CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — Susan Gayle Clark, 69, of Pennsboro, the founder and director of the now defunct Miracle Meadows School in Harrison County, plead guilty to three misdemeanors Friday afternoon in Harrison County Circuit Court.
Clark plead guilty to a misdemeanor child neglect charge creating risk of injury charge, a misdemeanor failure to report charge, and a misdemeanor obstruction of an officer charge.
The state’s case was based on Clark’s failure to report numerous instances of child abuse at the Seventh-day Adventist affiliated Christian boarding school in Salem.
Allegations included the improper use of handcuffs and isolation rooms, along with the failure to report sexual abuse between students. Police arrested Clark in August 2014 following allegations of child neglect and possible abuse by a teacher at the school.
The school was shut down on August 14, 2014, after the arrest of Timothy Aaron Arrington, a progress coach at the school. Arrington faces three felony counts of child abuse creating risk of serious injury and one count of child abuse resulting in injury.
Representatives from the state removed around 19 students between the ages of 10 and 17, but eight of those children would later be found at Clark’s home in Ritchie County before she was arrested.
As part of the plea bargain, all other charges have been dismissed. This includes two felony charges. Clark could face a maximum of 19 months in prison for the three guilty pleas.
Her sentencing is set for Friday, April 1 at 1:30 pm.