There is a lot of debate around the topic of homeschooling: whether it is safe and effective for children, if parents are fit to teach, and how many homeschooled children actually receive the education they should. One often-overlooked area of homeschooling, however, is how it can be systematically used to perpetuate child abuse in the home. The Homeschooling’s Invisible Children 2024 report stated there are nearly 500 US cases of severe child abuse and neglect on public record.
“While many families homeschool responsibly, abuse and neglect do occur in homeschooling environments,” shared Jonah Stewart, the report’s lead author and research and operations director at the Coalition for Responsible Home Education. “The data we have collected illuminate how abusive caregivers are able to use homeschooling to conceal and escalate their abuse.”
Homeschool laws nationwide reportedly also do not have many measures in place to ensure children’s safety. For instance, all 50 states allow families who were subjects of social service investigations to withdraw their kids from school to homeschool them. In addition, 47 states do not block caregivers who were convicted of committing crimes against children from homeschooling, and only one state enforces a requirement that all homeschooled children be assessed consistently for academic progress. Thus, these kids can fly completely under the radar.
It sickens me to know this happens on the regular.
One Connecticut couple leaned on those loopholes and not only allegedly abused, murdered, and hid the body of the mother’s 12-year-old daughter but also lied to the state to keep SNAP benefits for her, according to Law & Crime. The Connecticut Department of Social Services alleged Karla Garcia and her boyfriend, Jonatan Nanita, continued to collect the benefits throughout 2025 even though they allegedly killed the girl in September of 2024.
Garcia reportedly submitted SNAP renewal forms for herself and five children, including her slain daughter, Jacqueline “Mimi” Torres-Garcia. She did not tell the agency that her daughter “was no longer part of her household” and did not report that Nanita was living with her. Nanita, in turn, claimed he was homeless and received SNAP benefits between October 2024 and October 2025.
According to US Weekly, Jacqueline wasn’t found until October 8, 2025, when investigators went into the couple’s home and discovered her remains stuffed inside a tote. Medical examiners concluded she was severely malnourished and had likely been dead a year before being found. Police said she was covered in a “white powdery substance” to mask the smell of decomposition. Both the couple and Jacqueline’s aunt Jackelyn Garcia have been arrested in her murder.
Karla Garcia and Nanita blame each other for the girl’s death, with the mother claiming she last saw her daughter eight months ago when they were living in Farmington, and she insisted the last person she saw her daughter with was her boyfriend.
She later admitted the two had fought after the 12-year-old learned her mother was pregnant again and became upset, according to Law & Crime.
“She stated that during the argument Jacqueline pushed her down the stairs inside her house causing both of them to fall down the stairs,” police reported. “Garcia stated that Jonatan became upset with Jacqueline, kicked her in the head, and dragged her off. Garcia stated that she never saw her daughter again after that. Garcia denied any knowledge of the tote containing her daughter.”
In addition to murder, Nanita and Karla Garcia were charged with conspiracy to commit larceny by defrauding a public community and giving false statements regarding the SNAP benefits.
If you suspect child abuse, you can call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4453 (1-800-4-A-Child) or go to Childhelp.org. The hotline is available 24/7.
