliminary examination, the cases were dropped” and federal weapons and terrorism charges were soon filed.
Date: August 3, 2018
Location: Amalia, Taos County, New Mexico Read More
Posted: April 24, 2019 by clmccracken Leave a Comment
Children of Brian Keene
Brian Keene and his wife had at least nine children, including: James (b. 1990, pictured second from left), Elijah (b. 1992, pictured second from right), Megan* (b. 1997), Josiah (b. 1999, pictured right), Samantha* (b. 2000), Emma* (b. 2003), Tyler* (b. 2005), Ava* (b. 2007), and Mason* (b. 2008). The children’s mother left the family in 2014 and later died. Reports said at least some of the children had attended school in the past, but none of the children had attended in years. Brian Keene reported he had not provided instruction to the children since his wife left. The children were not given adequate food and their clothes had holes; the home had no heat, smelled like a “backed up sewer”, had holes in the walls and floor, and was overrun with pests. The family dog was also neglected. None of the children had seen a doctor since at least 2009, since according to Brian Keene “none of them were ever sick”; however, Mason walked with a limp due to an untreated foot injury from unsafe conditions in the home.
Around 2005, when Elijah was about 13, he began repeatedly sexually abusing his sisters Megan (then age 8) and Emma (then age 2). He began molesting Samantha around 2012 (when she was 12). James also sexually abused Emma; and James, Elijah, and Josiah all sexually abused Tyler and Ava. Brian Keene knew about the abuse and attributed it to his sons’ “raging hormones.” The abuse continued for years.
The abuse came to light when Samantha left the home, bringing Emma, Tyler, and Ava with her. In April 2019, police received a suspicious vehicle complaint and found Samantha and the children in the car; she reported their home was unsafe and the children subsequently disclosed the abuse. Brian Keene was charged with child neglect, and James, Elijah, and Josiah Keene were all charged with numerous counts of sexual assault of a child.
*not their real names
Date: April 8, 2019
Location: South Milwaukee, Wisconsin Read More
Last Updated: April 12, 2019 by clmccracken Leave a Comment
Boy by Lyubov Korotkova
VK, an 11-year-old boy (pictured), was starved and medically abused by his foster mother, Lyubov Korotkova. VK was homeschooled. Korotkova also had an adult son who lived with them and an adult daughter.
Korotkova became VK’s foster mother and removed him from an orphanage in 2009 when he was 3 years old. For eight years, Korotkova habitually starved VK and gave him medication to make him sick so that she could fraudulently claim he was disabled, eventually collecting approximately $65,000 in disability benefits. Korotkova was seen by her neighbors as a hero for raising a disabled child, and when VK was rescued at first the neighbors staged a public campaign for VK’s return. Korotkova’s husband, Andrei, was unaware of the abuse.
The abuse was uncovered by doctor in May 2017. At that time 11-year-old VK weighed as much as a 4-year-old. Korotkova was sentenced to 6 years in prison for torture. VK’s psychologist was granted custody of him.
Date: May 2017
Location: Magadan, Russia Read More
Posted: April 12, 2019 by clmccracken Leave a Comment
Sarah Dubois-Gilbeau
Sarah Dubois-Gilbeau, age 5, was beaten to death by her father, Brandon Reynolds. Sarah was homeschooled.
Sarah liked fishing at Tingley Beach and once won a fishing contest. Her favorite colors were pink, purple, and blue. Reynolds had sole custody of Sarah due to her mother’s drug use. Neighbors described him as “very strict” and stated that Sarah was not allowed to go anywhere or have friends because Reynolds “didn’t want her to grow up in this society.” The neighbors suspected abuse but did not report it.
The abuse came to light when Reynolds beat Sarah unconscious with a shoe because she wouldn’t do her homework. He did not call emergency services until several hours later; when they arrived Sarah did not have a pulse and was covered in bruises. She later died at the hospital. Reynolds was charged with child abuse resulting in death.
