Barnabas Christian Academy housed students without a state-required boarding school license or high-level background checks done on everyone who had direct, unsupervised contact with the children, a TCPalm investigation has found.

Mike Woodbury — board chair, registered agent and basketball coach of the private nonprofit that now appears to be a school in name only — has boarded U.S. and international K-12 and post-graduate college-prep student-athletes in multiple houses he's rented in a two-county area, including his own residence.

The state is investigating whether Barnabas is still boarding children in a North River Shores apartment complex in Martin County, officials told TCPalm in response to its questions last week, in its ongoing investigation into Woodbury and his ill-run school.

The Department of Education "has no record of this school registering as a boarding facility" and has contacted "the director, Elizabeth Bell, for information regarding the housing of students," a spokeswoman told TCPalm in an email Friday night.

DOE officials Tuesday had not answered TCPalm's follow-up questions, including whether Bell had responded; and, if so, what she said.

The Department of Children and Families "may impose administrative sanctions or seek civil remedies" against schools providing residential group care without a license, according to state law. DCF did not respond to TCPalm's request for comment.

Woodbury and school Finance Director Ray Askew also did not respond to TCPalm's attempts to seek comment Monday. Bell's response to a text seeking comment Monday was a link to the dictionary's definition of "harassment."

North River Shores

Woodbury has boarded student-athletes in various locations at various times.

Dutch soccer player Jordi Maatkamp, 19, lived at North River Shores from his August arrival to his January return home, according to him; his mother, Esther; the address on his Florida ID card; and multiple email exchanges his mother attributed to Bell.

Jordi "will be staying in our brand new dorm facility," one email says. Another says, "There is a dorm family that lives there with them. They have their own unit, as well as multiple security cameras outside and around the building. ... They do not shop for themselves; food is bought weekly."

The Maatkamps said Jordi lived there with many other student-athletes, hailing from China, Nigeria, Greece, France, Canada, Russia, Turkey, Poland, Georgia, the Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates. Each of the seven two-bedroom, one-bathroom units was equipped for eight students, according to video Jordi said he shot and sent to TCPalm, showing two sets of bunk beds in each room.

TCPalm does not know whether or where those students attend school now, or whether that invalidates their immigration status, specifically granted under Barnabas' name.

Investigations continue into Barnabas Christian Academy

The Department of Homeland Security's Student and Exchange Visitor Program "is aware of the existing issues related to the school. However, we cannot comment on the status of or the existence of a school investigation," a spokeswoman told TCPalm.

Port St. Lucie Police is investigating numerous complaints Esther Maatkamp made to the agency in January, but would not comment further.

One concern about North River Shores is six registered sex offenders and predators — four of them convicted of sex crimes involving minors — live within one mile.

More:Barnabas evicted, moves into North River Shores apartment

Also within a mile is LA Fitness, where a TCPalm staff member twice in February saw boys carrying backpacks bearing The Nation Christian Academy logo leaving and walking southbound on U.S. 1 toward North River Shores after 10 p.m.

Barnabas had changed its name to "The Nation" to echo Woodbury's branded basketball training program before changing it back to distance itself from viral audio of Woodbury berating a student-athlete from Haiti, uploaded to YouTube Oct. 30.

Religious matters are another concern.

"Jordi and some other guys he was sharing the apartment with had to move to another apartment so Woodbury could place two Muslim girls from Africa in his former apartment with three Muslim guys who Jordi was living with at that moment," Esther Maatkamp told TCPalm in an email. "Later on, some football players were also placed there because they were evicted from their former house they were living in."

Other troubled housing

TCPalm reported on that house in December, revealing how Woodbury had crammed 40 post-graduate football players and a "house mom" into the six-bedroom rental on Southwest Savona Boulevard, violating Port St. Lucie city codes. After the city fined the homeowners, all but one occupant had moved out by a Nov. 29 city follow-up inspection.

More:Overcrowded housing, unsafe transportation, inadequate nutrition

Woodbury faced eviction from a Palm City home he rented in August 2017 because there were bunk beds in the bedrooms to "accommodate more children," TCPalm reported in February, based on Martin County court papers.

At least six people were living in the three-bedroom home, violating the lease's limit on occupants being four immediate family members, court papers say.

Also, Woodbury had paid only part of the $2,500 monthly rent for October 2017 and none for November 2017, according to a Dec. 12, 2017, complaint filed, but eventually dismissed, by Richard Rastrelli, who formerly owned 76 S.W. Riverway Blvd.

More: Evictions and breach of contract suits

A week after the Palm City eviction was filed, Woodbury leased a house on Bella Strano in Port St. Lucie with his wife, Patricia. They faced eviction for nonpayment of rent there too, but the suit was dropped.

Also living in that house in October was Marvens Petion, the basketball player from Haiti Woodbury was berating in the viral audio, TCPalm reported the day after it was posted.

More:Hear the audio, read the transcript

Records DOE gave TCPalm show only one high-level background check for Barnabas. It was on Woodbury — not his wife, the house moms or families, the staff or coaches, or anyone else who would have had direct and unsupervised contact with the children.

Multiple former employees have told TCPalm they never were fingerprinted.

Not accredited

Barnabas is not eligible for a boarding school license, even if it had registered with DOE, because it's not accredited for academic or residential programs by any recognized agency as required by state law, according to TCPalm's investigation.

More: Florida Association of Christian Colleges and Schools severs ties

Barnabas currently doesn't appear to be operating as a physical school since its March 2 eviction from the Marketplace at Port St. Lucie shopping center for nonpayment of rent. The school left behind laptops and office and sports equipment, court papers say.

The school intended to have classes at North River Shores, according to an email attributed to Askew and forwarded to TCPalm by a student's parent. TCPalm staff saw people moving desks from a moving van into the apartments March 1.

In response to TCPalm's questions, Martin County is investigating whether there are any code violations for operating a school, housing too many people or other issues.

"We continue to evaluate this matter to ascertain the exact use that may be occurring at this facility," a Martin County spokeswoman told TCPalm Monday.

So far, the county has issued property co-owners Christina Tucker and Joseph O'Grady a March 1 code violation for a commercial vehicle parked on the property.

Tucker declined to comment Tuesday, when a TCPalm staff member saw two commercial vehicles still parked on the property. They looked like the school shuttle buses in which the school's football coaches drove the team to away games. TCPalm wrote about them in its December investigation into the overcrowded housing.

TCPalm staff members Cheryl Smith and Miranda Moore contributed to this report.

Email tips to investigations@tcpalm.com or call 772-221-4235.