The criminal division of the EPA investigated and charged Jim Clemensen for improperly disposing of hazardous material. Agape's doctor is charged with child sex crimes and five employees are accused of assault, though Missouri's attorney general thinks many more workers should have been charged.. And in at least 14 other states, education and child welfare agencies exempt boarding schools from licensing requirements if they are privately owned or privately funded. 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. The plaintiffs in the newest cases, filed June 15 in Vernon County . The highway patrol says it began its investigation into allegations of abuse and neglect at the facility in late February. 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. Exposing Agape is about exactly what it's name says. 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. 2023 The Associated Press. First published on January 11, 2023 / 6:04 PM. We are faith-based, free, and swift to respond. New court filings reveal some of the most brutal allegations of abuse at Agape Boarding School so far, including former students' account that two staffers sexually assaulted him. Within months, Jim was both saved and married, and Bryan had a new stepdad. Editors picks Soon theyd be in a place where they were untouchable. A decent life.. They would say, Youre nothing. Then-Attorney General Eric Schmitt's office contended that 22 workers should have been charged, and with more serious crimes. 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. We need people who will financially contribute and volunteer at the event to help give these . Relevance: This course is designed for master's level counselors, addiction professionals, and nurses who have direct client contact. State regulates church boarding schools after abuse allegations. 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. These rules and policies are for their son's success and protection. The posts went viral even receiving a thumbs-up from Paris Hilton. His outrage became open defiance. He says he and others suffered frequent physical abuse, at the hands of at least a dozen staff members, and others didnt stop it. (Agap denies any knowledge of these allegations. Cedar . Contact Agape International Missions Email: info@aim4asia.org Phone: 916.784.2800. 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. 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. It is one of the 2 times he saw his family between 2006 and 2010. 79 were here. Agape had 132 students 13 months ago, its lawyer, John Schultz said. Nathan Papes/Springfield News-Leader/Imagn. Updated: Dec 13, 2022 / 12:48 PM CST. Thats where someone went too far. He would later set up a transport business to collect teens, hiring off-duty deputies to help him. Seth Duncan was charged with five counts of third . After abuse allegations at Circle of Hope Girls' Ranch, a religious boarding school near Agap, began spreading on TikTok last spring, the Cedar County Sheriff's Department opened an investigation, which the state attorney general joined and is ongoing. Child welfare officials in Washington cited Agap for overcrowding and poor sanitation, according to a 1995 newspaper article. ", "Today, the many victims who have come forth can rest assured that no more children will be hurt at Agape Boarding School," Bucklin said in a text. Former students said their communication with parents and local authorities was censored. So far Clemensen has kept his name out of the registry; he lost an appeal on Nov. 17, and filed for a judicial review in circuit court, which granted him a temporary restraining order keeping him off the list. 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. It has not come up for a vote yet, but key Republicans in the Legislature have already signaled support. Agap, which according to its parent handbook costs $39,000 a year, is also influenced by Lester Roloff, a radio evangelist and pastor who founded schools for teenage girls in the late 1960s that relied on physical abuse and immersion in biblical teachings to reform them. This created an environment ripe for abuse to happen. Since it claims to be a Christian organization, is not regulated by the state because of a religious exemption. Send us a tip using our anonymous form. At first glance, the facility for at-risk and unmotivated boys a Baptist institution in Stockton, Missouri wasnt so terrible. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot loses reelection bid, Fiery train crash in Greece kills dozens, many of them students, 1894 shipwreck found in Lake Huron, confirming "powerful, tragic story", Garland to face Congress amid ongoing special counsel investigations, FBI chief says agency feels pandemic likely started with Chinese lab leak, House select committee hearing paints China as a strategic antagonist, JetBlue flight forced to abort landing in close call at Logan Airport, Three officers shot, standoff follows in Kansas City, Mo., police say, Vanessa Bryant, family settles claims over Kobe crash site photos for $28.5M, Agape Boarding School, Stockton, Cedar County, Missouri. Agape Baptist Church owns and operates the private boarding school for boys in Stockton, MO. Mow Grass and Maintain Landscaping. 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. Robert Bucklin, 28, who is identified in the motion and lawsuit as R.B. 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. 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. (NBC News presented a copy of Clidences nondisparagement agreement to Agap to confirm or dispute its authenticity, but the school did not respond.). Roloff was perhaps best known for starting boarding homes in the 1960s to reform youth he described as parent-hating, Satan-worshipping, dope-taking immoral boys and girls, utilizing corporal punishment and isolation for children who disobeyed. For so long, nobody cared.. Montana carved out a religious exemption when it set up a new system for licensing youth facilities and reform schools in 2007. 2 min read. I was scared I would get in trouble, and just make everything worse for me, said Francis, whose account was first reported by the Kansas City Star. UPDATE (Feb. 12, 2021, 2:33 p.m. 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. One killed in officer-involved shooting in Branson, Mo. 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. Boarding schools fleeing abuse claims in other states find 'Promised Land' in Missouri . Jim and Kathy Clemensen a married couple whom people call Brother Clemensen and Maam started Agap in the early 1990s. Graves did not respond to a request for comment. South Carolina is a possibility; it still does not require religious schools to register with the state. 1:00. I tried to find a record of it, but there was none. (The Cedar County Sheriffs Department did not return calls seeking comment.). Nathan Papes/Springfield News-Leader/Imagn. (Jill Toyoshiba/The Kansas City Star/Tribune News Service via Getty Images), Pennsylvania police seized gloves, flashlight from home of Idaho murders suspect. "The healing process can start for so many.". In 1996, Agap moved to a 200-acre ranch in Cedar County, Missouri. Agape Ranch will establish a safe environment of 24 homes where foster children can receive the support they need in order to mature in all aspects of their lives. 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. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. Seven former students said staff members had assaulted them. 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. Families looking to adopt are invited to meet, play, and talk to these children, and we need help putting it on. Wednesday afternoon, a House committee questions Missouri Department of Social Services leaders about their investigations into boarding schools. The most surprising thing is that nothing has been done so far to change anything, Ingle said. The school's focus now is "on getting the boys who remain in the program safely transitioned to their parents or to foster care, other group homes or residential programs," its former director, Bryan Clemensen, said in a statement. The curriculum included traditional math and English. 25, 2021 at 2:05 PM PDT. The staff often singled out members of Brown Town for abuse, depositions filed by former Agap students suggest. They moved their wards in and set them to work clearing the site and fixing the property. The founders of Circle of Hope face around 100 charges, some alleging sexual abuse. It was then he discovered an effort far more worthwhile than smashing windows: At least 18 other former students were filing lawsuits accusing the school and its staff of emotional, sexual, and physical abuse. None of these inspections are required at religious boarding schools. Students called it the Padded Palace., Punishments allegedly ranged from calisthenics to wall time, where kids stood with their foreheads and noses touching the wall, except when sleeping, doing schoolwork, or eating. The Montana Family Foundation, an anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage advocacy organization, lobbied against the proposals, as well, and Smith said their opposition scared lawmakers who didnt want a negative mark on the conservative groups legislative scorecard. For example, when many foster children age out of the system, they have lived in an average of 12 foster homes. His religious mother wasnt having it. He grabbed the bat, charged toward the front of the cafeteria, and shattered a plate-glass window. A scandal-plagued fundamentalist boarding school in Missouri is facing renewed criticism after video surfaced allegedly showing "clear abuse" by a leader at the school. Passing under the majestic cross affixed to its towering arched entryway, Breshears gazed over a beautiful campus. Some who attended and worked at the school said otherwise. People who have care, custody, and control of those children have that right, as well. 3 KCPD officers shot; standoff continues into Wednesday morning. 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. TOUGH-LOVE SCHOOLS CAN BE traced back to the 1950s, when a secular group called Synanon pioneered an approach to curing heroin addiction with isolation, humiliation, and sleep deprivation. One former Agape student who sued, Robert Bucklin, said the closure means justice "has finally prevailed. By 5+ Local Business Owners! It could last for days on end. 