Victims of ABM Ministries speak out after owners face kidnapping charges

PIEDMONT, Mo. (KBSI) – Two people face kidnapping charges and one faces an abuse or neglect of child charge in Wayne County.

Larry Charles Musgraves Jr., 57, and Carmen Grizel Musgraves, 64, each face a charge of 1st degree kidnapping.

Caleb Sandoval faces a charge of abuse or neglect of a child.

Wayne County Sheriff Dean Finch and his department received several calls of runaways from ABM Ministries.

Sheriff Finch was contacted by a former student and traveled to Albertville, Alabama to interview the person.

After the interview, Sheriff Finch contacted several past students.

Sheriff’s department personnel and officer from DDCC interviewed all the children at the boys home.

Larry Musgraves Jr. was found at his camper on the property and arrested. His wife was not home.

When Carmen came to the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office around 3 a.m. on March 2 to check on her husband she was arrested.

Two young boys ran away from the school in January and flagged down a nearby car. The boys begged for help and said they were being abused.

After an investigation by the Waynes County sheriff’s office the Musgraves were taken into custody.

Andrea Serrano attended the Christian school in 2007 when it was still a coed school. The abuse she says she went through while attending the school was nothing less than a nightmare.

She talks about an experience she had with a former principal at the school. 

“He would always be making jokes and he would start making jokes about me and this other kid and he would be like, “Would you kiss TJ for $5,000 dollars and I was like no, and he would just keep joking until he brought me into his office, and he asked me to kiss him.” 

Serrano isn’t the only victim. Tons of allegations have been made against the school over the years. Another victim who was asked to remain anonyms explains what owner Carmen Musgrave did to her in 2005. 

“She made me run about 200 laps around that pool, Carmen did ya know that’s an equivalent of about 10 miles. She had me run it without stopping without water, I don’t think id eaten all day and I came in I passed out and I peed my pants and when I came too she proceeded to laugh at me and throw water in my face.” 

Another victim TJ who attended ADM in 2004 talks about abuse he witnessed.

“Craig who used to be the principal he took one of the students, out to the back of the building and pretty much shoved him down in the snow and was holding him down with his foot.” 

The school has received a large number of allegations over the years.

Abuse that stems back for decades, the victims say they were hit, choked, starved and mentally traumatized from their stay at ABM Ministries school.

They say they want people to know what happened to them and they want to make sure it stops happening to other children. 

“Its generations of kids that have grown up with those memories and those traumas and they see their face and it makes us like I don’t know it makes us scared, it still makes me scared to see pictures of Carmen and Larry,” says Serrano.

Sheriff Finch says he anticipates more charges as the investigation continues with more alleged victims coming forward.

Larry Musgraves and Carmen Musgraves were released with stipulations.

All boys attending the school were scheduled to be sent home.