Missouri boarding school staffer faces abuse charge for boxing with student, drawing blood

A staffer at a Missouri boarding school under investigation for abuse has been charged after admitting he punched a student in the face multiple times while boxing him as punishment, court records show.

Caleb Michael Sandoval, 22, is charged with abuse of a child, a Class D felony that carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison. Arrested on Sunday, he is scheduled to appear in Wayne County Circuit Court in southeast Missouri on Thursday.

He’s the third person from ABM Ministries, also known as Lighthouse Christian Academy, to be charged since Friday. Five boys have run away from the school near Piedmont since mid-January, prompting the Wayne County Sheriff to launch an investigation focused on abuse and neglect allegations.

Sandoval is the son of Julio Sandoval, the school’s director who arrived in Piedmont in early 2022 after more than a decade at Agape Boarding School in southwest Missouri. He left that school shortly after five staffers were charged with physically abusing boys. Agape closed early last year.

Authorities interviewed Caleb Sandoval, who described himself as an ABM teacher, while they were on campus Friday evening to serve arrest warrants on owners Larry and Carmen Musgrave. The husband and wife, ages 57 and 64, are charged with first-degree kidnapping involving a student who was at the school in 2007.

Investigators told Sandoval that students had accused him of “conducting a sparring session” with a classmate as punishment for something the student had done. After initially denying this occurred, Sandoval said he was teaching the student, who was about 15, how to box for an upcoming Mixed Martial Arts camp, according to a court affidavit describing the abuse charge.

Sandoval eventually admitted that he did box the teen, who wasn’t wearing headgear or a mouthpiece, and that at one point the student’s nose was bloodied and he fell to the ground, the affidavit said.

“Caleb was asked what stopped the sparring match,” records showed. “Caleb said once he saw that (the student’s) nose was bleeding, he stopped.”

The “sparring” took place, Sandoval told investigators, after the student made an “inappropriate sexual comment about him and his wife.” Sandoval had told students that his back was hurting and the student asked him if it was “due to having tried weird sexual positions with his wife.”

The “sparring” did not occur the day of that comment. About a week later, once Sandoval’s back healed, he told investigators he took the student into the weight training room and had him put on boxing gloves.

“He said he told (the student) he could be ‘Red Chipped’ or spar with him using boxing gloves,” the affidavit said.

The document described a “Red Chip” as a punitive term used by the school that indicates the student’s privileges have been taken away. It also results in different types of less-desirable food provided to the students to eat, records said.

The student chose boxing, according to Sandoval, “because he did not want his punishment to be dragged out.” Sandoval told authorities he also put on boxing gloves, the affidavit said.

“And then he punched (the student) in the face probably three times and twice in the body,” the document said. “Caleb said the student had fell after he punched him in the face. Caleb said he had the student stand up and he hit him two more times in the body.”

When asked what happened next, “Caleb said he cleaned the student up and provided him with over-the-counter pain medication,” the affidavit said.

An investigator asked Sandoval why he waited until his back was healed before “sparring” with the student.

“Caleb indicated he did this because he did not want to have an injury while he was trying to box with the student,” the affidavit said.

Sandoval admitted to investigators that “he had handled this situation inappropriately,” the affidavit said. “Caleb was asked if he had spoken to his father, Julio Sandoval, about this incident.

“Caleb said he had told his father that (the student) had made some inappropriate sexual comments to him, and he had given (the student) a choice of sparring or being placed on red chip status.”

When asked if he was reprimanded for the situation, Sandoval “said he was not reprimanded or instructed not to do this in the future.”

“Caleb was asked if he thought it was appropriate for a 22-year-old male to punch a 15-year-old in the face,” the affidavit said. “Caleb said it was inappropriate.”