Julio Sandoval Indicted on Federal Charges

According to a Press Release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern District of California, Julio Sandoval has been arrested for participating in a scheme that transported a minor from California to Missouri.

Shana Gaviola, the mother of the minor in question, was also charged. In 2020, Shana Gaviola’s son began living apart from his mother with another family. The teen was granted a domestic violence protection order against Gaviola from the Fresno County Superior Court. According to the Indictment, Gaviola mistreated her son and was harassing him and the family with whom he was living.

After Gaviola was served with this restraining order, she contacted Sandoval, dean of students at Agape Boarding School in Stockton, Missouri. Gaviola and Sandoval planned for Gaviola’s son to be transported to Missouri to the boarding school. In August 2021, Gaviola’s son was handcuffed, forced into a car, and driven, while still in handcuffs, around 27 straight hours to Stockton, Missouri.

According to the indictment, Gaviola supplied false court documents to Safe Sound Secure Transport for the purpose of coercing her minor son to travel to Missouri, and to convince members of the transport agency that they were authorized to physically secure and transport her son to Agape.

Thankfully, his father was able to free him from the boarding school where he was being held for over a week.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Fresno Police Department, and the Clovis Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael G. Tierney is prosecuting the case. Assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Western District of Missouri and the Eastern District of Missouri.

See also  Agape Boarding School Parent Handbook

Julio Sandoval and Shana Gaviola face a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the charge of Interstate Violation of a Protection Order and Aiding and Abetting.

Julio Sandoval is the former dean of students at Agape Boarding School in Stockton Missouri.

Julio Sandoval is the current owner of the non-profit Safe Sound Secure Ministries, registered in the state of Missouri.

Julio Sandoval is on the Board of Directors at ABM Ministries, also known as Lighthouse Christian Academy, ABM Family Preparatory, or Christ Community Church in Piedmont, Missouri.

Similar Posts

3 Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *