Bethesda Home - complete with a modern swimming pool, stable and dormitory beds for 100 - was operated for about 15 years by fundamentalist minister Bob Wills and his wife, Betty Sue....

In Hattiesburg, Wills' fortunes slumped, in part, because of an aggressive Youth Court judge named Dan Wise.

Wise, who describes himself as a conservative Republican, had been hearing rumors about Bethesda Home off and on for years. After one case was brought to his court about two years ago, Wise decided to tour the home.

What he saw, along with what he heard, started a complicated legal preceding that eventually led to a 1986 raid on Bethesda by state welfare workers, who took temporary custody of the 117 girls living there....

Judges wanted to see the names of the girls he kept. The court restricted the size of the paddles used to discipline the girls. Every new resident had to be told she could leave at any time....

"There is no doubt it was a prison," said Erik Lowrey, a Hattiesburg lawyer who helped several girls after they ran away from the Bethesda Home. "The doors were locked 24 hours a day. They couldn't talk for the first 90 days to anyone. They got licks for things such as chewing gum or whistling."...

Wills declined to discuss Bethesda Home, his plans or what happened to his former residents when Bethesda closed. "I just don't want to ruin it," he said last week.

Although Wills would not discuss his plans, Riley [Bob Wills’ own attorney] said the minister has moved his operation to an undisclosed location in Missouri....

Mississippi and Missouri are the only two states that do not regulate or license such homes....

"What we want to do is take them out of their old environment long enough for the Holy Spirit to work on them," Mrs. Wills said in an interview last year with a newspaper published by the Rev. Jerry Falwell....

“I'm so pleased they're gone," said the Rev. Benjamin Bell, an Episcopal priest in Hattiesburg who toured Bethesda Home and interviewed its residents last year. "We had girls who told us they were so hungry they had to eat their toothpaste."...

“Wills declined to discuss Bethesda Home, his plans or what happened to his former residents when Bethesda closed. "I just don't want to ruin it," he said last week.”

State set to remove 120 from Hattiesburg home for girls
By Lynn Watkins and Mary Dixon, Clarion-Ledger Staff Writers

The State Department of Public Welfare was poised Thursday to remove as many as 120 adolescents from the Bethesda Home for Girls, but had not found room for the teenagers by the end of the day.

Linda Raff, acting director for Catholic Charities, said Ann Pullam of the state Welfare department contacted her early Thursday morning seeking shelter for the girls housed in the home, off River Road, about seven miles east of Hattiesburg in Wade Town.

But Raff was unable to locate housing for such a large group, she said.

“Most of these children are from out of state; I believe only three of them are from Mississippi,” Raff said. “We were asked to locate shelter for the children for three days to a week, about the time it would take to find their parents and return them.”

Officials including Welfare Commissioner Thomas F. Brittain could not say why the girls were removed citing confidentiality of youth court matters under state law. But the action reportedly stemmed from Forrest County Youth Court orders involving Rev. Bob R. Wills, director and owner of the home.

Brittain, escorted by a Forrest County deputy sheriff, was at the home holding meetings with state and local officials.

As they talked, teenage girls, all wearing skirts, were crammed into a lobby of the facility.

Two girls were outside cleaning the chrome on a red pickup bearing a front plate with the name “Papa”.  The girls slowly cleaned the hubcaps, pausing briefly to pray. Wills, whom the girls called Papa videotaped the girls while they cleaned.

Brittain would not discuss the situation, explaining , “In respect for the children involved and respect for the law, we can have no comment at this time.”

Wills said he had been told by an unnamed judge not to comment.

Forrest County Youth Court Judge Michael McPhail and Harrison County Family Court Judge Michael Ward of Gulfport also would not comment. Ward, the state’s only family court judge, is listed as special Forrest County youth court judge in Forrest County Court records relating to the release of a girl from the home in August.

Hattiesburg lawyer Erik Lowery said he filed a petition in McPhail’s court in early August to obtain the release of a 17-year-old Maryland girl from the home.

McPhail found the home in violation of previous Forrest County Youth Court orders, court records indicate. Lowery would not discuss the youth court orders, but said charges in the petition included slavery and incarceration of the girl against her will.

“At that time, I asked the court to transmit the file to Forrest County Youth Court and that certain things be done,” Lowery said. “That’s what’s happening now.”

Lowery said he has brought more than 15 suits against the Bethesda home in the past seven years, questioning its disciplinary actions and legal basis for holding children.

“It sounded like jail- worse than jail,” said Learmonth.

“There is an attempt to convince the girls they have no one to rely on- to cut them off from the outside world.”

At Bethesda, the girl was allowed to read only the King James version of the Bible, said Learmonth. She was not allowed to watch television or listen to the radio, and all her mail was censored, Learmonth said.

The girl was at Bethesda for 11 weeks, after being placed there by her parents, Learmonth said. The parents, of Silver Springs, Maryland, placed the teen at Bethesda saying she was unruly and accusing her of abusing drugs, Learmonth said.

The Bethesda Home for Girls, operating under a charter granted in 1976 to Redemption Ranch, Inc. was once a home run by Texas evangelist Lester Roloff or Roloff Enterprises, Inc. Texas authorities revoked licenses for Roloff-sponsored homes for troubled teens in the 1970’s, citing over-strict disciplinary actions, overwork and deprivation of food.

In records filed with the Secretary of State’s office, Redemption Ranch, Inc. is a non-profit corporation in good standing in Mississippi. Wills is listed as president of the board of directors and Betty Sue Wills as secretary-treasurer.

The Wills operate Bethesda Home for Girls and formerly operated Redemption Ranch for Boys, about 20 miles away in Eastabuchie. Allegations of excessive  force to discipline wayward teens, usually sent to the homes by their parents, have haunted the homes since 1973, when they were operated by Hubert and Dorothy Barnwell, admitted followers of Roloff.

Redemption Ranch for Boys is now known as Green Pastures, said the Rev. Bobby Dansby. Dansby, a Petal minister for 15 years, said he leased the home about nine months ago from Wills.