We are gathered here, former students,. They led to a front-page story in the Cedar County Republican. 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 has not come up for a vote yet, but key Republicans in the Legislature have already signaled support. (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. Send us a tip using our anonymous form. The Thrive program will provide housing and mentorship for young adults during their college or trade school career. That . He says he and others suffered frequent physical abuse, at the hands of at least a dozen staff members, and others didnt stop it. Tuesday, The Independent reported that DSS substantiated 10 preponderance of evidence claims of physical abuse at Agape. We want to hear it. Askins reached out to Child Protective Services and then shared the video with the Householders estranged daughter, Amanda. 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.. STOCKTON, Mo. Attendance at Agape plummeted after abuse allegations surfaced. I believe the community is aware. abuse at agape I have spent the last 5 days at agape boys ranch helping with the annual horse sale. They held a blood drive, organized a Fourth of July fireworks spectacular, and began holding an annual rodeo. By JIM SALTER. They insisted everyone call them Brother Jim and Maam, and their son Brother Bryan.. 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. DSS added . For a time, Breshears stayed out of trouble. Agape Ranch and Boarding School near Stockton, Missouri, a facility operated by Agape Baptist Church. They noted that DSS had confirmed a case of child abuse and added the name of the Agap staffer responsible to the Child Abuse and Neglect Central Registry, prohibiting him from working at a residential facility. 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. 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. 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. The last time would be his graduation. Each worker is facing abuse charges. Federal lawmakers say they plan to introduce legislation to curtail abuses in the industry. 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. MANY OF THE ALLEGATIONS AGAINST Agap staffers are easily found on podcasts and interviews on YouTube. At least two other states Montana and Arkansas carve out licensing exemptions for religious facilities. One morning, he overheard one of the Clemensen daughters asking for help with a math problem, to which Bindley shot back a smartass remark. We are the best rehab . His grandparents sent him to a mental hospital, then to Agap. Contact Jorden Tramp, Donor Relations & Event Coordinator at jorden@agaperanch.org or click the button below. The term encompasses various facilities and programs, including youth residential treatment centers, wilderness programs, boot camps, and therapeutic boarding schools.. 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. Share. Seven boys tested positive for tuberculosis. Agape Ranch plans out programs, fund raisers, and community outreach monthly. It was easy to get in trouble for stupid shit, Breshears recalls. 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. Hunt was one of a number of SBC leaders named in a 2022 report from the investigative firm Guidepost Solutions hired by the denomination in 2021 to resolve long-running conflicts over sexual abuse. It could last for days on end. 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 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. Every year, Agape Ranch hosts our Adoption Connection event to help children in foster care find their forever home. And that's what it's all about.. We are faced with the horrifying truth that a network of immoral individuals have engaged in what amounts to organized crime against children, Rob Vescovo, the Republican speaker of the Missouri House, wrote in a letter to U.S. Attorney Teresa Moore, urging her to employ the FBI to investigate. And he encouraged that kind of crap from staff members.. Missouri previously had virtually no . They called the school Agap, meaning Gods love for man. The plaintiffs in the newest cases, filed June 15 in Vernon County . Thats where someone went too far. One former student said he was raped at Agape and called "seizure boy" because of his epilepsy. I was sheltered, Breshears says. Missouri has been a particular hotbed for religious schools since 1982, when the state passed a law exempting faith-based residential child-care facilities from state oversight. (Householder has denied that any abuse occurred at the ranch.). The desire of 51:10 Youth Ranch is to provide a safe place for children, horses and families. According to AG Schmitts office, the Cedar County Sheriffs Department employs at least three people who used to work at Agap. Gaither declined to comment, but told the Cedar County Republican that Agap has the right to administer corporal punishment. 60% of the children in our county are being placed outside of our county due to the lack of foster homes in our community. Chapel was daily. Cedar . ), Other students describe staffers encouraging classmates to fight one another, and cutting off communication with loved ones when they complained. He would later help stage an uprising as an attempt to get thrown out of the school. One day after the FBI announced the arrest of a former Agape Boarding School dean, a civil right's . 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. 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. Our rehabilitation center in Fort Lauderdale for substance abuse embraces a universal, unconditional love that transcends, that serves regardless of circumstances. Mow Grass and Maintain Landscaping. 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. Agape now has roughly 60 students, about half of the population the school had in early 2021 when the Missouri Highway Patrol and DSS launched an investigation into abuse allegations. It is a matter of time before youth aging out of the foster care system fall prey to the statistics. It appeared to be a vast improvement over his previous digs. 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. Officials also said even if child protective services found that someone at a religious youth facility abused a child, there were no rules to prevent the person from continuing to work there. 