A TikTok account dedicated to exposing alleged mistreatment at religious reform schools in Missouri may have been instrumental in the recent arrests of Boyd and Stephanie Householder, according to their daughter.
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The Householders were arrested earlier this month and charged with over 100 felonies between them, ranging from endangering the welfare of a child to child molestation and sodomy, after investigators gathered stories from 16 former students at Circle of Hope Girls’ Ranch.
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The religious reform school was run by the Householders until it closed last year after authorities removed two dozen students from the property and opened a criminal investigation into the Householders and their actions at the school.
Circle of Hope opened in 2006 and was the subject of multiple complaints to authorities over the years, according to local law enforcement, but Missouri law allows religious schools to largely go unchecked and unregulated by the same oversight that governs similar secular institutions.
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So despite complaints and investigations, ultimately, very little was done.
And then last year, Amanda Householder created a TikTok.
As the Householder’s daughter, she said she had witnessed concerning situations at the Ranch growing up and had former students and visitors to the property reach out to her with allegations of their own.
So she took to TikTok to share their stories, and stories related to other schools in the area—including Agape Boarding School, after which the account is named.
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It was likely due at least in part to this centralized account dedicated to giving survivors of these schools a platform that Circle of Hope was shut down, investigated, and the Boyds were eventually arrested.
Amanda used that same platform to share her complicated feelings about her parents’ arrest after the news broke.
“I am sad, because they are my parents, but something my parents would always tell me is ‘you’ve made your bed, now you have to lie in it.’ Well, my parents made their bed and now they’re going to have to lie in it,” she said.
“And as hard as that is for me, it’s about time. They did what they did and I’m just glad that they’re being held accountable for it—something I never, ever thought was going to happen.”
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Her mother had previously denied accusations made against the Householders by former students after two lawsuits were filed for rape and abuse last year.
“It is a fact that the accusations will not withstand the scrutiny of examination and the testimony of others as to the truth,” Stephanie said in an email at the time.
With 102 charges stemming from 16 alleged victims so far, that confidence may no longer hold.
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But Amanda is already refocusing her TikTok on the schools that remain open, and the accountability that has yet to take place.
“Circle of Hope got their practices from Agape,” she wrote on a video sharing the full list of current charges against her parents. “Agape is still open.”
*First Published: March 15, 2021, 6:47 am
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