June 11, 2005
 

Salk Lake Tribune
Kirsten Stewart
June 11, 2005

The owner of a controversial Utah boarding school has been charged with five misdemeanor counts of child abuse and two counts of hazing.
    Charging documents filed last week by the Juab County Attorney's office allege Cheryl Sudweeks of Whitmore Academy in Nephi humiliated and physically harmed four children between April 2003 and November 2004. The children were enrolled at a now-defunct residential treatment center formerly associated with the boarding school.
    Sudweeks, 50, has been summoned to appear before Nephi's 4th District Court on June 23.
    Nephi police could not be reached for details late Friday. But Juab County Attorney Jared Eldridge says the charges were filed as part of an investigation of alleged abuse at Whitmore that began in November.
   It led to the closing of the residential treatment facility.
   Eldridge said none of the evidence amassed implicates Sudweeks' husband, Mark, who co-owns Whitmore. Mark Sudweeks declined to comment on the investigation or the charges Friday.
   Eldridge said the criminal probe is ongoing.
   "It has been a difficult investigation because we have witnesses who are scattered across the country. Some have been difficult to pin down," said Eldridge.
    Whitmore still operates a boarding school catering to about 32 students, ages 12 to 17.
    The school has recently balked at coming under state regulation, arguing it is not a therapeutic facility, a category covered under a new law passed to crack down on Utah's thriving teen-help industry.
    Utah licensing director Ken Stettler said until the school is covered by state regulations there is nothing he can do to intervene.
    Officials at the Division of Child and Family Services say they have no reason to believe children at Whitmore are at risk, nor are they currently investigating any complaints of neglect or abuse.
    "But if any parent has reason to believe there might be abuse going on we definitely want them to contact us," said DCFS spokeswoman Elizabeth Sollis.

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