Abilene man accused of running unlicensed daycare he says is religious society arrested, sued

ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – A man accused of running an unlicensed daycare that he believes is a religious society that is exempt from government oversight has been arrested while also fighting a lawsuit from state officials.

Steve Van Horne was booked into the Taylor County Jail Thursday on warrant for Operating a Child Care Facility without a License. 

This charge is connected to his child care facility, Society of Light on the 500 block of E. Ambler Avenue.

Van Horne is also being sued by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission for operating this facility illegally.

In a lawsuit filed in Travis County in June, legal counsel for the Health and Human Services Commission claims they are suing Steve Van Horne because he is operating a daycare without a license while providing care to dozens of children, driving those children around without a drivers license, and refusing to let state inspectors into his facility. 

The lawsuit states religious organizations can be exempt from childcare regulations, but only, “if children are cared for. . .for short periods of time while parents are attending religious services or on the premises.”

It also claims that all childcare establishments located in a facility or family home are subject to inspection, and these facilities are mandated to cooperate. 

Van Horne allegedly notified the Health and Human Services Commission in August 2024, “that he was going to voluntarily relinquish his license and would no longer comply with the law” because he considered the Society of Light to be a “separate foreign state.”

The commission tried to conduct an inspection later that month, but Van Horne refused to let the inspector inside and gave them a form that claimed his facility was exempt because it was not under the jurisdiction of any government entity. 

During other subsequent inspection attempts that were also denied, Van Horne admitted to picking up the children up from another location and driving them to the facility and claimed he was proving the children with “children and development skills”, not childcare, according to the lawsuit.

Van Horne also allegedly claimed he only cared for around 5 children at a time, but the documents state the Health and Human Services Commission conducted surveillance and observed parents picking up 48 unrelated children from the facility in a single day. 

When the state notified Van Horne in December that he must stop operating his facility immediately or reobtain a license, he claimed religious exemption again, citing what the lawsuit describes as, “dissenting opinions, Deuteronomy, and the Declaration of Independence.”

In the letter, Van Horne claims that the Society of Light is a “peaceful unincorporated, unsponsored religious society,” and thus is exempt from state oversight. 

State investigators also learned that Van Horne was allegedly driving the children without a valid license and while displaying a fake license plate. 

Through the lawsuit, the Health and Human Services Commission is petitioning the court to order Van Horne and anyone associated with his household or business to stop the following practices: 1. operating a childcare facility in Texas without a license 2. denying inspectors access to their facility 3. refusing to provide enrollment information to the state 4. Soliciting for childcare in his unlicensed facility.

The commission is also seeking $14,300 in civil penalties for the repeated violations.

Van Horne bonded out of the Taylor County Jail after posting a $2,000 bond. 

He was previously arrested in April and charged with Displaying Fictitious License Plate and Driving While License Invalid. 

A decision has not been reached on the lawsuit, and no further information is available at this time.