Located just outside Stockton, Agape is the second unlicensed Christian boarding school in the state to be investigated for allegations of abuse. Editors Note: This story, which appears in the January 2023 issue of Rolling Stone, has been updated to include additional details on court cases that had not been decided until after the print deadline. In 1996, Agap moved to a 200-acre ranch in Cedar County, Missouri. It was time to go. So they constructed wooden bunks on the second floor of their modest home, set up cubicles in the garage, and obtained work booklets produced by Accelerated Christian Education. The foothills of the Ozarks sat in the distance. Posted at 6:19 PM, Sep 01, 2022. and last updated 4:46 PM, Sep 01, 2022. Seven former students said staff members had assaulted them. He cut it 1x and never would respond to my calls. They said that they were bringing me to my parents, he says. They have law-enforcement ties, too. Former students of Agape from Alabama, Texas, and Michigan have filed two civil lawsuits against the Boarding School for multiple charges that include physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. But Breshears got a rude welcome. Hed hoped to get kicked out, which didnt happen. The three were convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison. For a time, Breshears stayed out of trouble. Staff members would jump on you, said Schrag. As a 501(c)3 charitable organization dedicated to providing high quality foster care in South Texas by supporting foster and adoptive families, we have been working diligently in the areas of prevention, foster care, adoption, and aging-out to provide support and mentorship for vulnerable children in our community. Lucas Francis, 19, said he regularly witnessed staff members slam boys into walls and onto the ground when he attended Agap from 2017 to 2020. (Householder has denied that any abuse occurred at the ranch.). I am proof that money doesnt protect against abuse, Hilton told state legislators, speaking in support of a bill that would better protect children in troubled-youth treatment programs. Court records show that David Earl Smock is wanted for assaulting children under 15 at the Agape Boarding School, a Christian private school in Greene County. The state social services department determined in a preliminary finding in 2018 that Householder physically abused a minor, according to court documents but that was not publicized and the school continued to enroll students for more than two years before it voluntarily closed. Bryan, by then in his twenties, was working in a state-funded group home. One night, he got into an argument with his mom and stepdad that turned physical, and they accused him of being possessed. After the state removed students from the school in August, Circle of Hope voluntarily shut down. Montana carved out a religious exemption when it set up a new system for licensing youth facilities and reform schools in 2007. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The five employees of the Agape Boarding School near Stockton were charged with a total of 13 third-degree felony assault counts, Cedar County Prosecuting Attorney Ty Gaither said. Chapel was daily. And its not just Missouri. (KY3) - Missouri's attorney general is investigating a second Cedar County boarding school. Earlier this year, Smock, the schools longtime physician, was charged with 12 felony sexual-molestation crimes against those in his care. 2 min read. The desire of 51:10 Youth Ranch is to provide a safe place for children, horses and families. More than 60% of the children in our county are being placed outside of our county due to the lack of foster homes in our community. They claim Clemensen was on a power trip and seemed to enjoy brutalizing the kids in his charge. In November, Schrag joined close to two dozen men and women protesting outside Agap, holding signs that read Torture Is Not Treatment and Lies Wont Protect You Anymore.. I'm not trying to reach for the moon on this stuff, said Richard Fiene, a research psychologist who spent decades directing public welfare and child services agencies in Pennsylvania, but Id like to see kids in safe environments where they cant be restrained and someone can't put a knee in their back and hold them to the floor where they can't breathe. At the time of reporting, he is not yet in police custody, and an arrest warrant has been issued in his name. Whatever the case, Clemensen has many allies where it perhaps counts the most: in the community. Jacob smelled foul and the . The couple met when Jim pulled Kathy over for drag racing a beat-up Ford Pinto around the East Bay. They denied it. (Clemensen says this was a nickname the boys had for an elbow injury, and denies the abuse.) Another describes a staffer holding a pocket knife to his throat. Nathan Papes/Springfield News-Leader/Imagn. Those details were outlined in motions filed in 19 civil lawsuits requesting that the Cedar County judge overseeing those cases allow . People who have care, custody, and control of those children have that right, as well. (Agap denies this.) Interested in learning more about the 2023 Legacy Gala? He lost his red shirt and became familiar with the one place no student wanted to end up: Brown Town. That status, characterized by the brown shirt a student was forced to wear, according to lawsuits and depositions, came with extreme workouts, the loss of talking privileges, and a restricted meal plan that often consisted of a slice of bread and peanut butter, or a tortilla with a scoop of cold refried