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State Cites Boarding School in Abuse Case

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Times Staff Writer

Three weeks after a Montclair boarding school was shut down by police amid allegations of abusive punishment, its owners were cited Friday by the state for operating without a license.

Officials from the state’s Community Care Licensing Division said that Otis and Doris McIntyre ran the Ministerial Christian Academy as a group home without obtaining proper approval. The citation does not carry a penalty but the McIntyres could be fined $200 a day if they reopen the facility without approval.

If the academy seeks a license, it would have to undergo an extensive examination of its programs and finances, background checks, a physical inspection of the facility and periodic monitoring, said Robert Pate, regional manager of the state’s Community Care Licensing Division.

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Montclair police removed 26 young people from the academy last month after former students and employees alleged that children were beaten, handcuffed to beds and locked into bathrooms.

Police confiscated handcuffs, shackles, computers and financial records during the raid at the Montclair apartment complex that the academy used as a residence and at its school and church in Pomona.

The McIntyres have not been arrested. Police and state officials are investigating allegations of child abuse, child endangerment and fraud. The couple could not be reached for comment.

Ricky Leslie, 39, of Montclair, a caretaker at the residence, was arrested during the raid on suspicion of rape with a foreign object and sexual battery of a former student.

Leslie was later released after prosecutors declined to press charges. Leslie could not be reached for comment.

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