Circle Of Hope Girls Ranch Owners Face More Than 100 Charges Of Abuse

LIBERTY, Mo. (AP) — The owners of a former reform school in southwest Missouri are facing more than 100 charges alleging they abused girls at the facility. Boyd and Stephanie Householder, who operated the Circle of Hope Girls Ranch in Cedar County, were charged Tuesday. Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt says the charges involve 16 former residents. Boyd Householder faces 80 charges, including statutory rape and statutory sodomy. His wife has been charged with 22 counts, most involving abuse or neglect of a child. They both pleaded not guilty during an arraignment Wednesday afternoon. The home outside Humansville was closed shortly after state investigators removed about two dozen girls in August.