beans. The evening began with a social hour and silent auction and continued with dinner and inspirational testimonies as we opened the next chapter of Agape Ranch. That's no secret, as news stories in The Christian. (Clemensen denies this happened, but says he considers Bindley one of Agaps top success stories.). Agape also faces criminal charges . Breshears spotted a baseball bat poking out of an equipment bag. 90% of young adults aging-out of the foster care system will become homeless, incarcerated, in prostitution, sex trafficked, or dead within three years. (As of publication, one defendants case was dismissed, three pleaded guilty to misdemeanors, and one is awaiting a hearing this month.) (NBC News presented a copy of Clidences nondisparagement agreement to Agap to confirm or dispute its authenticity, but the school did not respond.). Once in the car, Bindley says, they took him to their home. Home to a population of 1,600, it has a tiny main square, the worlds largest processor of eastern black walnuts, and 21 churches. The plaintiffs in the newest cases, filed June 15 in Vernon County . He says he was once ordered to perform 4,500 pushups for cussing and told if I didnt get it done, I couldnt eat my next meal. (Though Breshears says he couldnt do it, Agap denies ever denying a student a meal.) By the time Askins contacted her, she had been in therapy for years, and was deeply enmeshed in an online community of former Agap and Circle of Hope survivors. She posted Askins video to TikTok, followed by a second post alleging her parents regularly beat her and had forced a student to eat until they threw up, then eat their own vomit. The group claims a wide range of abuse, from starvation to physical and emotional abuse. Still, administrators at many of these schools insist they are a force for good. Agape Connection. Some former students have made the allegations against Agape Boarding School and Legacy Boys Academy in Stockton, Masters Ranch in far southern Missouri, and Circle of Hope Girls Ranch near . Nathan Papes/Springfield News-Leader/Imagn. It could last for days on end. They led to a front-page story in the Cedar County Republican. On Jan. 11, 2023, Agap Boarding School announced it will close its doors, a decision former director Bryan Clemensen says is due to a lack of financial resources. We are the best rehab . Operators declined to comment about the investigation. Bryan Clemensen was not among those charged. The BBC was given access to their UK boot camp, where they learn how to teach Mormon beliefs and use social media to reach potential converts. The AG was on board. As soon as Keri Ingle, a Democratic state representative from the Kansas City, Missouri, area and former child welfare investigator, read about the abuse allegations at Circle of Hope Girls Ranch last year, she called for hearings. The state has been fighting to close Agap ever since. Francis lied, he said, because Robert Graves a Cedar County sheriffs deputy who is on the board of Agaps church and has worked at the school was present for the interview. It also taught creationism and that women should be subservient to their husbands, while weaving biblical references into the materials. Schrags adoptive parents placed him in Agap which takes its name from the ancient Greek word Christians use to describe the love of God for humankind hoping the program would help him deal with anger issues and disobedience. There was a small room down a dark staircase with blue padded floors and holes punched in the wall. (Image: KY3 / Video screengrab) Nineteen former students of an embattled fundamentalist boarding school in Missouri have made new claims of brutal physical and sexual abuse in court filings this month. Agape's trouble began in 2020 when former students came forward with abuse allegations. Child welfare officials in Washington cited Agap for overcrowding and poor sanitation, according to a 1995 newspaper article. (Agap denies any knowledge of these allegations. Trending The glass flew everywhere, he says. First published on January 11, 2023 / 6:04 PM. I had a staff member tell me were wasting our time giving you a diploma because youre not even worth the paper its going to cost to print it on, said Schrag. Thanks to the generous support of The Frazier Family Foundation, Gala sponsors, Gala attendees, and the community, $369,402 was raised in support of the next two homes at The Ranch during the 2021 Legacy Gala: A Matter of Time! Address . In Missouri, parents are allowed to discipline their children, he said. The report found those leaders had chronically mistreated survivors of abuse and spent decades trying to deny responsibility for abuse at individual . MANY OF THE ALLEGATIONS AGAINST Agap staffers are easily found on podcasts and interviews on YouTube. Jan 5, 2023 9:58 am. Five more alleged victims have filed civil lawsuits against Agape Boarding School of Stockton, Missouri, and the Baptist church that supervises the Christian boarding school, bringing the total number of cases alleging negligence and abuse to 19. Jennifer says she knows it will take a while to reconnect, and she worries about the psychic scars left by the school shes already noticed that her son hates horses now. For more on this story, watch NBC's "Dateline" episode, "Broken Circle". Though the area is largely Baptist, Cedar County has a tradition of religious tolerance. It appeared to be a vast improvement over his previous digs. They were very detailed and professional. On the wooded roads near Agap, Amish men drive horse-drawn