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Jan 5, 2023 9:58 am. 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. Located just outside Stockton, Agape is the second unlicensed Christian boarding school in the state to be investigated for allegations of abuse. He liked Metallica and Garbage Pail Kids cards, and had a tendency to cause trouble. This results in many children being separated from their siblings and the only community that they know. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Bindley remembers learning quickly that retribution for breaking the rules was swift and sometimes painful. Which means that even if Missouri does end up shutting down Agap, the school could open in another state just as the Clemensens did when they were driven out of Washington. But then, Breshears made friends and began to reconsider his allegiances particularly, he says, after he witnessed classmates getting restrained. (NBC News presented a copy of Clidences nondisparagement agreement to Agap to confirm or dispute its authenticity, but the school did not respond.). Then-Attorney General Eric Schmitt's office contended that 22 workers should have been charged, and with more serious crimes. Former students said their communication with parents and local authorities was censored. Boyd opened the ranch in 2006 as a "school that he claimed could reform rebellious teenage girls," according to NBC News. Agape Boys Ranch Entrance. Several former staffers opened up similar schools nearby: There was the Legacy Academy Adventures, on a property owned by David Smock, Agaps longtime doctor who would later be accused of molesting students; there was the Masters Ranch Christian Academy, which later opened two more campuses. 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. ), Such alleged retribution was not necessarily confined to Brown Town. RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT FOR SUBSTANCE ABUSE. It took a disturbing criminal case to make it happen. Former students say Clemensen, a paunchy middle-aged man with a buzz cut, a soft chin, and a stern manner, had a technique that he called Jurassic Elbow which entailed slamming his elbow into the back of a students skull, face, ribs, or down between the shoulder blades. 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. The next home at The Ranch is for youth aging-out of foster care and the need is urgent. The allegations of abuse were filed at the Cedar County Circuit . Clemensen picked the state specifically because of its lack of regulation, he told a reporter in 2002, and said the school would leave Missouri if required to get a license. Updated: Dec 13, 2022 / 12:48 PM CST. NWS confirms EF-1 tornado near Goodman, Mo. It now has 12. Agape Boarding school has had its share of abuse allegations over the years. Jacob smelled foul and the . None of these inspections are required at religious boarding schools. (Knock her out! he can be heard saying.) 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 2021, Paris Hilton, who has also been lobbying in Washington D.C., testified at a Utah Senate committee hearing about her own experience in a troubled-teen facility there, alleging that she was verbally, mentally, and physically abused, involuntarily drugged, and locked in isolation. They held a blood drive, organized a Fourth of July fireworks spectacular, and began holding an annual rodeo. It is one of the 2 times he saw his family between 2006 and 2010. The Missouri Department of Social Services does not conduct regular inspections of private religious schools, but child protective services and police can investigate if there is a specific abuse allegation reported. The school has been operating in Missouri where until 2021, privately owned schools were not required to report to the state. They literally took the practices of Agape and opened up Circle of Hope, so we know for a fact that there is one other school that is ran just like Circle of Hope, and that place is what Circle of Hope modeled their school after, said Amanda Householder, daughter of Circle of Hope operators. The cases against five people who worked at Agape Boarding school are moving forward. (The recommendations are not public, so the implicated staff members are unknown.) They called the school Agap, meaning Gods love for man. Many Stockton residents consider Agap a mark of honor. (As of publication, one defendants case was dismissed, three pleaded guilty to misdemeanors, and one is awaiting a hearing this month.) The couple met when Jim pulled Kathy over for drag racing a beat-up Ford Pinto around the East Bay. And he said, No, theyre not. He cuffed me up and dropped me back off at Agap. Hymns blared in the classrooms. In 1996, Agap moved to a 200-acre ranch in Cedar County, Missouri. Agape had 132 students 13 months ago, its lawyer, John Schultz said. 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. but has gone public in the past year with his . 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. The AG was on board. 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. 