Child Endangerment During School Hours: "Sexually Violent Predator" at LifeWise Program Location, Sexting with Children, and a Culture of Zero Accountability
How LifeWise Academy’s Rapid Expansion, Weak Oversight, and Refusal to Cooperate with Safety Protocols Create Ongoing Risks for Children in Public School Religious Programs
LifeWise Academy, a rapidly growing national "release-time" religious instruction program, is under increasing scrutiny for its internal practices, hiring policies, and supervision standards regarding child safety. Documented incidents and operational failures have exposed serious oversight and procedural gaps, raising concerns about ongoing potential risks of child endangerment, neglect, and sexual abuse of children within LifeWise’s care.
Children's Bible Study Approved at Chemical Factory Employing “Sexually Violent Predator"
Initially approved in 2022, LifeWise expanded its program in late 2024 to the Dekalb County Eastern Community School District in Butler, Indiana, selecting the meeting location of a conference room at Color Master—a paint chemical factory—that employed a registered sex offender classified as a “sexually violent predator.”
Emails to parents confirm that school officials were aware the Lifewise program would be held at the Color Master factory.
The Dekalb County Sheriff’s Office also confirmed that LifeWise was approved to operate at the factory location.
Following public outcry, the LifeWise program in Butler was relocated to a local church.
However, LifeWise has repeatedly failed to address inquiries regarding safety protocols, internal oversight, how Color Master was an approved program location despite employing a “sexually violent predator,” and why this information was not disclosed beforehand to students’ parents.
The Color Master child endangerment incident has also been reported on by the Secular Education Association (formerly Parents Against LifeWise).
Lax Background Checks: LifeWise Director Hired After Sexting Multiple Children
Beyond criminal background checks, public school employees and child care providers are mandated by state oversight regulations to also be screened within child abuse databases.
“LifeWise volunteers, staff, leadership, and board members undergo comprehensive background screenings upon hire and every three years thereafter. These screenings are conducted by ProScreening…”
Notably, LifeWise’s background check vendor ProSceening does not include screening child abuse databases as an offered service.
Previously fired from Loudonville High School in 2018 for “report of her serious misconduct and abuse of a minor student," which included sending explicit sexual messages and images to minors—sexting—in July 2024 Renee Beck was hired as the LifeWise program director at Firelands, Ohio.
According to CEO Joel Penton, LifeWise depends largely on an honor system—trusting employees and volunteers to voluntarily disclose past misconduct—as its primary method for identifying potential safety and abuse risks to children in its care which fall outside of criminal background checks.
"We have since learned that while no charges had been filed and she didn’t have a criminal record, she failed to disclose important information to LifeWise staff about her employment history…"
Following the alleged sexual misconduct brought to light by parties external to LifeWise, Beck was terminated.
Refusal to Release Volunteers’ Background Checks to School Districts
Following multiple requests, A LifeWise program in New Carlisle, Indiana was halted in July 2025 after background check records required by New Prairie United School Corporation’s RTRI policy were not released by LifeWise.
Planned for the 2025-2026 school year, the program is on hold due to NPUSC requiring Indiana state police checks or disclosure of LifeWise’s background check results. LifeWise refused to release the records, claiming no legal obligation. After six weeks of requests, NPUSC halted the program until LifeWise meets its safety requirements:
“After nearly six weeks of waiting, LifeWise informed NPUSC they would not share background check results of their volunteers with NPUSC, would not require their volunteers to participate in our volunteer background check process, and are under no legal obligation to cooperate with the request.”
LifeWise Committee Chair Convicted of Negligent Child Endangerment
Prior to volunteering with LifeWise, Sandusky, Ohio LifeWise committee chair Jillian Jaumzemis, a home daycare provider, received a misdemeanor of negligent child endangerment when a toddler in her care was found wandering in the street.
As like other risks of abuse and endangerment highlighted here, Jaumzemis’ negligent child endangerment misdemeanor was made public by parties external to LifeWise.
Local LifeWise publicly posts video of unclothed toddler
November 2025, Ohio’s Buckeye Valley LifeWise program posted a home video including a toddler who appears to be unclothed.
A public school would never be permitted to post an unclothed or partially clothed child without scrutiny — LifeWise Buckeye Valley posting a video of an unclothed child prompts questions about child safety protocols, program governance, and oversight within local LifeWise programs.
Furthermore, the question is raised whether LifeWise’s rapid national expansion has far outpaced LifeWise corporate’s ability — or willingness—to meaningfully provide critical oversight and guidance to its thousands of local RTRI programs nationwide.
A Culture of Zero Accountability
While LifeWise Academy continues to expand rapidly into public school districts across the country, its internal controls have not scaled with its growth to meet basic standards of child safety.
The incidents cited here are not isolated — they reflect gaps baked into the organization’s structure, including flawed hiring practices, little-to-no oversight, and a persistent resistance to accountability for children’s safety.
Despite repeatedly relying on outside parties to identify child abuse risks within its own ranks—a pattern that appears to be its default approach — LifeWise has shown no clear plan to confront or correct its ongoing failures to protect the very children it claims to serve.
Until LifeWise adopts transparent, rigorous safety policies—including universal child abuse database screening, cooperation with school district RTRI policies, crystal clear reporting procedures, and third party safety oversight along with procedural audits—documented incidents show a continued risk of harm to children in LifeWise’s care.