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. IN THE MONTHS AFTER HIS ARRIVAL, Breshears feelings about Agap changed. He enjoyed watching movies, listening to Elvis, and playing soccer with his friends. They were very detailed and professional. There is no cost to you, not even if you enroll in any school we might mention to you. It now has 12. The report, which also examined 10 cases where teenagers had died, noted that there are currently no federal laws that define and regulate residential treatment programs.. Amanda, then 29, says her parents kicked her out when she was 17. Agape Boarding School in Stockton has been the subject of state and local investigations and several lawsuits from former students. 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. We are the best rehab . In recent months, Clemensen has become the face of the controversy a fearless leader doing Gods work to those fighting to save his school, a sadistic villain to those who aim to close it. But under state law at the time, the schools didnt have to tell the government they existed, and it took years of complaints before child welfare officials shut down their operations in 2015, and prosecutors charged the owners and a counselor at the facilities with aggravated child abuse. After each event, the team assesses what went well, what could be done better, and how many children/foster families were positively impacted. 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. (They do so much good for this town and you cannot believe the difference they have made in these young men, says Jackie Cargell, who has lived in the town for 57 years.) They claim Clemensen was on a power trip and seemed to enjoy brutalizing the kids in his charge. Agape Treatment Center offers Drug and Alcohol Rehab as well as Primary Mental Health Treatment. 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.) The campus is also home to Agape Baptist Church. Interested in learning more about the 2023 Legacy Gala? In other words, Grandmother can spank the children as can Agap.. 180 Ministries, a ministry of Teen Challenge, located in Denver Colorado, is a residential substance abuse . Tripadvisor names the world's top 25 beaches, three in the U.S. CDC warns drug-resistant stomach bug a "serious public health threat". I have concerns about every inch of that place, County Commissioner Sue Miller said. hen Andrew Breshears arrived at the Agap Boarding School in 2018, he was a sandy-haired 12-year-old who weighed less than 100 pounds. Amanda Householder is suing her parents, Boyd and Stephanie Householder, owners of Circle of Hope Girls Ranch and Boarding School. 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 14, Breshears says, he was fully in staffers crosshairs. vs. Agape Baptist Church Inc., et al: In the complaint filed on August 7, 2021, Alabama plaintiff shared his allegations of abuse while being under the custody of Agape Boarding School from approximately March 2012 to March 2013. Staff members at Agap don't have to go through background checks, and the facility is not required to document how or why children are restrained. Montana officials testified at hearings they had been frustrated by complaints registered against several programs that fell outside of regulation, and that some they didnt say which tried to avoid licensing by fraudulently claiming to be part of a church. 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. 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. The desire of 51:10 Youth Ranch is to provide a safe place for children, horses and families. 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. Circle of Hope was opened in 2006 by Boyd Householder, a former Agap employee, as a school for rebellious teenage girls. We want to hear it. 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. Chapel was daily. One former student said he was raped at Agape and called "seizure boy" because of his epilepsy. 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. Staff members would jump on you, said Schrag. Hed hoped to get kicked out, which didnt happen. 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. 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. Agape Ranch is dedicated to making a difference within their community and building capacity within the team. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Clemensen said that the abuse allegations are lies, and suggests they are inspired by the political ambitions of State Attorney General Eric Schmitt who was elected to the U.S. Senate in November and a small group of disgruntled former students hoping for a big payday. What they are claiming would never be OK, he says. Master's Ranch Christian Academy which has had a facility in southern Missouri for more than a decade opened a new location . I believe the community is aware. (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. For secular youth facilities regulated by Missouris social services department, as well as those that have contracts with the state, social welfare agents conduct inspections at least twice a year to review staff training, check compliance with fire and health codes, and make sure employees have background checks and that children get proper medical attention. Right away, staff shaved his head, handed him an orange shirt and a pair of Wranglers, moved him into a dorm that looked like Marine barracks, and introduced him to a dizzying litany of rules. Stockton is located 130 miles south of Kansas City, a lazy drive down sunbaked roads lined with oak forests