WRIGHTSVILLE, Ga. — 13WMAZ reported back in March that reports of abuse at David Fahey's King's Cleft ministry go all the way back to 2014. Now, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation confirms that their investigation was inadequate.
Wrightsville Police and Johnson County Sheriff's Office received complaints that King's Cleft owners, Kathy and David Fahey restrained children to the bed, gave them one meal a day, and beat the children with a wooden rod.
"That's how we became involved, that's how GBI became involved, and that's what started this off," Sammy Young, Chief Deputy of Johnson County Sheriff's Office said.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution spoke with GBI director Vic Reynolds who said his agency "dropped the ball" on those complaints and failed to follow through.
The case came back this year with fresh complaints.
On Wednesday, a Johnson County grand jury was scheduled to hear evidence in the case, but Sheriff Greg Rowland said that was pushed back to at least until August because the Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) didn't complete their report.
Back in March, Chief Deputy Sammy Young told us one of the teenagers would leave and steal valuables from churches and homes.
"We had a juvenile that had ran away from this facility and it was more than one time that he had ran away from this facility," Young said.
The GBI director says DFCS was called to King's Cleft multiple times but none of the children were removed until March. He said DFCS found nothing concerning even after the teen ran away multiple times. The GBI says they began investing new complaints in January. Just a week later, Kathy Fahey died of an accidental overdose.