buggies; hundreds of members of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints live on a nearby compound called the Ranch., I got picked up by the Cedar County Sheriffs Department, and I tried to tell the guy, Theyre beating us,, says one former student. / AP. He has been a trainer for 10 years specializing in substance abuse. Pour Salt Down Your Drain At Night, Here's Why, Tyler Kingkade and Liz Brown and Keith Morrison and Rachel White and Andrew Williams and Javier Rodriguez. At least two other states Montana and Arkansas carve out licensing exemptions for religious facilities. Interested in learning more about the 2023 Legacy Gala? A 2007 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office found thousands of abuse allegations between 1990 and 2007 in 2005 alone, 33 states reported 1,619 staff members involved in incidents of abuse. THORNTON, Colo. Agape Bible Church canceled all church services last weekend after a FOX31 Problem Solvers investigation into whether its head pastor tried to cover up an alleged sexual abuse . Pinehaven did not respond to a request for comment. Nonetheless, the outcome of the civil suits is far from certain. One former Agape student who sued, Robert Bucklin, said the closure means justice "has finally prevailed. The Clemensens sent 100 boys home, and moved the rest to base housing. The committee is considering bills introduced by Ingle and a Republican colleague last month to give the Missouri Department of Social Services oversight of religious boarding schools. It will stop providing service effective Jan. 20, according to a statement from the school for boys. I was sheltered, Breshears says. Agape Ranch plans out programs, fund raisers, and community outreach monthly. Ellie Hill Smith, a state lawmaker from Missoula, was concerned that this meant the state had no way of ensuring children were safe in these programs. But in some states that have tried to close this oversight gap in recent years, like Montana, lawmakers have met with resistance. Stockton is located 130 miles south of Kansas City, a lazy drive down sunbaked roads lined with oak forests and rolling fields. In 1995, county officials shut them down after health inspectors found the school which by then had 140 students and 25 staffers had rotting food, holes in the walls large enough to allow rodents to enter, and exposed wiring. The Missouri House Committee on Children and Families issued a report in November concluding that there are numerous facilities in the state that have abused vulnerable children in their care, with no state oversight, for many years. Still, it was only a partial picture, based on interviews with former students and information from state officials, because Missouri doesnt keep track of how many religious boarding schools exist in the state. In civil suits, Agap students describe being choked with rebar and electrical cords, pushed through drywall, having their noses broken, and hit in the testicles hard enough to cause traumatic groin injury. They say several boys attempted to hang themselves, in what they call a pandemic among students. Agap, through its attorney, denies the allegations, and says that no student there has ever killed himself. Clemensen, who left the school from 2008 to 2018, says he has two masters degrees, in education and counseling and psychology, and would challenge the boys thinking processes, and he still does that to this day., Breshears and others paint a different picture. James Clemensen founded the Agap Boarding School in the early 1990s. Riley Olson and His crew-help the students start and progress colts raised on the ranch, and each year they have a public auction and the young men that are a part of the program show the horse and ride him through the sale. STOCKTON, Mo. (Knock her out! he can be heard saying.) Indeed, the version of the school students describe, community members say, is starkly different from the Agap the town has come to know. Selena Gomez Taking a Break From Social Media After Hailey Bieber Drama: I'm 'Too Old for This One student, identified only by his initials, describes being forced to run outside while a staffer tailed him in a four-wheeler with a stick attached to the front, threatening to ram anyone who wasnt moving fast enough. Where they stop looking to drugs, or their friends, and say to God, I need your help to feel better. If you dont save their souls, it aint going to stick.. It was renewed on Dec. 7. The stories of abuse told through reports by NBC News, the Kansas City Star and others prompted Missouri lawmakers to hold hearings and propose legislation last month to ramp up state oversight. In November, a man who is reportedly a former Agap employee was charged with 215 counts of possession of child pornography. The more Ingle learned about Circle of Hope, the more she came to believe that the problem wasn't limited to one school, but pointed to a systemic failure of state oversight. Call us today and find long-term recovery. One day after the FBI announced the arrest of a former Agape Boarding School dean, a civil right's . Among other things, the new state law allows state or local authorities to petition the court for closure of a facility if children's safety or health are believed to be in immediate danger. None of these inspections are required at religious boarding schools. Cedar County Prosecutor Gaither says, with the large number of people investigators have been interviewing in the case, hes pleased to have the assistance of the attorney generals office. A Christian boarding school in Missouri