Turning Point USA distances from Granbury private school with sex offender ties
Andrew Kolvet, spokesman for Turning Point USA, said the conservative organization was never affiliated with a Granbury private school that has come under scrutiny for its ties to a convicted sex offender.
At the same time, a Granbury church that was considering housing the school has pulled out of those discussions, according to the church’s pastor.
Turning Point Academy of Granbury was set to open in the fall as a K-12 homeschool co-op. However, that opening is now in jeopardy after reports revealing the school’s connection to Trinity Bible Institute, which, according to state records, is managed by John Conditt.
Conditt, 75, pleaded guilty in 2004 to sexually abusing a 6-year-old girl while admitting to molesting other girls decades earlier.
The address Conditt is listed under on the Texas Department of Public Safety’s sex offender website is the same address given in state filings for Trinity Bible Institute. The institute, a registered nonprofit, was going to help fund the Turning Point Academy of Granbury.
Kolvet said, despite the name, Turning Point Academy of Granbury had never filed paperwork to join the Turning Point Education network of private schools. The national organization requested the Granbury academy remove all references to Turning Point USA and the movement’s founder, Charlie Kirk, from its website following reports about Conditt and the academy’s head, Shawna Keomisy.
In 2014, Keomisy was convicted of wire fraud and identity theft and sentenced to federal prison after she was caught misrepresenting herself as a licensed medical professional while working at a Maryland pediatric office. According to the indictment, Keomisy was accused of falsifying a college diploma and using another person’s medical license number to obtain employment as a physician’s assistant.
In a phone conversation with the Star-Telegram, Keomisy’s husband, Souksavath Noi Keomisy, took issue with how his wife was characterized in news reports.
Souksavath Keomisy, who served time in federal prison for possession with intent to distribute ecstasy, said he and his wife had been fully rehabilitated and wanted nothing more than to move forward with their lives.
He described Shawna Keomisy as a devout Christian who started the Turning Point Academy of Granbury with good intentions. Souksavath Keomisy also argued that Conditt, who he described as a good man, was not directly involved in the school beyond helping secure funding.
Pastor Alan Latta of the Generations Church of Granbury said he had talked with Shawna Keomisy about providing church space for the Turning Point Academy to use, but no lease was ever signed. Latta said the church has since backed out of those discussions.
Latta said he had never met or heard of Conditt, but he defended Shawna Keomisy in a statement released to the Star-Telegram.
“We were unaware of these things but our understanding now is that she was convicted of the crime, she did the time, she paid the fine, and over fifty thousand dollars in restitution,” Latta wrote. “It ruined her 14 year marriage and since it’s been 11 years she was courageous enough to try something new. She has suffered for that part of her life and yet as a result of this setback we have asked that she find elsewhere to start the school.”