and rolling fields. The Agape Boarding School was in Othello from 1992-96. Youre never gonna make it out.. (Knock her out! he can be heard saying.) Church was on Wednesday and three times on Sunday. Jan. 18, 2023. At a hearing in the Missouri Legislature on Wednesday, a department official said it has been difficult to substantiate abuse allegations at religious boarding schools due to "a culture of restricted access.". Agaps handbook states it has a strict hands-off policy regarding the students, and does not use corporal punishment. The group claims a wide range of abuse, from starvation to physical and emotional abuse. Colton Shrag, age 16 on a home visit from Agap in 2008. Posted Apr 03, 2022 11:00 AM. If there is a question about a policy or rule, do not ask your son.. As owners of the Circle of Hope Ranch, the couple faces 100 criminal abuse charges between them. It took a disturbing criminal case to make it happen. Located just outside Stockton, Agape is the second unlicensed Christian boarding school in the state to be investigated for allegations of abuse. STOCKTON, Mo. They also look at records from any incidents in which a child is injured or restrained. LAST MARCH, BRESHEARS SAYS, he was on kitchen duty when a staffer said some chocolate milk was missing from the fridge, and accused Breshears and several other students of stealing it. One deposed student describes attempting to jump off a staircase at Agap in a gesture of suicidal desperation which prompted a staffer to grab him, throw him six feet across the floor, sit on his back, and bash his head into the floor multiple times, leaving him in a pile of snot and blood, while screaming, Is this what you want? (Agap confirms restraining the student, but says it was not a form of abuse but an attempt to prevent harm to the boy.) Another former student said under oath that he was yanked out of bed and slammed to the floor for waking up late, kicked and punched in the balls by former dean of students Julio Sandoval, and kicked in the ribs and face in front of the rest of the school by Bryan Clemensen. Earlier this year, Smock, the schools longtime physician, was charged with 12 felony sexual-molestation crimes against those in his care. He would later help stage an uprising as an attempt to get thrown out of the school. 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. Churches of Christ don't have enough preachers to fill all the open pulpits in our fellowship. The team at Agape Ranch said they wanted the youth there Friday night to know that they are valued. I got picked up by the Cedar County Sheriffs Department, and I tried to tell the guy, like, Theyre beating us, dont take me back there, he says. Address . 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. More than 90% of young adults aging out of the foster system will become homeless, incarcerated, in prostitution, sex trafficked, or dead within three years. It also lays out a set of childrens rights, banning corporal punishment and verbal and emotional abuse, and giving youth the ability to call their parents whenever they want. When more severe penalties were required, according to students, civil suits, and a search warrant filed later by state investigators, Agap staffers would hold the boys facedown on the floor while pressing their elbows, knees, and fingers into students pressure points, a pain compliance method known as a restraint. Or worse. The next evening, a man found Jacob begging for change at a neighboring county supermarket 10 miles from Blue Creek and called Clay County Child Protective Services. Trump White House Pressured Disney to Censor Jimmy Kimmel We want to make it about the children's rights rather than taking away religious rights. Yet, when a social worker visited the school a year ago to follow up on a report that boys had been forced to run outside in the freezing temperatures and sleet, Francis said he claimed hed never seen abuse at Agap. Gaither declined to comment, but told the Cedar County Republican that Agap has the right to administer corporal punishment. Mr. Lewis, CAP, has been credentialed as a certified alcohol and drug counselor for 20 years. Jan 5, 2023 9:58 am. Though the area is largely Baptist, Cedar County has a tradition of religious tolerance. After the state removed students from the school in August, Circle of Hope voluntarily . On cue, at least two others started beating up an unsuspecting student to create a distraction. But in some states that have tried to close this oversight gap in recent years, like Montana, lawmakers have met with resistance. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. They led to a front-page story in the Cedar County Republican. And that's what it's all about.. They would put you down, says Breshears. Regretfully, child abuse and neglect have continued to rise and the work of Agape Ranch is needed now more than ever. The foothills of the Ozarks sat in the distance. And he said, No, theyre not. He cuffed me up and dropped me back off at Agap. Once in the car, Bindley says, they took him to their home. State removed students from the school said otherwise officials in Washington cited Agap for overcrowding and poor sanitation, to. As a certified Alcohol and Drug counselor for 20 years CAP, has been done so to... 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