OVIEDO - Investigators have closed a group home for troubled boys while they check reports that residents dumped a housemate into a septic tank and forced him to sit without pants on a fire ant mound.
The 13-year-old boy suffered a broken shoulder and fire ant bites and was removed from the Teen Transformation Ministries group home Friday by his mother.
Four other boys, ranging in age from 13 to 15, were removed Sunday by Seminole County sheriff's investigators and returned to their parents.
The home, which has operated for 17 years, deals with boys with severe behavioral problems, executive director Bennie Richardson said. It can house as many as 10 boys, he said.
The boy suffered a broken shoulder about two weeks ago while wrestling with other residents. The sheriff's report indicates he complained of the injury and was not given medical attention. Richardson said he was not aware the boy was hurt.
The boy also told investigators that in late May, he was dropped in a septic tank. The other boys would not let him out for about 10 minutes and poured fire ants into the tank, he told deputies.
On another occasion, the boy was made to pull down his pants and sit on a fire ant mound, he said.
The home is accredited by the Florida Association of Christian Child Caring Agencies Inc. and has a religious exemption to licensing by the Department of Children and Families.
