|
| Former students of Hephzibah House, a local boarding school for girls, examine a petition they plan to distribute today in front of the Kosciusko County Courthouse. The women, (L to R), Gabriella Fleury, Wisconsin; Andrianne McCree, Minnesota; Jennifer Sengpiehl, Virginia; and Katrina Bourdeau, Michigan; filed complaints with the Kosciusko County Prosecutor’s Office, Thursday, claiming they were abused at the school while they were students. Photo by Tim Robertson, Times-Union. |
|
Former Hephzibah House Students File Complaints With County Prosecutor's Office
Tim Robertson
Staff Writer
Former students of Hephzibah House, a local boarding school for girls, returned to Kosciusko County Thursday and officially filed complaints against the school with the county prosecutor.
The four women, all from different states, each allege they were abused at Hephzibah House. They brought accusations of physical, mental and emotional abuse, including beatings, isolation, strip searches, humiliation and forced vaginal exams.
|
Two of the women, Gabriella Fleury, Wisconsin; and Jennifer Sengpiehl, Virginia; came to Warsaw last month and demonstrated against the school outside the Kosciusko County Courthouse. On this visit they were joined by two other former Hephzibah House students, Andrianne McCree, Minnesota; and Katrina Bourdeau, Michigan.
Bourdeau said it wasn't easy to come back to Warsaw and see the place where she said she was abused during her time as a Hephzibah House student from 1988 to 1991.
"I wanted to turn around when I got into town," she said.
Bourdeau, who is now a police officer, said sharing her story Thursday with other law enforcement officers wasn't comfortable. She said the details of her time at the school are hard to talk about even 17 years after she left the school.
"It was very humiliating what we went through there," Bourdeau said. "To open up to people on a personal level, to be vulnerable was very difficult."
McCree also said she wanted to put her story on the record in hopes of helping current and future students of Hephzibah House.
"It was easier to go in there knowing I was going to help them," she said.
Staff at Hephzibah House, 2277 E. Pierceton Road, Warsaw, did not answer phone calls seeking comment on the accusations, but did provide a packet of letters from former students and parents of students in support of the school.
Though the Times-Union has archived stories of allegations of abuse at the school dating back more than 20 years, local authorities report they have no open investigations concerning the school, which is a not-for-profit organization connected with Believers Baptist Church, Winona Lake.
Today, Fleury, Sengpiehl, Bourdeau and McCree plan to demonstrate at the courthouse from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Fleury said the demonstration in June was about bringing awareness to the community of hers and others' accusations against the school.
"Today is accountability," she said.
The demonstrators will again hand out flyers detailing the abuses they say they suffered at Hephzibah House, but they'll also offer passers-by the chance to sign a petition to change Indiana law. Fleury said current law does not provide oversight of the activities at private institutions like Hephzibah House.
"Where the department of education leaves off, there's a gap between where the department of child services takes up," she said. "Hephzibah House falls in that gap."
The women said the lack of accountability makes it difficult for allegations of abuse to be followed up on.
"Even if we had gone two days after Andrianne got out, it's just a matter of who is responsible," Fleury said.
Sengpiehl said the signed petitions will be sent to Indiana state and federal legislators.
The women said they anticipate a long process to make the changes in the law they say are needed. But, they said, the effort is worthwhile.
"We want to protect the girls who are at the school now and who will be in the future," McCree said.
For more information, see Saturday's Times-Union.
|
.jpg)
