PIEDMONT (MO)
KOKI-TV, Fox-23 [Tulsa OK]
October 29, 2024
By Katie White
A former principal at a Christian boarding school faces charges of child sexual abuse and a former teacher pled guilty to child abuse and neglect. Both men worked at Lighthouse Christian Academy – now closed – in Piedmont.
According to attorney Rebecca Randles, the Academy’s former principal, Craig Wesley Smith Jr., faces felony charges of forcible rape, forcible sodomy, sexual contact with a student, abuse or neglect of a child, and harassment. His arraignment is set for October 31, 2024.
Former Lighthouse Christian Academy teacher Caleb Sandoval was sentenced to five years probation after pleading guilty to abuse or neglect of a child.
According to Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), victims feel encouraged by the developments.
SNAP Missouri volunteer director David Clohessy said the fight is not over.
“I’d like to stress that a charge is not a conviction,” Clohessy said. “When somebody who mistreats kids faces criminal charges, others who know about the crimes or experienced the crimes tend to just breathe a big sigh of relief and think, ‘Okay, now I’m off the hook. I don’t have to do anything. Surely, he’s going to be sent to jail.
According to Clohessy, alleged perpetrators don’t always get convicted.
“Sometimes these folks get really good lawyers who exploit technicalities and they end up getting off the hook or getting extremely light sentences,” Clohessy said.
He encourages anyone who has information or suspicions about wrongdoings at Lighthouse Christian Academy to call police and prosecutors to report.
“Kids are safe when wrongdoers are jailed and wrongdoers are jailed when people who have knowledge cooperate with law enforcement, rather than sitting back and letting one or two victims of abuse handle this all by themselves,” Clohessy said.