West Plains, MO. – A criminal setting has been made after six former staff of the Ozark Horizon State School in West Plains went before a Howell County judge to answer for charges of abuse against an autistic child from earlier this year.
The six women currently being charged with Felony Child Abuse and Endangering the Welfare of a Child are Barbara Baker of West Plains, Barbara Stark of Winona, Cheryl Silva, Karen Gore of Mountain View, Teresia Huddleston of Birch Tree, and Vernetta Burgess of West Plains. None of these women have been arrested for their charges.
The six defendants went before Howell County Judge Robert David Ray on the morning of September 12. The case has been passed to October 21, 2022 for a criminal setting.
Additionally, a civil case has been filed against the six accused women as well as Sheryl Youngblood of West Plains, the Ozark Horizon State School, Missouri State Board of Education, Missouri Schools for the Severely Disabled, and Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).
