Federal lawmakers say they plan to introduce legislation to curtail abuses in the industry. The Clemenson family, who currently runs Agape, has been shut down in two states due to abuse allegations but no charges were ever made. Each worker is facing abuse charges. 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. Anne Stych June 27, 2022. The video was posted Sunday by Robert Bucklin, who says he survived physical and sexual abuse at Agape Boarding School near Stockton. 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. The three were convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison. After Schrag, then 14, refused to answer their questions, he said, one of the employees knocked him to the ground, and then others held him facedown, pressing a knee into his back and head. More than 90% of young adults aging-out of the foster care system will become homeless, incarcerated, in prostitution, sex trafficked, or dead within three years. These rules and policies are for their son's success and protection. But he struggled at home. The term encompasses various facilities and programs, including youth residential treatment centers, wilderness programs, boot camps, and therapeutic boarding schools.. (Clemensen denies this happened, but says he considers Bindley one of Agaps top success stories.). STOCKTON, Mo. 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 . 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 . 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. 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 led to a front-page story in the Cedar County Republican. Graves did not respond to a request for comment. Recently, individuals associated with Agap have been accused of a growing list of crimes. People had reported Circle of Hope at least 19 times since it opened to three sheriffs departments, state child welfare and education officials, the highway patrol, and the state attorney generals office, according to interviews and records obtained by NBC News. 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. By JIM SALTER. The industry is a multi-billion dollar industry that claims to help or fix troubled teenagers . Clidence said Agap fired him in March 2015 when the school asked employees to sign a nondisparagement agreement, and he refused. (Knock her out! he can be heard saying.) There is no cost to you, not even if you enroll in any school we might mention to you. By 14, Breshears says, he was fully in staffers crosshairs. Within months, Jim was both saved and married, and Bryan had a new stepdad. It could last for days on end. The school is a nonprofit owned by the Agap Baptist Church, which was also started by the Clemensens. He is living in California with his mother, Jennifer, and attending a public high school. For example, Arkansas allows boarding schools and child welfare agencies operated solely by a religious organization to be exempt from licensing. We want to hear it. After the state removed students from the school in August, Circle of Hope voluntarily . It took a disturbing criminal case to make it happen. 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. Related: More than a dozen people reported abuse at a religious boarding school in rural Missouri before the owners' daughter launched a campaign that got action. The Agape Boarding School was in Othello from 1992-96. In March 2020, a former Agap student named Joseph Askins stopped in to visit, and witnessed abuse that shocked him. A decent life.. Regretfully, child abuse and neglect have continued to rise and the work of Agape Ranch is needed now more than ever. There wasnt really any training, said James Clidence, a pastor who worked as a teacher at Agap from 2012 to 2015. Agape Ranch and Boarding School near Stockton, Missouri, a facility operated by Agape Baptist Church. Andrew Breshears in his Agap uniform. Former students wonder if its because of this that authorities failed to act sooner. 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'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.. 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. Others said they suffered permanent injuries from being disciplined or forced to work long hours of manual labor. Its just a very scary place to be, Bradney said. 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. They claim Clemensen was on a power trip and seemed to enjoy brutalizing the kids in his charge. The staff often singled out members of Brown Town for abuse, depositions filed by former Agap students suggest. Full Gala Taping. They also look at records from any incidents in which a child is injured or restrained. MANY OF THE ALLEGATIONS AGAINST Agap staffers are easily found on podcasts and interviews on YouTube. So they were all, in my book, guilty of association, said Schrag. Surprise! Woody Harrelson Spreads Anti-Vax Conspiracies During SNL Monologue For many survivors of Agap, that would be tough to accept. Within a few months, he says, three students ran away. Their lawyer denies the allegations and says that their innocence will prevail in court. Stockton is located 130 miles south of Kansas City, a lazy drive down sunbaked roads lined with oak forests and rolling fields. Staff members would jump on you, said Schrag. At least two other states Montana and Arkansas carve out licensing exemptions for religious facilities. 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 time to go. That is blasphemous.. W They said that they were bringing me to my parents, he says. Former Calallen ISD teacher Joseph Sandoval sentenced to 35 years in prison for sexual abuse . . 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. Jim and Kathy Clemensen a married couple whom people call Brother Clemensen and Maam started Agap in the early 1990s. In November, a man who is reportedly a former Agap employee was charged with 215 counts of possession of child pornography. 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. 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. Lawmakers proposed legislation to provide oversight for faith-based boarding schools in Missouri. We need people who will financially contribute and volunteer at the event to help give these . The Clemensens sent 100 boys home, and moved the rest to base housing. 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. Updated: Dec 13, 2022 / 12:48 PM CST. 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. 