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Abuse in Homeschooling Environments

The Coalition for Responsible Home Education

www.responsiblehomeschooling.org

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Introduction

Homeschooling allows abusive parents to isolate their children and

hide their abuse in a way they could not if their children attended

school. As a result, the lives of abused children who are homeschooled

are substantively different from the lives of abused children who attend

public school.

+Child Fatalities

Over 90 homeschooled children have died of

abuse or neglect since 2000.

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Since May 2013, a team of researchers has been collecting

verified cases of child abuse in homeschooling settings and

entering them into the Homeschooling’s Invisible Children

database.

The information in this presentation is largely based on these

cases, which have been analyzed for common themes.

For more information, see www.hsinvisiblechildren.org.

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Physical Abuse

Abusive parents who homeschool their children do not have to worry

about a teacher noticing or reporting their children’s bruises or other

physical manifestations of abuse. This allows them to push farther and

abuse their children in more extreme ways than they might otherwise.

7-year-old Milton Baker III was beaten to death by his

mother’s boyfriend, Fred Johnson. Over the previous

three years, Johnson had broken each of the boy’s

ribs.

12-year-old Laree Slack died from internal bleeding

after her parents beat her with rubberized electrical

cable.

7-year-old Lydia Schatz succumbed to liver failure

after being beaten by her parents for several hours

straight. She was being punished for

mispronouncing a word.

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Verbal & Emotional Abuse

Homeschooled children who are verbally or emotionally abused may

have nowhere to go for respite or a break from their abuse. They may

also have no one to contradict their parents' abusive and manipulative

messages. Children homeschooled by narcissistic or mentally unstable

parents may be especially at risk.

+ Anna Farmer was forbidden from speaking with her mother or siblings, and was required to stand while eating.

Hana Williams (pictured) was forced to use an outdoor toilet, shower in the hose, and eat separately from the rest of the family. Her long braided hair was cut off as punishment.

Tom and Debra Schmitz forced their children to dig what they were told were own graves.

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Confinement & Food Deprivation

Homeschooling gives abusive parents the ability to deprive their

children of food or confine them permanently. In some cases, children

have been starved to death or kept locked in their rooms for years. This

is one way abuse in homeschooling situations differs substantively from

abuse of children who attend school.

+In the Homeschooling’s Invisible

Children database . . .

43% of cases involve confinement.

42% of cases involve food deprivation.

22% of cases involve both.

21%

22%

20%

Conflinement

Both confinement &food deprivation

Food deprivation

+ 16-year-old Markea Berry weighed 40 pounds when

she was found dead in her mother’s home.

Jeffrey and Rebecca Trebilcock rigged their kitchen

with alarms to prevent their starving children from

stealing food.

Rene Valenzuela spent 15 months locked in an

empty bedroom in her parents’ home.

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Isolation & Totalistic Families

In some cases, homeschooling families become cult-like as abusive

parents’ desire for absolute control melds with extreme religious ideas.

These situations may be characterized by brutal beatings, long-term

rape and incest, and a brainwashed fear of the authorities, though less

severe situations may be no less harmful.

+ Patrick McMullen confined his six children in a

converted nightclub with an eight-foot fence for six

years.

Marcus Wessen proclaimed himself God and

fathered children with his teenage daughters.

Robert Hale moved his family to a remote region of

Alaska and required his fifteen children to call him

“Lord.”

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Sexual Abuse

Children who are sexually abused in homeschooling situations may not

have access to age-appropriate sex education that might give them the

tools needed to understand and report their own abuse. Further,

children homeschooled by sexually abusive parents may not have a

respite or escape from their abuse.

+ When the 13-year-old son of Robert Caravella and Carol Hann

was placed in foster care, he assumed his foster mother would

want to have sex with him. He had been regularly raped by his

mother beginning at age 8, but did not know that his abuse was

wrong.

Zion Dutro molested and raped his four biological daughters

and two nieces, who lived with him, for nearly two decades,

assisted by his wife, Glenda. The girls turned to a pastor, who

covered for their parents, but did not have access any other

mandatory reporter.

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Adoption & Special Needs

A disproportionate number of cases of severe abuse and neglect

involve children who are adopted or have special needs. Some of the

cases involve both, as well-meaning couples adopt large numbers of

special needs children and then find themselves unable to properly

care for all of them.

+In the Homeschooling’s Invisible

Children database . . .

32% of cases involve adopted children.

11% of cases involve special needs children.

6% of cases involve both.

26%

6%

5%

Adopted

Adopted &special needs

Special needs

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Medical Neglect & Identity Abuse

With no school to require children to have physicals or vaccinations,

some homeschool parents deprive their children of needed medical

care or reject modern medicine altogether. Some homeschooling

parents also refuse to obtain social security numbers for their children

as a result of anti-statist views.

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Christina Glenn died from lack of medical care when her

femur shattered after years of malnutrition.

Makayla Norman, who had cerebral palsy, died of medical

neglect at age 14. Her body was covered in bed sores.

Neil Beagley died of an undiagnosed and untreated urinary

tract blockage. His parents practiced faith healing.

Identification Abuse

In the 2013 HA Basic Survey, 14% of homeschooled abuse

victims reported experiencing identification abuse.

Identification abuse involves depriving children of driver’s

licenses, social security numbers, and other documents.

In some cases, abusive parents may deprive their children of

diplomas and transcripts.

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Trafficking and Missing Children

In some cases, children homeschooled by abusive parents may go

missing and have their disappearances unreported for years

afterwards. Because these children are not in school, there is no

teacher to notice their absences. Other children may be trafficked, sold

over the internet through disrupted adoptions, or hidden by kidnappers.

+ In order to avoid detection, Jaycee Dugard’s

kidnapper told people he was homeschooling their

two daughters.

13-year-old Erica Parsons was missing for two years

before her absence was reported.

David and Glenda Kinghorn illegally obtained 8

children from disrupted adoptions.

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Concealing Abuse

Homeschooling can play a crucial part in concealing abuse and

neglect. Teachers and medical professionals serve an important role

in our nation’s child protective system. Homeschooling allows

abusive parents to isolate their children and limit their contact with

mandatory reporters.

+ Jeannette Maples was pulled out of school after teachers raised

concerns. She died 18 months later as a result of torture

suffered at her mother’s hands.

Calista Springer was removed from school after teachers

reported their concerns to social services. She died in a house

fire three years later, chained to her bed.

Teddy Foltz-Tedesco was withdrawn from school after teachers

made reports to social services. At age 14, Teddy was beaten to

death by his mother’s boyfriend.

+There are currently few protections for at-risk children who

are homeschooled, such as children whose parents have

child abuse or neglect convictions in their past.

• Few states require homeschooled children to have any

contact with mandatory reporters.

• Only two states require parents to have background checks.

• No state monitors homeschool families with troubling social

services histories.

+Additional Resources

Abuse in Homeschooling Environments:

http://www.responsiblehomeschooling.org/policy-

issues/abuse-and-neglect/abuse-in-homeschooling-

environments/

Child Abuse—Definitions, Warning Signs, Reporting

Information:

http://www.responsiblehomeschooling.org/child-

wellbeing/child-abuse-and-neglect/

A Message for Friends, Family, and Neighbors:

http://www.responsiblehomeschooling.org/resources/for-

friends-neighbors-and-family/