Rainbow House in Jonesboro, Georgia, purportedly "provides services to shelter, champion, and heal abused, neglected, exploited, and abandoned children." It vowed to "create an environment to protect all children from sexual abuse through education, raising awareness and prevention."
It appears its staff were functioning at cross-purposes.
Three people who worked at the youth shelter, including its executive director, have been arrested in connection with the rape of a child and subsequent alleged efforts to conceal the crime.
Clayton County Police arrested 25-year-old Caleb Randolph in the early morning hours of March 16 and charged him with child molestation, statutory rape, sexual assault of a person over whom he had supervisory authority, and sexual assault by an employee/agent/volunteer.
Two days later, they arrested his mother, 55-year-old Rainbow House executive director Mia Chanel Kimber, and his coworker, Monica Shanora Jones, the program director of the facility's Child Advocacy Center. Both women were charged as parties to Randolph's crimes as well as for failure to report the alleged crime.
The CCPD indicated in a statement Tuesday that its human trafficking unit commander launched an investigation after receiving an anonymous tip in reference to sexual misconduct at Rainbow House. Investigators determined that Randolph had sexually abused at least one child who had been placed at the facility.
Police told WSB-TV, "Based on the investigation, we’re not going to speculate on how many victims we might have."
According to police, Kimber "had direct knowledge of the misconduct and failed to report the misconduct to law enforcement officials."
Kimber previously told WABE she had to wear "many hats" around the shelter.
"Our children here have come from very traumatic backgrounds. So giving them just anything is not acceptable," said Kimber. "It’s our goal to make it the best place to be for children."
Kimber was not alone in allegedly turning a blind eye to her son's alleged crimes against children, said police. The CCPD said Jones similarly failed to take corrective actions.
Kimber and Jones together allegedly engaged in a "cover-up scheme," whereby the victim was ejected from the facility "based on false allegations."
Unlike his alleged child victim — who was permanently removed — Randolph was fired, then rehired a week and a half later. According to police, despite allegedly raping and molesting a child, Randolph continued working at the facility until his arrest.
All three suspects are being held at Clayton County Jail. Police indicated that the investigation is ongoing and there may be additional arrests.
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