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. Visit Website. State regulates church boarding schools after abuse allegations. Amanda, then 29, says her parents kicked her out when she was 17. And that's what it's all about.. Cedar County Prosecutor Ty Gaither asked the governors office for help in his investigation of the Agape Ranch and Boarding School west of Stockton. The report found those leaders had chronically mistreated survivors of abuse and spent decades trying to deny responsibility for abuse at individual . (The recommendations are not public, so the implicated staff members are unknown.) Cedar County Sheriff James Jimbob McCrary denied that Graves was present for interviews with students. 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. Students called it the Padded Palace. 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. 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. The Kansas City Star ran a series of exposs detailing shocking allegations first about Circle of Hope, then Agap. He is a manipulator, says Breshears. McCrary said in an email on Friday that Graves was not present for social workers interviews with students. 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. They called the school Agap, meaning Gods love for man. Wednesday afternoon, a House committee questions Missouri Department of Social Services leaders about their investigations into boarding schools. One killed in officer-involved shooting in Branson, Mo. 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. 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. On cue, at least two others started beating up an unsuspecting student to create a distraction. Seven former students said staff members had assaulted them. 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. After the state removed students from the school in August, Circle of Hope voluntarily shut down. 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. 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. I have concerns about every inch of that place, County Commissioner Sue Miller said. I was just like, Screw it, he says. Agape Boarding School, a Christian reform school in Cedar County, is under investigation by local authorities and the Missouri Attorney Generals office. 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 . This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. 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. 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. "The healing process can start for so many.". Bindley remembers learning quickly that retribution for breaking the rules was swift and sometimes painful. 24, 2021 at 10:23 AM PDT | Updated: Mar. 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. 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. He says staff would restrain boys on the ground and use pressure points to the point of bruising. 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. 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. Located just outside Stockton, Agape is the second unlicensed Christian boarding school in the state to be investigated for allegations of abuse. When speaking with Rolling Stone, Clemensen denied the allegations against him and explained his approach to reform. It also taught creationism and that women should be subservient to their husbands, while weaving biblical references into the materials. 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. 79 were here. The argument grew heated, he says, and the staffer told the kids they were going to Brown Town. 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. Im trying to aim for a decent life, you know what Im saying? After each event, the team assesses what went well, what could be done better, and how many children/foster families were positively impacted. Circle of Hope was opened in 2006 by Boyd Householder, a former Agap employee, as a school for rebellious teenage girls. Agape Boarding School was moving away from the "nonbelievers" in Washington and California and heading east. Attendance at Agape plummeted after abuse allegations surfaced. 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. (Agap denies these allegations. Colton Schrag remembers the night at the Agap Boarding School when, he says, a staff member punched him in the face. The schools are unrelated and are not affiliated with any particular Christian denomination. For more on this story, watch NBC's "Dateline" episode, "Broken Circle". I for sure think it would be harder to bring charges, because then your standard of proof is going to be higher, said Daniel Pollack, a social work professor at Yeshiva University. Other punishments, the former students and staff members said, included forcing boys to stare at a wall for hours, limiting meals to peanut butter sandwiches, and requiring students to haul rocks outside from one pile to another. It is a matter of time before youth aging out of the foster care system fall prey to the statistics. (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. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Since it claims to be a Christian organization, is not regulated by the state because of a religious exemption. Jan. 18, 2023. The law many former students of schools like Agap see as a model comes from an unlikely state to scrap religious exemptions: Alabama. South Carolina is a possibility; it still does not require religious schools to register with the state. They denied it. 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. The former director of Agape Boarding School pleaded with a Cole County judge on Monday to keep himself off the state's central registry of child abuse and . 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. There was a small room down a dark staircase with blue padded floors and holes punched in the wall. Children as young as four-years-old may have had up to five foster . The curriculum included traditional math and English. McCrary said his office has received complaints about Agap, and that theyve all been investigated as far as it could go. He called Graves a very good deputy. McCrary said that he ensures there is no conflict of interest when investigating Agap complaints by involving other agencies, like the social services department. Bucklin wrote the video shows a staff . As owners of the Circle of Hope Ranch, the couple faces 100 criminal abuse charges between them. SPRINGFIELD DRIVERS: Construction at Campbell and Republic starts soon. Throughout the 1980s, Kathy and Jim fostered children whose parents were in jail. In 1991, Todd Bindley, then 13, moved in. They have law-enforcement ties, too. 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. Award honors influential children's minister. Selena Gomez Taking a Break From Social Media After Hailey Bieber Drama: I'm 'Too Old for This Trump Melts Down Over Murdoch Admitting Fox Lied About Election Fraud. It has not come up for a vote yet, but key Republicans in the Legislature have already signaled support. 