More former students and church members are speaking out against a school for the deaf in North Georgia, saying the ministry is overly strict and manipulative to students and causes long-term damage.
A Times Free Press investigation in September first documented accusations against leaders of Harvest Deaf Ministries. The ministry runs a Bible college, church and until this year a day school in Ringgold, Georgia. At the time, more than a dozen former students and staff spanning decades at Harvest described a culture of public humiliation and physical discipline in the school and church.
School officials denied any verbal or physical abuse of students and said the ministry does its best to encourage its students.
Since the initial story, six more former students and church members have come forward with similar accounts of their time at the Independent Baptist church.
Josh Wooden, who started attending the school when he was about 7 years old, said school leaders sometimes hit students in the face for misbehaving. Students were pulled out from desks. They were humiliated in front of classmates or verbally harassed behind closed doors. The nearly 20 former students interviewed by the Times Free Press told similar stories.