Three people indicted on abuse charges after investigation at Kentucky boarding school

Three people are facing abuse charges after an investigation into a western Kentucky boarding school.

Kentucky State Police said they opened an investigation at Pilgrim’s Rest School in Ohio County in October, after social services investigated allegations of abuse.

An Ohio County grand jury indicted Kelly R. Vanderkooi, 52; Johnathan V. Vanderkooi, 28, and Amanda Vanderkooi, 27, all of Dundee, Dec. 16, court records show.

Kelly Vanderkooi is facing 21 counts of first-degree criminal abuse of a child 12 or under and 10 counts of fourth-degree assault (child abuse), state police said in a news release. Johnathan Vanderkooi is facing eight counts of first-degree criminal abuse of a child 12 or under and three counts of fourth-degree assault (child abuse). Amanda Vanderkooi was indicted on one count of first-degree sexual abuse.

The three were arrested Thursday and taken to the Ohio County Detention Center in Hartford, state police said. They were being held on $50,000 cash bond.

Court records indicate that they are scheduled to be arraigned in Ohio Circuit Court Jan. 3.

Susan Dunlap, spokeswoman for the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, said in an email that the Department for Community Based Services helped move two children out of the private school and into licensed facilities. She said the school is not licensed by the state.

The Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer reported in early December that state police were investigating the school and that previous investigations were undertaken in 2011, 2012 and 2020 but did not result in charges. Records from previous investigations indicated that students alleged that they had been forced to “bear crawl” until their hands bled and that they reported “having their hands stepped on, fingers bent, and ears pulled,” according to the Messenger-Inquirer.

The newspaper reported that Kelly Vanderkooi is the founder of the facility, which was located in London in the early 2000s before moving to Dundee. The school also goes by the name Pilgrims Rest Ministry of Reconciliation.