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! A judge ordered the school closed only to put the order on hold after Agap fired the staffer in question. Contact Agape International Missions Email: info@aim4asia.org Phone: 916.784.2800. Bindley remembers learning quickly that retribution for breaking the rules was swift and sometimes painful. It was a video secretly recorded at nearby Circle of Hope Ranch that finally moved state authorities to get involved. Lawmakers proposed legislation to provide oversight for faith-based boarding schools in Missouri. Many children in foster care feel unlovable because of the abuse they've suffered all their lives. Boyd and Stephanie Householders daughter says they worked at Agape for four years. It will stop providing service effective Jan. 20, according to a statement from the school for boys. 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. (Knock her out! he can be heard saying.) In May 2021, the law requiring religious schools to register with the state passed. 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. One killed in officer-involved shooting in Branson, Mo. The cases against five people who worked at Agape Boarding school are moving forward. Throughout the 1980s, Kathy and Jim fostered children whose parents were in jail. In other words, Grandmother can spank the children as can Agap.. Colton Shrag, age 16 on a home visit from Agap in 2008. Jim Clemensen, a former California Highway Patrol officer, initially decided to open a group home in Stockton, California, before setting up Agap on an old Air Force base in Othello, Washington. Carlson said he never witnessed abuse and credited the school with temporarily keeping him off meth and teaching him how to lay tile. Closing Agap wouldnt be so easy, but throughout 2021 and 2022, the lawsuits began. in solitary confinement, handcuffed them to beds, Alabama Youth Residential Facility Abuse Prevention Act. 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. Located just outside Stockton, Agape is the second unlicensed Christian boarding school in the state to be investigated for allegations of abuse. but has gone public in the past year with his . Passing under the majestic cross affixed to its towering arched entryway, Breshears gazed over a beautiful campus. 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. After being charged with more than 100 felonies last year linked to allegations of child sex abuse, physical abuse, endangerment and neglect, the owners of a now-defunct Missouri girls ranch . 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. He cut it 1x and never would respond to my calls. 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Seven former students said staff members had assaulted them. South Carolina is a possibility; it still does not require religious schools to register with the state. 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. Upon completion, our self sustaining community will care for up to 132 foster children and young adults at a time. The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time Jim and Kathy Clemensen a married couple whom people call Brother Clemensen and Maam started Agap in the early 1990s. Boyd opened the ranch in 2006 as a "school that he claimed could reform rebellious teenage girls," according to NBC News. Editors picks STOCKTON, Mo. Indeed, the version of the school students describe, community members say, is starkly different from the Agap the town has come to know. ", "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. Tripadvisor names the world's top 25 beaches, three in the U.S. CDC warns drug-resistant stomach bug a "serious public health threat". These courses are core requirements for Florida . But the bills essentially became a referendum on one unregulated facility, the Pinehaven Christian Children's Ranch in St. Ignatius, Montana, whose founder showed up to hearings with supporters to argue against the change. Schrag says the verbal abuse was constant. If there is a question about a policy or rule, do not ask your son.. 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.. Agape's trouble began in 2020 when former students came forward with abuse allegations. Churches of Christ don't have enough preachers to fill all the open pulpits in our fellowship. There, according to Bindley, he was put to work painting, roofing, and helping to dismantle a web of lead pipes covered in asbestos, which he was told to carry to the top of a hill and throw into a pit used to burn garbage. And its not just Missouri. 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. His religious mother wasnt having it. Schmitt last year asked a Cedar County judge to close Agape, but the judge had not yet issued a decision. Still, administrators at many of these schools insist they are a force for good. In March 2020, a former Agap student named Joseph Askins stopped in to visit, and witnessed abuse that shocked him. 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. 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. None of these raised eyebrows until former Agap staffers Boyd and Stephanie Householder opened Circle of Hope Girls Ranch. They promoted me I was the youngest person to go red. The team at Agape Ranch said they wanted the youth there Friday night to know that they are valued. Since then, former students testified at legislative hearings that they tried to report the abuse at Agape and the now-closed Circle of Hope Girls Ranch for years, but that Cedar County authorities and other officials did not respond to the . The law many former students of schools like Agap see as a model comes from an unlikely state to scrap religious exemptions: Alabama. State regulates church boarding schools after abuse allegations. 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. But Breshears got a rude welcome. The highway patrol says it began its investigation into allegations of abuse and neglect at the facility in late February. 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. I can at least try to show others that you dont have to keep it inside. These rules and policies are for their son's success and protection. 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. If you're using the Bible or God to justify any of these things, that is sacrilegious. 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. Within a few months, he says, three students ran away. 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. Lost his red shirt and became familiar with the one place no student to., horses and families Agape Boarding school in the past year with his to work at Agap seven students... 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