Note: This article includes descriptions of child sexual abuse.
Eight more former residents of the Lord’s Ranch residential treatment facility in Warm Springs, Ark., have come forward in a multi-plaintiff lawsuit filed by the Romanucci and Blandin and Gillispie Law Firm for sexual abuses that happened and were covered up at the family owned and run facility.
In November, eight alleged victims of child sexual abuse filed a complaint against the Lord’s Ranch, relevant entities and multiple members of its leadership who were accused of being involved in or complicit with abuses that happened there before its closure in 2016.
The lawsuit told the harrowing stories of child sexual abuse experienced by plaintiffs, anonymously named John Does 1-8, at the hands of staff while they were residents at the Lord’s Ranch. Despite the plaintiffs’ efforts to alert members of staff of sexual crimes being committed against them, the abuse was allowed to continue and victims said they often were punished or mocked for attempting to report the incidents.
The abuse was allowed to continue and victims said they often were punished or mocked for attempting to report the incidents.
The eight new plaintiffs, named John Does 9-16 in their Jan. 9 civil complaint, double the number of claims filed against the Lord’s Ranch.
All eight plaintiffs were sent outside their home states to the remote area of Arkansas, where the Lord’s Ranch facilities were located. Owners and staff members of the Lord’s Ranch helped facilitate the plaintiffs’ transport there.
The complaint contains 10 counts of alleged abuse: Negligent supervision; negligent retention; negligence; negligent patient care; vicarious liability or neglect or otherwise tortious acts and omissions of all agents and employees; trafficking; violations to Title IX; civil action by a crime victim; tort of outrage and sexual battery.
The allegations made in this second lawsuit echo those made in the first, including a common alleged abuser, patterns of abuse experienced at the facility and the negative or unresponsive reactions to reports of abuse among staff.
For all 16 John Does, despite attempts to report the various incidents of abuse and neglect, the abuse continued unabated, they contend. Owners and staff members at the Lord’s Ranch were aware of their experiences of child sexual abuse but did nothing to prevent the abuses from happening again and failed to protect the plaintiffs and other residents from experiencing abuse in the future, the plaintiffs say.
Given the stories provided by the plaintiffs, it is clear the owners and staff actively chose not to properly respond to clear incidents of disturbing and violent abuse, knowing their failure to act would “without a doubt cause more young boys at the Lord’s Ranch to be raped by Emmett Presley,” according to the lawsuit. “The Suhl family condoned the enormous amounts of child sexual abuse.”
The eight new plaintiffs allege they were “repeatedly subjected to horrific sexual, psychological and physical abuse as children while residing at this Christian-based religious camp and therapeutic facility.” Their alleged abuser was counselor and director of social services Emmett A. Presley, “who was one of the most notorious child abusers at the facility, using his position of power and authority to prey upon countless patients.”
Presley is alleged to have utilized his position as director of social services to abuse children, as he oversaw all psychological treatment and therapy provided to residents and thus had ample opportunities to be alone with the residents to commit acts of abuse. Presley also was able to use the emotional and spiritual struggles of the children to manipulate them into submission, as he had full access to their medical files, the suit alleges.
Plaintiffs claim their experiences of child sexual abuse at the hands of Presley “was reported to numerous administrators and staff, including Ted Suhl (owner and executive director), who either feigned concern or, in some circumstances, punished the residents who reported abuse.”
There are common themes among all the plaintiffs, plus some variations on additional alleged perpetrators.
John Doe 9 was sent to the Lord’s Ranch from Chicago to be a resident from 2000 to 2003, during which time he was a minor. John Doe 9 alleges he was sexually molested and raped by Emmett Presley “on numerous occasions,” including oral rape, genital molestation and being forced to engage in sexual acts with another resident by Presley. During one incident, John Doe 9 was taken out of class by Presley and driven “around the backroads surrounding the Lord’s Ranch campus” where Presley would park and sexually abuse another resident the lawsuit names Child Doe B. Presley then “ordered (John Doe 9) to perform oral sex on Child Doe B.”