that's been under intense scrutiny over abuse allegations announced Wednesday that it will close later this month due to financial hardship. For many survivors of Agap, that would be tough to accept. Many of these programs, which are estimated to serve as many as 200,000 kids at any one time, are allowed to operate with virtual impunity, thanks to federal inaction and permissive state laws. "The healing process can start for so many.". The 100 Best Albums of 2022. It was Clemensen who introduced the practice of restraints in the early 2000s, says Ryan Frazier, attorney for Monsees and Mayer PC, which is representing 18 former students in suits against the school. Colton Schrag, who spent years at Agape Boarding School in southwest Missouri, where dozens of former students have described experiencing abuse, testifies during a committee hearing on Feb. 10, 2021. Andrew Breshears in his Agap uniform. Lack of oversight is not limited to Missouri. DSS added . But then, Breshears made friends and began to reconsider his allegiances particularly, he says, after he witnessed classmates getting restrained. . One killed in officer-involved shooting in Branson, Mo. After abuse allegations at Circle of Hope Girls Ranch, a religious boarding school near Agap, began spreading on TikTok last spring, the Cedar County Sheriffs Department opened an investigation, which the state attorney general joined and is ongoing. By JIM SALTER. Cedar County Prosecutor Ty Gaither asked the governors office for help in his investigation of the Agape Ranch and Boarding School west of Stockton. "I would argue Pinehaven is doing a very good job with very difficult kids.". For $3,250 in tuition per month, the school claims on its website that it can turn around defiant and rebellious boys through spiritual growth., Parents, who are only allowed to visit with two weeks notice, are warned in the school handbook they should never try and interfere with the policies or rules of Agap Boarding School. The posts went viral even receiving a thumbs-up from Paris Hilton. In Missouri, at least, this could be changing. Agape Boarding School Abuse Lawsuit - Pennsylvania Schools Details: WebFormer students of Agape from Alabama, Texas, and Michigan have filed two civil lawsuits against the Boarding School for multiple charges that include physical, agape ranch abuse Verified 5 days ago By then, Circle of Hope had shut down after the state removed dozens of its students. Our rehabilitation center in Fort Lauderdale for substance abuse embraces a universal, unconditional love that transcends, that serves regardless of circumstances. The industry is a multi-billion dollar industry that claims to help or fix troubled teenagers . The campus is also home to Agape Baptist Church. Christian Reform School Accused of Abuse Shuts Down After Rolling Stone Expos. By 5+ Local Business Owners! Bindley, who Clemensen calls one of Agaps top success stories, says the experience left him with lasting trauma, and left a stain on my childhood growing up., Colton Schrag says he decided to speak after PTSD drove him into counseling. He smacked me in the face with his elbow for saying the f-word. Thanks to the generosity of others, Agape Ranch will now be able to provide housing and mentorship for foster youth who age-out while they pursue higher education or career training. Every year, Agape Ranch hosts our Adoption Connection event to help children in foster care find their forever home. All Rights reserved. Lawmakers held hearings and introduced a bill that would give the state some oversight. The term encompasses various facilities and programs, including youth residential treatment centers, wilderness programs, boot camps, and therapeutic boarding schools.. The Republican-sponsored measure requires religious boarding schools to register with the state, pass a health department inspection and ensure that staff meet minimum standards. But he struggled at home. W hen Andrew Breshears arrived at the Agap Boarding School in 2018, he was a sandy-haired 12-year-old who weighed less than 100 . Mow Grass and Maintain Landscaping. Hilton tweeted to Missouri's attorney general and governor on June 21. The reasoning for the exemptions varies, but states generally take a hands-off approach to oversight of privately funded schools, and officials fear stoking the anger of conservative voters. It took a disturbing criminal case to make it happen. Youre going to be dead or in prison three months after you turn 18.. In March 2020, a former Agap student named Joseph Askins stopped in to visit, and witnessed abuse that shocked him. Circle of Hope Girls Ranch near Humansville . Throughout the 1980s, Kathy and Jim fostered children whose parents were in jail. Agape Treatment Center offers Drug and Alcohol Rehab as well as Primary Mental Health Treatment. Posted Apr 03, 2022 11:00 AM. And that's what it's all about.. I can at least try to show others that you dont have to keep it inside. Though he is 16, he is a freshman; Agaps curriculum is often not compatible with local requirements. It was late on April 20, 2007, he said, and the staff at the all-boys boarding school in southwestern Missouri wanted him to confess that he and two other boys were going to try to run away. Via Fox13, the local news station out of Salt Lake City, we get a detailed response to the lawsuit from ranch management: "We at Turn-About Ranch strongly deny the allegations put forward in Ms. Allred's press conference. The state of Missouri has opened a criminal investigation into allegations of abuse and neglect at