ST. LOUIS (AP) — Advocates for victims of abuse at Missouri boarding schools on Monday urged the state’s attorney general to launch an investigation, work with local prosecutors and take other steps aimed at stemming the tide of abuse.

Three Christian boarding schools in southern Missouri have shut down since 2020 amid wide-ranging abuse allegations levied by current and former students. Several people affiliated with those schools are facing criminal charges. Advocates who worry that more abuse is going unpunished gathered Monday outside Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s St. Louis office to demand action.

“This is a structural problem,” said David Clohessy, a longtime advocate for abused children and former leader of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “These are facilities that are remote, independent, private, sometimes for-profit, largely under the radar with little or no scrutiny, state oversight, monitoring or supervision. It’s a recipe for disaster.”

A spokeswoman for Bailey said in an email that the attorney general’s office does not have jurisdiction to prosecute criminal cases, except when appointed as special prosecutor by the governor or a court.

“As a former prosecutor, Attorney General Bailey takes crime very seriously,” spokeswoman Madeline Sieren said, adding that Bailey “has taken substantive action to combat human trafficking where the law allows.”

Amanda Householder, now 33, is among the former students who claimed she was abused. Her story was different than most, though: Her parents, Boyd and Stephanie Householder, owned Circle of Hope Girls Ranch in remote southern Missouri until it closed in 2020 after investigators removed about two dozen girls.

Boyd and Stephanie Householder are scheduled to go to trial in November on a combined 100 charges accusing them of abusing girls at Circle of Hope. Boyd Householder, 74, was charged with 22 counts of having sexual contact, including sexual intercourse, with one girl who was younger than 17 at the time.

Sieren said the Attorney General’s office is handling prosecution of the Householders — proof that Bailey and the office are taking the issue seriously, she said. Three prosecutors are working on the case, she said.

Also, 16 former residents said the Householders frequently restrained them with handcuffs, whipped them with belts, taped their mouths shut and struck or punched them for minor offenses such as singing.

Messages were left with attorneys for the Householders. Phones listed as those of the couple have been disconnected.

Amanda Householder sued her parents, accusing them of beating her and forcing her to impose harsh punishments on other girls at Circle of Hope. She announced Monday that the lawsuit was settled but declined to discuss details.

Amanda Householder said she is forming a new nonprofit aimed at helping those victimized at boarding and reform schools.

“We have to be the voices for kids that are going through what we went through years ago,” Householder said.

Other Missouri facilities operating as Christian boarding schools also have come under intense scrutiny in recent years.

Agape Boarding School in Stockton closed in 2023 after abuse allegations. In 2021, Agape’s longtime doctor was charged with child sex crimes and five employees were charged with low-level abuse counts.

In March, ABM Ministries’ Lighthouse Christian Academy in Piedmont shut down after kidnapping charges were filed against the husband-and-wife owners, who were accused of locking a student in a room. A teacher also was charged with abuse for allegedly injuring a 15-year-old boy while boxing.

For decades, Missouri had among the most lax boarding school regulations of any state in the nation. A 1982 state law gave religious boarding schools free rein and the state no way to monitor how kids were educated. Even the state Health Department had no oversight, including for schools that claimed to address mental health, behavioral and addiction issues.

A new law was adopted in 2021 after extensive reporting from The Kansas City Star found that several faith-based boarding schools, including Agape, relocated to Missouri after being investigated or shut down for abuse or neglect elsewhere.

The new law sets minimum health and safety requirements for boarding schools, which still don’t have to be licensed. It mandates background checks for employees; requires adequate food, clothing and medical care for students; and says parents must be allowed access to their children at any time without prior notice.

Several students have run away from southern Missouri boarding schools in recent years, often claiming abuse. Two 15-year-olds went missing Saturday at a boarding school near Ava but were found safe Monday at a nearby cabin. Messages were left with the sheriff. A school official said it isn’t yet clear what prompted the boys to leave.

Missouri’s Republican Gov. Mike Parson signed legislation May 9 that revives an effort to block Planned Parenthood from the state’s Medicaid program.

Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision that reversed its previous abortion precedent, Missouri banned abortion in most circumstances. Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, states on its local affiliate website that it no longer performs abortions in Missouri. But Planned Parenthood also indicates that abortions can be accessed across state lines at its clinics in Southern Illinois.

Supporters of allowing Planned Parenthood to receive Medicaid funds point to that group’s involvement in cancer screening and prevention services — such as pap tests and HPV vaccinations — but critics argue the funds are fungible and could be used to facilitate abortion despite the state’s prohibition.

