State investigates boarding school in Nephi
By Kirsten Stewart
The Salt Lake Tribune
Even as Whitmore Academy owner Cheryl Sudweeks contests charges of child abuse, state officials are investigating new abuse allegations at the Juab County boarding school.
Neither state nor county attorneys would discuss the precise nature of the ongoing probe.
But Sudweeks' lawyer Jim Merrell confirmed the investigation.
"They're pulling out all the stops to find some way to find as many chinks in my client's armor as possible. They've been investigating these kinds of things for months and months now. I'd be surprised if anything came from it," said Merrell.
Sudweeks appeared Thursday in Nephi's 4th District Court for a preliminary hearing on misdemeanor child abuse charges stemming from a two-year investigation allegedly involving students enrolled at the school in 2003 and 2004. She has filed a written plea of not guilty to all seven counts of abuse and hazing.
Juab County Attorney Jared Eldridge motioned to have Sudweeks barred from direct or indirect contact with the alleged victims and any juveniles under the age of 18 now in her care.
Fourth District Judge Donald J. Eyre granted the no-contact order for the alleged victims, but did not address Eldridge's latter request.
Eyre then recused himself from the case because he is an ecclesiastical leader in unit of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to which the Sudweeks belong. The case was reassigned to Judge Lynn W. Davis, who has yet to schedule the next hearing.
Whitmore is not currently licensed by state officials as required under a new law. Inspectors want to bring it under regulation, arguing it qualifies as a therapeutic facility, but the school is fighting that designation.
Regulators are still drafting the new therapeutic rules, however, and Licensing Director Ken Stettler says, "We have to give people the opportunity to comply with them before we can order an injunction."
Whitmore - which has about 32 students, ages 12 to 17, and is located in a historic mansion on Nephi's Main Street - also was recently cited with numerous fire code violations.
In addition, three students ran away from the school in June. Parents of the three runaways, at least two of whom were retrieved and shipped home, believe the boys were assisted by school critic Joyce Harris of San Antonio, whose daughter allegedly suffered abuse at Whitmore in 2004. Harris denies the allegation and says a Whitmore employee facilitated their exodus.
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