“It was common knowledge amongst staff and other residents that when a resident was returning to the Lord’s Ranch campus with snacks purchased by Defendant Presley, it meant the resident had been sexually abused by him.”
According to John Doe 9 and many of the plaintiffs in the November lawsuit, after abusing his victims, “Presley would often take them to a store to purchase candy and other snacks. It was common knowledge amongst staff and other residents that when a resident was returning to the Lord’s Ranch campus with snacks purchased by Defendant Presley, it meant the resident had been sexually abused by him,” leading John Doe 9 and other plaintiffs to experience bullying after their experiences of abuse from both staff and other residents.
John Doe 9 reported the abuse to staff members Philander Kirk and Alonzo Jiles, but nothing was done to stop the abuse or protect him, the suit says. He also alleges he was “regularly physically abused by staff,” as do many of the other plaintiffs.
John Doe 10 was picked up by owner Bud Suhl and taken to the Lord’s Ranch from Chicago to be a resident from 1993 to 1996, during which time he was a minor. He was sent to the Lord’s Ranch by his grandmother due to his emotional struggles after the deaths of both his parents. John Doe 10 alleges Philander Kirk physically abused him during his first week at the Lord’s Ranch.
Emmett Presley was John Doe 10’s counselor and used his emotional vulnerability to sexually abuse him, he alleges. Presley “knew (he) loved his grandmother and used (his) feelings of loneliness, isolation, and longing for the connection and affection of his grandmother to coerce him and sexually abuse him.” John Doe 10 says he was orally raped and sexually molested by Presley in his car.
According to the lawsuit, “the Lord’s Ranch defendants were well aware that Presley was sexually abusing male residents well before plaintiff’s abuse,” yet there were no measures taken to protect John Doe 10 from experiencing sexual abuse at their facilities.
John Doe 11 arrived at the Lord’s Ranch between 1995 and 1996 when he was 15 to 16 years old and alleges he was sexually abused by his counselor, Emmett Presley, on numerous occasions. The abuse “included but was not limited to molesting and fondling of plaintiff’s genitals and attempted oral sex” and occurred in Presley’s car despite pleas by John Doe 11 for it to stop.
After the abuse, John Doe 11 was threatened by Presley and told not to report the incidents to anyone. He was also “regularly physically and emotionally abused by Gary Jackson and Philander Kirk.”
According to the lawsuit, “the Lord’s Ranch defendants knew Presley was sexually abusing male residents well before John Doe 11’s abuse,” but they did nothing to protect him.
The accounts of other John Does repeat similar allegations and add other details, such as:
- John Doe 12 alleges “Presley would take (him) on nature walks as part of his therapy and then sexually abuse him.” If John Doe 12 did not want to comply, “Presley would use intimidation and threats to force plaintiff to continue to meet Presley’s depraved sexual needs.” And his phone calls to tell his parents about the abuse were monitored.
- John Doe 13 was abused numerous times by a staff member named “Jeff,” who forced him “and another minor resident” to “get naked and lay down on Jeff’s bed. He then forced them to perform sexual acts on one another as well as on Jeff.”
- John Doe 15 says he was subjected to “excessive physical abuse by staff causing injuries to his right arm, such as torn ligaments, which he still suffers from today.”
- John Doe 16 says he attempted to report his abuse to several staff members but was told he was lying and he “had to recant in the name of Jesus and atone” for the sin of accusing Presley of sexual crimes.
The legal team noted in their news release that, for child sexual abuse victims for whom their claims would typically expire under normal Arkansas statute of limitations rules, the current window open under the Justice for Vulnerable Victims of Sexual Abuse Act is about to close. Additional plaintiffs have until the end of this month to file claims.
The legal team urges “anyone with any information, who worked at the Lord’s Ranch or who was a resident there … to come forward as a witness to what happened.”
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