Agap Boarding School, a Christian institution in the rural southwestern part of the state, a spokesman for the state's Highway Patrol confirmed Friday. They called the school Agap, meaning Gods love for man. But legislation she pushed for several years to require these programs to be licensed by the state the same way as secular facilities repeatedly failed to even get a vote. Operators advertise it as a national boarding school for at-risk or unmotivated boys. Moments later, Bindley says, Bryan yanked him backward, slamming his chair and his head into the concrete floor. Closing Agap wouldnt be so easy, but throughout 2021 and 2022, the lawsuits began. Several lawsuits filed on behalf of former students also have named Agape and Circle of Hope. One student said staffers had branded him with a cross. The video follows numerous allegations of abuse against Agape, a Christian reform school for boys, which until a new law in 2021, had virtually no state oversight due to its faith-based status. Josh Bradney, 19, who attended Agap from 2014 to 2016, said staff members slammed him to the ground when he told his parents on a phone call that Agap employees hit another boy with a football helmet. Then-Attorney General Eric Schmitt's office contended that 22 workers should have been charged, and with more serious crimes. Sick with a heart condition, Jim left the force in 1979 and moved Kathy, Bryan, and his siblings to Stockton, a sweltering agricultural city on the once-mighty San Joaquin River. We are faith-based, free, and swift to respond. Munton allowed the school to remain open, with state supervision.Allegations of physical and sexual abuse at Agape and nearby Christian boarding school Circle of Hope Girls' Ranch prompted a . She thought heavy metal was like witchcraft, he says. On cue, at least two others started beating up an unsuspecting student to create a distraction. It is a matter of time before youth aging out of the foster care system fall prey to the statistics. Since Circle of Hope opened in 2006, at least 15 people said they reported abuse at the ranch to at least six local, state and federal agencies in Missouri, an NBC News investigation found, based . In response to a detailed list of follow-up questions, Clemensen, through Agaps attorney, says he has never abused any boy in the history of Agap, and denied that restraints were ever used for punishment. 1:00. Wednesday afternoon, a House committee questions Missouri Department of Social Services leaders about their investigations into boarding schools. He says he and others suffered frequent physical abuse, at the hands of at least a dozen staff members, and others didnt stop it. Agape had 132 students 13 months ago, its lawyer, John Schultz said. (The recommendations are not public, so the implicated staff members are unknown.) Many Stockton residents consider Agap a mark of honor. Meanwhile, Agap has phased out the boarding school, instead running multiple group homes on its property, which detractors fear is a shell game aimed at shielding it from the new laws. We felt they needed God in their lives. The state, he says, had no clue how to get to a kids heart.. Tuesday, The Independent reported that DSS substantiated 10 preponderance of evidence claims of physical abuse at Agape. Agape Ranch will establish a safe environment of. A decent life.. After a months-long investigation, the AGs office recommended 65 charges against 22 staff members, accusing them of abusing 36 children. This results in many children being separated from their siblings and the only community that they know. Francis said that Robert Graves, a Cedar County sheriffs deputy who had worked at Agap, sat in on a meeting Francis had with a social worker who was looking into abuse allegations at the school. The state Public Health and Human Services Department and the local sheriff did not fulfill NBC News records requests for information about any more recent complaints. That meant calling out and even disciplining classmates for infractions like cursing, talking in line, refusing to pledge allegiance to the Christian flag, or talking about their pasts. W They say theyre still haunted by nightmares, hypervigilance, and other symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Youre dirtbags, youre hoodlums. Agap did not respond to repeated requests for comment and interviews via phone, email and a letter left at the schools reception desk. Editors picks Shrag is holding an Agape year book. Families looking to adopt are invited to meet, play, and talk to these children, and we need help putting it on. That is blasphemous.. Jan. 18, 2023. Many other states, such as New Jersey, Oklahoma and Texas, do not require religious boarding schools to be licensed by education or child welfare authorities because they are privately owned or privately funded. When speaking with Rolling Stone, Clemensen denied the allegations against him and explained his approach to reform. The legislation would require the schools to register with the state, and create paths for the state to conduct safety inspections of the facilities and shut them down after abuse allegations. Child welfare experts say that makes it more difficult for a state to look into maltreatment, because police will only investigate what counts as a crime, rather than what places a child in danger. The school states on its website that its staff are trained in proper restraining tactics, which are only used if a child is a threat to others and last for just a few minutes. 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