Date: April 5, 2019
Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico Read More
Last Updated: March 29, 2019 by clmccracken Leave a Comment
Angel Dwyer
Angel Dwyer (pictured), b. 1992, was forced by her mother to marry at age 13, whereupon she was physically abused by her husband, X. Angel was homeschooled.
Angel’s birth in New Jersey was not registered. She never visited a doctor or dentist and she was not allowed to use the public library. Angel and her siblings were homeschooled for their entire lives in a secular family. According to Angel, “I never learned more than multiplication. I learned to read and write from the internet so pretty much I didn’t have an education.” After Angel’s father died when she was ten, all education stopped. At some point the family moved to Pollock Pines, California. Angel’s mother was emotionally abusive and controlling. When Angel was 13, at her mother’s urging, Angel’s 16-year-old boyfriend, X., came to live with the family. Days later, Angel’s mother performed a living room wedding without a license for the two children. X., now Angel’s husband, became her legal guardian. “Soon after the wedding, Angel’s husband became violent and abusive,” including in one instance strangling Angel while she was pregnant. Angel’s mother moved the family to Priest Lake, Idaho, to escape scrutiny.
In 2011, when Angel was 19 and pregnant with her third child, she reported the abuse with the help of Priest River Ministries Advocates for Women. X. was jailed for nine months for domestic abuse. Angel, now Angel McGehee, is currently a homeschooling mother who advocates against child marriage.
Date: 2011
Location: Priest Lake, Idaho Read More
Posted: March 24, 2019 by clmccracken Leave a Comment
Girl by Wesley and Sherry Keen
A 14-year-old girl, Rachel*, was starved, imprisoned, and tortured by her family members, married couple Wesley and Sherry Keen (pictured). Rachel was homeschooled.
Shortly after the Keens became Rachel’s caretakers in early 2017, they withdrew her from school to homeschool her and began keeping her in a padlocked room where she had no food, water, or bathroom access for much of the day. Rachel’s neighborhood friend, Madison Brennan, reported that she tried to visit but was told by the Keens that Rachel was not available. Rachel was only let out for dinner each day. Wesley Keen beat her with a belt buckle and tortured her by breaking her fingers and teeth. She was forced to write “I do as I’m told or get punished” almost 3,000 times. When she was rescued, Rachel weighed only 70 pounds.
The abuse came to light when one of Rachel’s relatives, most likely Wesley Keen’s mother Hazel Byrd, grew concerned that she hadn’t seen Rachel in awhile and called the authorities for a welfare check. Authorities found the padlock on Rachel’s door and removed her from the Keens’ custody. Wesley Keen pleaded guilty to assault, malicious wounding, child abuse, and abduction, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Sherry Keen pleaded guilty to child abuse and abduction and was sentenced to 5 years in prison.
*Rachel is a pseudonym.
Date: April 23, 2018
Location: Vinton, Bedford County, Virginia Read More
Posted: March 23, 2019 by clmccracken Leave a Comment
11 Children of Machelle Hobson
Seven children, ages 15 to 3, were starved, imprisoned, and physically and sexually abused by their adoptive mother, Machelle Hobson (pictured left). The children were homeschooled. Hobson’s four adult biological children were not reported to be abused; her sons Logan and Ryan Hackney (pictured center and right) knew about the abuse but did nothing to stop it.
The children were forced to participate in videos on Hobson’s popular YouTube channel “Fantastic Adventures” and were abused when they refused or forgot their lines. They were beaten with various objects and doused with pepper spray, forced to take ice baths, and locked in closets for days without food and water. According to Hobson, at least one of the children had a disability. While some of the children originally attended school, they were withdrawn to be homeschooled so they could spend more time filming the series.
The abuse came to light when Hobson’s adult biological daughter reported it to the authorities, prompting a welfare check which revealed the abuse. Hobson was charged with molestation, child abuse, child neglect, and unlawful imprisonment. The Hackneys were charged with failure to report abuse.
Date: March 13, 2019
Location: Maricopa, Arizona Read More
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