When abuse occurs in homeschool environments, it can be compounded by children's lack of regular contact with mandatory reporters such as teachers. In some cases, abusive parents may use homeschooling to conceal and intensify their abuse. This presentation covers the things that make abuse in homeschooling environments different from abuse in other environments, and what that means for the children affected.

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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.

3. +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.

6.  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.

8. + 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.

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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

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 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.

13. +  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.

15. + 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.

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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.

20. 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.

22. + 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.

24. + 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.

25. + 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.

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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/