Trial for Circle of Hope founder pushed back to 2025
STOCKTON, Mo. — The trial for the southwest Missouri woman accused of abusing young girls at a Christian reform school has been pushed back again.
Online court records show Stephanie Householder was in court again on Oct. 16, 2024 and has pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of abuse at the Circle of Hope Girls Ranch in Cedar County. In 2021, she was charged with 10 counts of abuse and neglect of child and 12 counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
Stephanie Householder now faces a jury trial that is scheduled for five days starting on Sept. 29, 2025.
Stephanie Householder's husband, Boyd Householder, was also charged in the case, but died while in the hospital in June 2024. The Householders' attorney, Adam Woody, said at the time of Boyd Householder's death, he maintained "...his innocence against any criminal conduct..."
Then-Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt got involved in the investigation into Circle of Hope and the Householders in November 2020. Twenty-four girls were removed from the ranch in August of that year by Child Protective Services.
In addition to the criminal charges against the Householders, a new lawsuit filed in September 2024 accuses them of various acts of abuse, including being restrained with zip-ties and denying the girls feminine hygiene products. The lawsuit also names Jeffrey Ables, who formerly served as director of Circle of Hope, and accuses him of doing nothing after girls reported the abuse.
