Former Hephzibah House Students Begin Campaign to Change Law 

7/19/2008 12:05:00 AM

They want to change the law.

Friday, four former students of Hephzibah House, a Warsaw boarding school for girls, hit the streets of Warsaw to gain support to fill what they say is a gap in Indiana's laws. That gap, they allege, allowed them to be abused while they were students at the school.

The women, Gabriella Fleury, Wisconsin; Jennifer Sengpiehl, Virginia; Andrianne McCree, Minnesota; and Katrina Bourdeau, Michigan; stood with supportive family and friends in front of the courthouse for about three hours handing out flyers outlining their accusations against Hephzibah House and collecting signatures for a petition to change the state's code regarding the duties of the Department of Child Services and child care institutions operated by religious institutions.

Hephzibah House is a private, not-for-profit organization connected to Believers Baptist Church, Winona Lake. That means the school isn't under any government oversight with regard to activities that take place on the campus. The demonstrators said, without that oversight, they underwent physical, mental and emotional abuse which included beatings, humiliation and isolation.

Bourdeau said, had there been a mandate that allowed she and other students more free communication with their parents, it would have made a difference. "Just open communication can make a difference," she said. "If we'd have had open communication with our parents, none of this would have happened, because we could have told them what was going on."

Fleury and Sengpiehl also met with Dist. 18 State Representative Dave Wolkins, Winona Lake; to try to enlist his support to begin an initiative to examine the state laws in Indianapolis. However, after the meeting, Wolkins said he doesn't support a change that would give the government more supervision of private religious organizations.

"I don't like government regulations," Wolkins said. "I think people are responsible for their own actions."

Hephzibah House staff provided a statement reporting that Wolkins toured their facilities July 10. The statement claimed Wolkins has toured the facility "several times over the last several years."

According to the statement, "Wolkins and others toured the educational and recreation areas, as well as the commercial kitchen, ministry property and maintenance shop."

Wolkins said during his tour of Hephzibah House he questioned the school's director Ron Williams about the accusations against the school staff. "I asked Dr. Williams about them, he says there's a grain of truth to all of them, depending on how you interpret it," Wolkins said.

As for the women's accusations against the school, Wolkins said, "I have no doubts that they are sincere. They felt intimidated, I have no doubt. But, that is all part of the program. Behavior modification we would call it."

He said the women's impression that what they underwent was abuse is just one interpretation. "They believe they were abused and I guarantee you Dr. Williams believes they were not abused," he said. "To me, abuse has to have some intent of some sort. I am convinced that everything they're doing out there, they're doing with the best intentions of changing the behavior of the girls who come there."

Wolkins said he was happy to meet with the women, but he is not ready to support their initiative, which he does not expect to gain steam in Indianapolis.

"This is a pretty conservative state," he said. "I think they would have a very hard time being successful in doing it."

Fleury and Sengpiehl said Wolkins' stance has not dulled their determination to pursue change. "We're just going to try a little harder now," Fleury said.

About 25 passers-by showed their support for the demonstrators by signing their petition. Veronica Hanes, Etna Green, said she signed the petition after reading the flyer the demonstrators handed her. "I was reading the flyer to my husband and I just started bawling," Hanes said. "I have two little girls, and I couldn't imagine my daughters going through that."

Kim Clark, Warsaw; said she has been following the accusations surfacing against Hephzibah House over the past month and she supports the demonstrators' efforts to pursue more accountability for the school. "If there's any truth to it at all, we certainly want it to stop," she said.

The petition can also be viewed at www.gopetition.com/petitions/indiana-law.html

Hephzibah House did not return calls seeking comment, however, the school staff released a statement in June, when former students were demonstrating in Warsaw, stating that they would not grant any interviews.In the release, Hephzibah staff wrote, "Because of the nature of our work, which includes working with minors and the resulting needs for privacy of the girls and their parents, tours of the facility, interviews with staff members or students and other normal needs of the news media cannot be honored. While all of us at Hephzibah House certainly embrace and support a free press, we hope you can understand that the nature of our work here demands such a position."

According to the release, fire and health department officials regularly tour and inspect the school's facilities.

The demonstrators said they see Friday's efforts as the beginning of a long campaign. "We're not going anywhere," said Bourdeau.

"We'll definitely be back," said Fleury.

For more information about Hephzibah House, call the school's office at 574-269-2376 or 574-269-2375.

For more information about former students' accusations against the school, visit www.formerhephzibahgirls.webs.org or www.hephzibahhouse.com or www.hephzibah-girls.blogspot.com