Planned Parenthood’s Medicaid funding has long been a target of its pro-life critics, and state lawmakers have previously attempted to block the organization from Missouri’s Medicaid program, also known as MO HealthNet. In February, the Missouri Supreme Court found that lawmakers’ earlier attempt to defund Planned Parenthood was unconstitutional.

The new legislation, HB 2634, ends Medicaid reimbursements to any health care providers affiliated with abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood.

“Our administration has been the strongest pro-life administration in Missouri history,” Parson said in a statement. “We’ve ended all elective abortions in this state, approved new support for mothers, expecting mothers, and children, and, with this bill, ensured that we are not sending taxpayer dollars to abortion providers for any purpose. We thank members of the General Assembly for recognizing this important issue and sending this legislation to my desk.”

A statement from Planned Parenthood Great Plains and Planned Parenthood of St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri said Parson’s “decision to sign this bill into law is deeply disappointing and harmful to the tens of thousands of Missourians who rely on Planned Parenthood for essential health care.”

“This bill not only defies the ruling of Missouri’s highest court but also flouts federal Medicaid law,” the statement said. “By denying Medicaid patients’ right to receive health care from Planned Parenthood, politicians are directly obstructing access to much-needed health services, including birth control, cancer screenings, annual wellness exams, and STI (sexually transmitted infection) testing and treatment.”

The statement further argued that other providers “cannot absorb the thousands of patients impacted by this ‘defunding’ attack. For this reason, Planned Parenthood health centers have worked to keep serving MO HealthNet patients at no cost though it is an unsustainable model for a state’s health care system.”

Pro-life groups, however, applauded the legislation.

“We applaud Gov. Parson and Republicans for standing up for the rights of girls and parents against the predatory abortion industry,” Sue Liebel, midwest regional director for SBA Pro-Life America, said in a statement.

Liebel added, “We must continue to fight for parents as Planned Parenthood attempts to put an abortion measure on the ballot to wipe parental consent off the books and remove health and safety regulations that protect women and girls.”

Chelsey Youman, national legislative advisor for Human Coalition Action, said in a statement the group appreciates Parson “for his strong leadership in signing pro-life policies into law in Missouri: protections for children in the womb, support for mothers, and now blocking taxpayer funding of abortion facilities. This is what pro-life leadership looks like.”

“Life is a winning issue,” Youman said, “and pro-life voters will back any candidate who presents a compelling pro-life vision and enacts strong policies protecting children and supporting vulnerable mothers.”

The new law is scheduled to go into effect Aug. 28.

Pro-life legislation in Missouri may face a significant test at the ballot box in November. A constitutional amendment to legalize abortion turned in more than 380,000 voter signatures by May 3 — more than double the 171,000 required to qualify for the ballot — which election officials must process by July 30 in order to verify whether the measure can be placed on the ballot.

Missouri’s Catholic bishops have urged Catholics and people of good will to oppose the initiative, saying it “does nothing to reduce or eliminate the underlying social causes for abortion and does not further a true culture of life in the state.”

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Missouri State University in Springfield is leaving the Missouri Valley Conference and will join Conference USA as a full-league member.

The change takes effect on July 1, 2025, which means Missouri State will remain in the Missouri Valley Conference for the 2024-2025 academic year.

MSU officials said the move officially places the university in the NCAA’s exclusive Division I Football Bowl Subdivision for the first time.

“We certainly believe that we’re capable of competing and that it brings a higher profile, more exposure and brand awareness, not only to our institution but to our student athletes that participate,” said Kyle Moats, Missouri State’s athletic director.

Missouri State University will become the 12^th full-time member of CUSA. Other members are:

· Florida International University (FIU), Miami, Florida

· Jacksonville State University, Jacksonville, Alabama

· Liberty University, Lynchburg, Virginia

· Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, Louisiana

· Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, Tennessee

· New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico

· Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas

· University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), El Paso, Texas

· Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, Kentucky

· Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, Georgia (joining July 1, 2024)

· University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware (joining July 1, 2025)

The Bears will compete in CUSA in the sports of football, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, women’s soccer, women’s cross country, men’s and women’s golf, women’s tennis, women’s track and field and beach volleyball.

Men’s soccer and swimming and diving are currently not part of CUSA’s sport sponsorship profile, and MSU officials said they’ll have information about those in the coming months. Moats said their initial thought is that they might stay in the Valley with those sports, if that’s an option. If it’s not, they’ll look at other conferences. Ideally, he said, he’d like all three sports to go to the same conference.

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