5151 Flynn Parkway Suite 106 Corpus Christi, TX 78411. We are faith-based, free, and swift to respond. We need people who will financially contribute and volunteer at the event to help give these . 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. Despite the concerns former students have raised recently, no state agency has the ability under Missouri law to regularly inspect how children at Agap are treated. The action galvanized Agap alumni, as well, and they began telling their stories to local media and on podcasts. Jim and Kathy appeared at the hospital a few weeks later. Boyd and Stephanie Householder are facing more than 100 charges of sexual, physical and emotional abuse that allegedly took place at their faith-based boarding school in Missouri. In Missouri, at least, this could be changing. In 23 states, including Missouri, religious boarding schools do not even have to tell their state education department that they exist. 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. Agape also faces criminal charges . The state has been fighting to close Agap ever since. It is a matter of time before youth aging out of the foster care system fall prey to the statistics. 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. Officials . The argument grew heated, he says, and the staffer told the kids they were going to Brown Town. The result, experts said, is that in much of the country, no one from the government checks to ensure that these facilities, often in remote regions, meet basic standards before children are enrolled. After the state removed students from the school in August, Circle of Hope voluntarily shut down. Netflixs Outer Banks Buries Itself in Ridiculous Season 3 Its just a very scary place to be, Bradney said. Its education and human services departments do not license religious schools, or any private boarding schools, and child protective services does not have the authority to investigate allegations of abuse or neglect at them; instead, they must refer those reports to law enforcement. The Missouri AG launched a joint investigation with Cedar County authorities. These punishments, former students say, were often administered in a small room down a dark staircase, in the basement of the church, with blue padded floors and holes punched in the wall. They were marched downstairs, where things escalated, until, Breshears alleges, he was lying facedown with a staffer sitting on his legs and two others digging their kneecaps into his pressure points. 2023 The Associated Press. None of these raised eyebrows until former Agap staffers Boyd and Stephanie Householder opened Circle of Hope Girls Ranch. At least three Cedar County Sheriff's Department employees currently or previously work at Agape, including two full-time deputies, one of whom is married to the daughter of Agape's founder, the petition read. Hed hoped to get kicked out, which didnt happen. Though Ms. Allred's office has spent months soliciting a cash settlement, we were unaware that a suit would be filed. 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. So they were all, in my book, guilty of association, said Schrag. A student at Agap Boarding School near Stockton, Missouri, performs push ups when his student guide ruled his clean up work was not good enough in September 2002. Others said they suffered permanent injuries from being disciplined or forced to work long hours of manual labor. According to AG Schmitts office, the Cedar County Sheriffs Department employs at least three people who used to work at Agap. Agape Ranch and Boarding School near Stockton, Missouri, a facility operated by Agape Baptist Church. I dont want another kid to have to go through what I went through, Schrag said. In March 2020, a former Agap student named Joseph Askins stopped in to visit, and witnessed abuse that shocked him. The industry is a multi-billion dollar industry that claims to help or fix troubled teenagers . In August, Sandoval was charged with arranging the kidnapping of an emancipated teen in Fresno, California, on behalf of the boys estranged mother, and then having him driven, handcuffed, 27 hours to Agap. When I first got there, I just stayed on the low, trying to do my best, hoping to get out, he says. The glass flew everywhere, he says. I can at least try to show others that you dont have to keep it inside. The Department of Social Services declined to comment on its investigations into Agap and the interviews with students, and would not release records, but said that there have been no substantiated reports of abuse or neglect at the school. Robert Larsson, 89, a preacher and the founder of Pinehaven, gave folksy presentations about how his school improved the lives of children, who spent their days at the ranch wrangling calves, shoveling manure and learning Bible verses. The Kansas City Star reported that the Householders deny all allegations . Copyright 2023 Penske Business Media, LLC. Many children in foster care feel unlovable because of the abuse they've suffered all their lives. Home to a population of 1,600, it has a tiny main square, the worlds largest processor of eastern black walnuts, and 21 churches. I can't find any scriptures in the Bible that would say that it's OK to physically or sexually abuse