An employee at a rural Missouri boarding school has been accused of leaving a boy’s face bloodied during boxing, making him the third school official to be indicted this month.
Caleb Sandoval, 22, was charged Monday with child abuse or neglect. His first court appearance is scheduled for Thursday.
Sandoval is a teacher at ABM Ministries, which operates as Lighthouse Christian Academy in Piedmont, Missouri, according to the probable cause statement. Sandoval is the son of the school’s president, Julio Sandoval, and is not a licensed lawyer. He had left a message on the phone at the school.
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ABM Ministries owner Larry Musgraves Jr., 57, and his wife Carmen Musgraves, 64, were charged with first-degree kidnapping after allegedly locking a student in a small room over the weekend. Ta. The allegations are the latest against people connected to a Christian boarding school in Missouri.
A probable cause statement against Caleb Sandoval says the 15-year-old student suffered a nosebleed while boxing with him between September 1st and January 1st.
Sandoval initially told investigators that he was teaching the boy to box in preparation for a mixed martial arts camp. However, he later said the sparring took place about a week after the boy made sexual comments about Sandoval and his wife, according to a probable cause statement.
The entrance to ABM Ministries, a Christian boarding school in Piedmont, Missouri. (David Clohessy, via AP)
Sandoval told investigators that he punched the boy twice in the body and three times in the face, with the last punch causing the boy to fall. Sandoval said she saw the boy’s nose bleeding and helped him clean up and provided him with over-the-counter painkillers, according to the statement.
ABM Ministries is a private Christian boarding school for boys in Wayne County, about 130 miles south of St. Louis, that previously admitted girls. Its website claims to have success in helping troubled boys, boys with learning disabilities, or boys who are dealing with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and other disorders. I am.
Wayne County Sheriff Dean Finch began the investigation several months ago after being contacted by a former student in Alabama. The Musgraves are now charged with kidnapping the student after they allegedly locked her in a small room against her will.
Finch said his office had received reports of five fugitives from the school since early January. In one case, two boys were picked up by neighbors and taken to their home. The boys asked her to call 911.
A federal lawsuit in which a former principal was accused of having sex with a female student in 2009 also alleges that the Musgraves failed to take action to protect the female student. According to court records, ABM Ministry and the Musgraves agreed to pay $750,000 in settlement, and he agreed to pay $100,000.
Julio Sandoval was an employee of Agape Boarding School in Stockton, Missouri, which closed in 2023 following years of investigations and allegations of physical and sexual abuse.
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The allegations at Agape and the nearby Circle of Hope Women’s Ranch led to state legislation in 2021 mandating stricter rules for such facilities. Until now, Missouri had virtually no oversight of religious boarding schools.
Agape’s lawsuit against the longtime doctor and five other employees is still pending.
The former owners of Circle of Hope are scheduled to go on trial in November on 100 counts of child abuse. They pleaded not guilty.
