Couple Charged With Trafficking Little Boys
Gary Wiggins, 49, and his wife Meghann Wiggins, 34, ran a “gay conversion” camp in Texas. The charges include the trafficking of four underage boys through force, coercion, and fraud. In addition to these charges, the couple has also been charged with making these underage boys engage in forced services or labor. The Christian couple was running the Joshua Home in Burnet County. Eight boys who were all between the ages of 10 and 17 were removed from the home after the couple was accused of abuse in July 2018. Following these allegations, several agencies began investigating further into allegations of human trafficking, licensing violations, fraud, labor violations, neglect, and abuse.
The couple often made use of belts to beat the “demon” out of the boys. The lawyer representing the Wiggins’, Eddie Shell, has said that the parents of these boys had given the Wiggins’ permission to discipline their children. Shell went on to say that punishment involved domestic work around the house. Shell has said he believes there wasn’t any illegal activity going on despite the allegations. This isn’t the first gay conversion therapy institution that Gary and Meghann Wiggins have run. Similar conversion therapy camps were run by the couple in Missouri and Alabama.
Authorities raided the Blessed Hope Boys Academy in Alabama in 2016 only when a couple of the boys had run away. The boys met with authorities and told them that they were punished with solitary confinement, withholding of food, and forced exercise. The home was shut down and then moved to Pineville, Missouri, before moving to Texas. If evidence is found which points to these accusations being true, it means that the couple has been able to get away with this injustice in many locations for many years. The Wiggins are in Burnet County Jail with a bond of $100,000.
Comments
Post a Comment