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. The couple met when Jim pulled Kathy over for drag racing a beat-up Ford Pinto around the East Bay. In the aftermath of the criminal case, the state enacted the Alabama Youth Residential Facility Abuse Prevention Act in 2017. 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. (NBC News presented a copy of Clidences nondisparagement agreement to Agap to confirm or dispute its authenticity, but the school did not respond.). 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. Once they were done, staff members took away Schrags clothes and bedding, he said, and made him wear only a bathrobe and his boxers for two months. 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. But under Missouri law, it was up to Cedar County prosecutor Ty Gaither to file charges. 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. In Missouri, parents are allowed to discipline their children, he said. Amanda Householder is suing her parents, Boyd and Stephanie Householder, owners of Circle of Hope Girls Ranch and Boarding School. Posted Apr 03, 2022 11:00 AM. 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. That . In addition to the fired staffer, DSS has substantiated findings of child abuse or neglect against Bryan Clemensen and two other Agap employees, according to The Kansas City Star. Gaither says at this point, they dont know if there will be any charges. 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 500 Greatest Songs of All Time It would be helpful for them to come in early on this one as opposed to come in at a later date, said Gaither. An investigation into the school began after The Star reported on the abuse allegations last year. 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. Carlson said he never witnessed abuse and credited the school with temporarily keeping him off meth and teaching him how to lay tile. (Jill Toyoshiba/The Kansas City Star/Tribune News Service via Getty Images), Pennsylvania police seized gloves, flashlight from home of Idaho murders suspect. (Agap denies any knowledge of these allegations. The troubled teen industry is a term used to refer to a broad range of youth residential programs aimed at struggling teenagers. 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. 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. (Both have pleaded not guilty.) Send us a tip using our anonymous form. Yet Agaps neighbors insist they never had any idea. Agap did not respond to repeated requests for comment and interviews via phone, email and a letter left at the schools reception desk. 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. . Mow Grass and Maintain Landscaping. Five months later, authorities raided Circle of Hope, seizing evidence and removing 25 girls from the ranch. Jan. 23, 2023. When he was told he couldnt live with his mother after her stint in rehab, he threatened to kill himself, and another person from the household. UPDATE (Feb. 12, 2021, 2:33 p.m. (As of publication, one defendants case was dismissed, three pleaded guilty to misdemeanors, and one is awaiting a hearing this month.) 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. In May 2021, the law requiring religious schools to register with the state passed. 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 . All Rights reserved. "Pinehaven has had challenges over the years, but so has everyone," Montana Family Foundation President Jeff Laszloffy said at a 2019 hearing. His grandparents sent him to a mental hospital, then to Agap. 4/5/2021. Our rehabilitation center in Fort Lauderdale for substance abuse embraces a universal, unconditional love that transcends, that serves regardless of circumstances. Interested in learning more about the 2023 Legacy Gala? 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. The 57-year-old is currently facing charges of second-degree statutory sodomy . He grabbed the bat, charged toward the front of the cafeteria, and shattered a plate-glass window. Contact Agape International Missions Email: [email protected] Phone: 916.784.2800. The allegations of abuse were filed at the Cedar County Circuit . Staff called it the intake room. Every year, thousands of young Mormons go on missions to try to recruit others into the religion. Thank you for your generous support [] 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. Mrs. Vicki Loeffler & Mrs. Rodney Johnson, DDS, Faithful Witness Photography, Photographer. 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 founders of Circle of Hope face around 100 charges, some alleging sexual abuse. It won't be long here in Missouri, he said. The Missouri AG launched a joint investigation with Cedar County authorities. It appeared to be a vast improvement over his previous digs. He ran the school on fear, says Colton Schrag, a former gang associate who attended the school twice between 2004 and 2010, and is not suing because the statute of limitations has expired. They insisted everyone call them Brother Jim and Maam, and their son Brother Bryan.. 2022 maintained by Gibler Shaw Enterprises. 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. Interested in learning more about the 2023 Legacy Gala? Indeed, the version of the school students describe, community members say, is starkly different from the Agap the town has come to know. 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. I hired Agape to cut the lawn. KANSAS CITY (AP) Maggie Drew's dad sent her to Circle . If you're using the Bible or God to justify any of these things, that is sacrilegious. Askins reached out to Child Protective Services and then shared the video with the Householders estranged daughter, Amanda. NBC News reported on the allegations earlier this . We felt they needed God in their lives. The state, he says, had no clue how to get to a kids heart.. Missouri's Agap Boarding School will close its doors due to a lack of finances, school officials say but the . Earlier this year, Smock, the schools longtime physician, was charged with 12 felony sexual-molestation crimes against those in his care. The state has been fighting to close Agap ever since. They would say, Youre nothing. All Rights Reserved. Still, administrators at many of these schools insist they are a force for good. The front of the cafeteria, and moved the rest to base.!, Jennifer, and witnessed abuse that shocked him about Circle of Hope girls Ranch and Boarding near. Students suggest school with temporarily keeping him off meth and teaching him how to lay tile 2023. The school with temporarily keeping him off meth and teaching him how to lay tile him to a front-page in! Using the Bible or God to justify any of these schools insist they are force..., not even if you dont save their souls, it was up to five foster in shooting! 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