Homeschooling’s 

Invisible Children

19 Children of Mansa Musa Muhummed

Nineteen children were starved, tortured, and imprisoned by their father, Mansa Musa Muhummed. Muhummed’s three wives—Marva Barfield, Laura Cowan, and Adrienne Easter—were also sexually assaulted, beaten, and imprisoned; Barfield participated in the children’s abuse at Muhummed’s instruction, and Cowan has also been accused of participating in the abuse. The children included Delmarcus (b. 1974), Marlon […]

14 Children by Roland and Jacques Robidoux

Fourteen children were physically abused and medically neglected in The Body, a cultlike organization controlled by their grandfather, Roland Robidoux, and his son Jacques Robidoux. When they were rescued, the victims included: 4 children of Jacques and Karen Robidoux; 5 children (ages 3 to 10) of Dennis and Michelle (Robidoux) Mingo; 4 daughters of David […]

3 children of Stanley Lacefield and Cicely Mason

A 10-year-old boy and his 8-year-old sister were beaten and imprisoned by their stepfather, Stanley A. Lacefield, and their mother, Cicely K. Mason. The couple were also wanted in Arkansas on charges of beating one of Lacefield’s sons in 1998. Their 6-month-old son was not reported to be abused. The children were homeschooled. The boy […]

4 children of Lucinda and Edward Sizemore Sr.

Eddie Sizemore Jr. (age 17) and his three siblings (ages 11, 8, and 4) were imprisoned, deprived of food and water, and neglected by their parents, Lucinda and Edward Sizemore Sr. The children were homebirthed and did not have birth certificates. Eddie attended first grade but was then pulled from school. The other three children […]

4 children by Rita and William Meserve

Four children, ages 16, 13, 10, and 8, were tortured by their aunt, Rita Meserve. Their uncle, William Franklin Meserve, did nothing to stop the abuse and in some cases held the children down. The children were homeschooled. The children came to live in the Meserves’ mobile home in 1994 after their mother died of […]

2 children of Emily Miller

Two boys, ages 10 and 9, were removed from the custody of their adoptive mother, Emily Miller, after the younger boy—who had cerebral palsy—was found tied to a urine-filled bucket in the basement. Clad only in a t-shirt and tied by a dog leash, he had been there for at least a day. The older […]

Son of Christopher and Trina Pope, and 8 siblings

An 8-year-old boy was starved and chained to a bed for a year by his parents, Christopher Shawn Pope and Trina Pope. The boy’s grandmother, Wanda Zavala, knew about the abuse but did nothing because she believed he “was possessed with evil spirits.” The boy’s 7 siblings (ages 10, 9, 6, 4, 3, 20 months […]

Boy by Ixchel Maybury

Ixchel Maybury sexually assaulted a 13-year-old boy that she was homeschooling. The Winslow school system had urged Maybury to complete her homeschooling certification, but she had not done so. Maybury assaulted the boy five or six times between May 1998 and May 1999 and threatened to kill him if he testified against her. Maybury was […]

Jesse and Deonna Briggs

Jesse Briggs, age 10, and his sister Deonna, age 7, were murdered by their parents, Thomas and Dawn Briggs, while on vacation in Oregon. The children were poisoned, then their bodies were returned to the family’s Washington home, where Dawn also died of poisoning and Thomas shot himself to death. The Briggses belonged to the […]

Adam Herrman

Doug and Valerie Herrman are accused of abusing their adopted son, Adam, and of not reporting he was missing after his 1999 disappearance at age 11 or 12. The couple continued to collected adoption subsidy payments until what would have been Adam’s 18th birthday, but told family that Adam had returned to state custody. The […]