CHARLESTON – Nine lawsuits have been filed by former students of a boarding school alleging they were abused during their stay at the school.
The nine lawsuits were filed by N.H., T.B., J.J., D.S., C.B., C.C., E.D., T.Y. and R.D. in Kanawha Circuit Court against Miracle Meadows School; Susan Gayle Clark, former director of Miracle Meadows; Seventh-Day Adventist Church North American Division; the Advent Home Learning Center; and Blondel Senior, the director of the Advent Home Learning Center, between Oct. 13 and 17.
The plaintiffs claim they suffered severe abuse as part of a culture of “silence and secrecy” among officials at two schools in West Virginia and Tennessee.
The plaintiffs claim school staff sexually assaulted them and mentally and physically abused them while denying them food and an education at the school.
The students were placed in small, windowless rooms without plumbing, heating or cooling. They were given a bucket in which to use the bathroom in.
The plaintiffs claim they were naked in the rooms, often bound with duct tape or handcuffs, and were fed very little.
The students were sexually assaulted and abused while in the rooms, according to the suits. They were also required to memorize Bible verses and write out chapters of the Bible. If they got the verses wrong, they were forced to stay in the “quarantine rooms” longer, according to the suits.
The plaintiffs were minors when they were students at the schools.
The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory damages. They are being represented by John K. Cecil, R. Scott Long, Guy R. Bucci, V. Paul Bucci II and Ashley N. Lynch.
The school was closed in 2014, after Clark and a progress coach at the school, Timothy Aaron Arrington, were arrested. Arrington was charged with three felony counts of child abuse creating risk of serious injury and one count of child abuse resulting in injury.
Clark pleaded guilty to one count each of child neglect creating risk of injury, failure to report and obstruction. She was sentenced last year to six months in jail and five years probation.
Kanawha Circuit Court case numbers: 17-C-1413, 17-C-1414, 17-C-1415, 17-C-1423, 17-C-1424, 17-C-1427, 17-C-1428, 17-C-1429, 17-C-1430
