Settlement is a victory for 29 victims who suffered as children traumatic abuse at Miracle Meadows, a private West Virginia Christian boarding school for at-risk youth
PHILADELPHIA (November 2020) – Philadelphia attorneys Guy D’Andrea and Guy D’Andrea of LBK, LLP today announce that they have secured a record settlement of $52 million on behalf of 29 victims who endured years of sexual and physical abuse at the hands of adults who were supposed to protect them.
The suit against the now-closed Miracle Meadows in Harrison County, West Virginia, sought to hold the Christian boarding school for at-risk youth accountable for abuses perpetrated for decades by school staff members. It sought compensation on behalf of 29 survivors who suffered nearly unimaginable abuses over the years, including being chained and shackled to beds, sexually assaulted, starved, and beaten.
In the most egregious cases, children were duct-taped or handcuffed naked in a 5-by-8-foot room with no toilet except a coffee can, no toilet paper, no shower and no interaction with other students. Fed only bread and fruit at one meal and rice and beans at another, students were held in so-called “quarantine” for weeks, and at times months, on end.
“For too long, Miracle Meadows was able to thwart the judicial system, allowing the systematic abuse of hundreds of children to continue for decades,” said D’Andrea, who served as lead attorney on the far-reaching case. “This settlement represents justice for these victims and puts on notice any so-called school official who thinks they can get away with betraying the trust of the families and children in their care.”
Founded in 1987, Miracle Meadows operated as a boarding school within a Christian sect’s educational system. Before it was finally shut down in 2014, it purported to serve children ages 7 to 17 who had behavioral or educational issues, often due to trauma they had suffered. Instead of providing these children the counseling and education their marketing and fundraising materials promised, Miracle Meadows’ staff tortured them, and administrators including school founder Susan Gayle Clark covered it up.
“I wouldn’t put my dog in there,” one law enforcement official said of Miracle Meadows during the case’s discovery process.
“I was appalled. It’s child abuse. It’s unconscionable to me to handcuff a child and shackle a child in that fashion,” said a West Virginia State Police Officer deposed in the case.
Authorities in Harrison County, where the facility was located, became aware of allegations of physical and sexual abuse as early as 1994. Clark and other school leaders did everything in their power to thwart and deflect the investigations in order to keep the $3,000-a-month “tuition” rolling in, D’Andrea said.
It took years for authorities to amass the evidence they needed. Prosecutors found it difficult to investigate complaints because students came from other states and could be shuttled off to another school quickly to avoid being interviewed. The school’s staff members were brought in on religious work visas and could quickly be sent back to their home countries before authorities could question them.
In August 2014, authorities finally had enough evidence they needed to act. They stormed the property, removed 19 children and closed the school. Clark was arrested and later pled guilty to child neglect, failure to report, and obstruction of justice and was sentenced to six months in jail, followed by five years of reporting probation. A Miracle Meadows teacher, Timothy Arrington, was arrested and accused of choking and handcuffing several boys until they passed out.
The children at Miracle Meadows were particularly vulnerable to abuse, he said.
“These were at-risk children, many with serious mental health issues often as a result of abuse or neglect in their childhood, being sent away hundreds of miles from home,” he said. “Their families hoped a stern, Bible-based boarding school would turn their lives around. Complaints were expected and made; however, Miracle Meadows monitored phone calls and mail to control complaints and successfully covered up the abuse by convincing others the children were lying. This enabled unfettered and horrific child abuse for decades. This lawsuit and settlement is vindication for these kids.”
For more information, contact Guy D’Andrea or Guy D’Andrea directly at 855-382-3385, GDAndrea@laffeybuccikent.com or GDAndrea@laffeybuccikent.com.
LBK, LLP is a personal injury law firm representing individuals seriously injured due to the negligence of others. The trial lawyers at LBK have a long history of fighting for victims of crime, especially survivors of physical and sexual abuse, through lawsuits in the civil justice system. For more information, go to www.laffeybuccikent.com.