children, to starve them as means of punishment, to withhold medication, to deprive them of sleep, to force them into manual labor, Ingle said. The desire of 51:10 Youth Ranch is to provide a safe place for children, horses and families. The state attorney generals office claims that Agap staff threw students into walls, pushed them to the ground, ordered them to perform 1,000 pushups, intentionally starved them, and forced them to sleep in handcuffs and wear them for as long as eight days. MANY OF THE ALLEGATIONS AGAINST Agap staffers are easily found on podcasts and interviews on YouTube. (361) 742-6330. Agape bills itself as a 30-year-old Christian outfit that "has helped thousands of troubled teens" in part "by showing God's love daily to these boys." But those who identify as abuse survivors . The last time would be his graduation. 90% of young adults aging-out of the foster care system will become homeless, incarcerated, in prostitution, sex trafficked, or dead within three years. But instead of the therapeutic environment the schools leaders promised, Schrag and 11 others who were sent to Agap as children from the late 1990s up to last year, as well as four former staff members, told NBC News they saw Agap workers hold boys down and hit them. Schrag says the verbal abuse was constant. Amanda, then 29, says her parents kicked her out when she was 17. Though he is 16, he is a freshman; Agaps curriculum is often not compatible with local requirements. 4/5/2021. The next morning, Breshears made a plan with the other students to start a riot. That evening, as Agaps 150 students and staffers were finishing up dinner, Breshears spotted a fellow conspirator flash a thumbs-up. 1:00. There were horses, a swimming pool, and a football team. Several former Pinehaven students and staff members told CNN in 2012 that children were choked and assaulted at the ranch, accusations that Larsson denied and said were the work of Satan. Plaintiff was allegedly physically, sexually, and emotionally abused while under the care and supervision of . Posted at 6:19 PM, Sep 01, 2022. and last updated 4:46 PM, Sep 01, 2022. 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But in some states that have tried to close this oversight gap in recent years, like Montana, lawmakers have met with resistance. The school follows a fundamentalist Baptist belief system, according to a 2002 St. Louis Post-Dispatch article, and displayed a photo of the radio evangelist Lester Roloff, who died in a plane crash in 1982. (Householder has denied that any abuse occurred at the ranch.). KANSAS CITY (AP) Maggie Drew's dad sent her to Circle . Agape Baptist Church owns and operates the private boarding school for boys in Stockton, MO. Once in the car, Bindley says, they took him to their home. Alumni of Christian boarding schools for troubled teens in Missouri, including Agape and Circle of Hope, say state laws prevented inspections, enabling abuse to continue for decades. Wednesday afternoon, a House committee questions Missouri Department of Social Services leaders about their investigations into boarding schools. McCrary said in an email on Friday that Graves was not present for social workers interviews with students. I tried to find a record of it, but there was none. (The Cedar County Sheriffs Department did not return calls seeking comment.). State regulates church boarding schools after abuse allegations. Youre dirtbags, youre hoodlums. His grandparents sent him to a mental hospital, then to Agap. There wasnt really any training, said James Clidence, a pastor who worked as a teacher at Agap from 2012 to 2015. Recently, individuals associated with Agap have been accused of a growing list of crimes. . Graves did not respond to a request for comment. "For nearly three decades, students at Agape Boarding School have experienced emotional, mental, physical . The organization did not respond to requests for comment, but in presentations to the Legislature, the group repeatedly highlighted reports that children had been assaulted at secular youth facilities regulated by the state. Families looking to adopt are invited to meet, play, and talk to these children, and we need help putting it on. DSS added . Agape Ranch-courtesy photo. And they would never tell you how long your stay in Brown Town will be, Breshears says. Surprise! 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. 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 . To keep order, Agap instituted a military-like hierarchy, indicated by colored shirts that denoted ranks. Tuesday, The Independent reported that DSS substantiated 10 preponderance of evidence claims of physical abuse at Agape. Allegations of physical and sexual abuse at Agape and Circle of Hope Girls' Ranch prompted a state law in 2021 requiring stricter oversight of such facilities. 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. Nonetheless, the outcome of the civil suits is far from certain. He likes to get in peoples heads.. He enjoyed watching movies, listening to Elvis, and playing soccer with his friends. 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. 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