Lawsuits are mounting against Missouri religious schools accused of abusing students

Maggie Drew, who attended Circles of Hope Girls Ranch from 2007-2013, alleges the now-shuttered boarding school illegally took her inheritance money and required her to endure forced labor, and that the school's co-owner sexually abused her.
Thirty lawsuits have been filed over the last two years against a pair of southwest Missouri boarding schools accused by former students of physical, emotional and sexual abuse.

The latest, filed Aug. 12 against the now-shuttered Circle of Hope Girls Ranch in Cedar County, is the first to proceed in federal court. Maggie Drew, 30, filed the lawsuit against the school she attended from 2007 to 2013.

Drew alleges Circle of Hope illegally took her inheritance money and required her to endure forced labor that permanently injured her back. She also alleges that the co-owner of the school sexually abused her.