Alabama removes 22 boys from religious boarding school amid allegations of abuse

The Alabama Department of Human Resources and Baldwin County law enforcement last weekend raided a Christian boys' boarding school in Seminole, Ala., removing 22 boys ages 8 to 17 after some claimed they were victims of abuse.

"A couple of kids who had been residents at the home had run away to a nearby neighbor and made allegations of abuse," said Major Anthony Lowry of the Baldwin County Sheriff's Department. According to local news accounts, the two boys told the neighbor that staff at the Blessed Hope Boys Academy would punish students for misbehavior by locking them in a closet, withholding food and forcing them to exercise for hours.

After the neighbor called authorities Friday, the sheriff's department contacted DHR, which obtained an order to get the children removed from the school, located on Baldwin County Road 87 in a sparsely populated area near the Alabama-Florida state line.

The boys, none of whom are from Alabama, were taken to the emergency management facility in Robertsdale and have since been returned to their parents or guardians in their home states.

Read more: http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2016/12/alabama_removes_22_boys_from_r.html