NEWARK - Students at Heartland Community Center of rural Newark, where several employees have been charged with child abuse, were evacuated Tuesday afternoon and taken by buses to a juvenile justice center in Kirksville.
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Mike Waddle, a juvenile officer at the JJC in Kirksville, was among the officers involved in the evacuation. He also is among several law enforcement officers being sued by Heartland for their involvement in the arrest of several Heartland employees on charges of child abuse.

Heartland was founded by Charles Sharpe in 1995 to treat troubled youth and adults with a combination of work therapy and Christian-based instruction. The school is on a 200-acre farm complex.

A Heartland staff member reported at about 2:55 p.m. Tuesday more than a dozen vehicles surrounded Heartland Christian Academy, and police and juvenile officers guarded the doors and refused to allow any students to leave.
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At about 2:51 p.m. faxes began coming to the school office, with court orders for students, placing them in protective custody with the state of Missouri. Some had names of students no longer there, and many students who were taken were not listed on a court order.
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