STOCKTON, Mo. 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. It is a matter of time before youth aging out of the foster care system fall prey to the statistics. Contact Agape International Missions Email: info@aim4asia.org Phone: 916.784.2800. Its about getting these kids to a place in their life where they have to look to God for help, he says. Federal lawmakers say they plan to introduce legislation to curtail abuses in the industry. UPDATE (Feb. 12, 2021, 2:33 p.m. He has been a trainer for 10 years specializing in substance abuse. 3 KCPD officers shot; standoff continues into Wednesday morning. 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. At least two other states Montana and Arkansas carve out licensing exemptions for religious facilities. 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. Located just outside Stockton, Agape is the second unlicensed Christian boarding school in the state to be investigated for allegations of abuse. 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. ON SEPT. 7, 2022, ATTORNEY GENERAL SCHMITT and the State Department of Social Services (DSS) filed to close Agap. We felt they needed God in their lives. The state, he says, had no clue how to get to a kids heart.. It was a video secretly recorded at nearby Circle of Hope Ranch that finally moved state authorities to get involved. 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 . It was easy to get in trouble for stupid shit, Breshears recalls. 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. If you need expert assistance finding the right program for your boy, fill in this inquiry form or call 888-363-0888 (24/7) for a free, confidential information service (not affiliated with Agape). The video follows numerous allegations of abuse against Agape, a Christian reform school for boys, which until a new law in 2021, had virtually no state oversight due to its faith-based status. 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. 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. 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. First published on January 11, 2023 / 6:04 PM. That's because Agap is a religious school, which makes it exempt from the state rules governing secular boarding schools and childrens homes. McCrary said in an email on Friday that Graves was not present for social workers interviews with students. 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. I have concerns about every inch of that place, County Commissioner Sue Miller said. Posted at 6:19 PM, Sep 01, 2022. and last updated 4:46 PM, Sep 01, 2022. Anne Stych June 27, 2022. Then-Attorney General Eric Schmitt's office contended that 22 workers should have been charged, and with more serious crimes. The curriculum included traditional math and English. People who have care, custody, and control of those children have that right, as well. 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. 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. 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. Jan. 18, 2023. 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. 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. And that's what it's all about.. Mow Grass and Maintain Landscaping. A Tri-City Herald story from 1996 said that Franklin County officials ordered the facility to close for code violations over removing and . MANY OF THE ALLEGATIONS AGAINST Agap staffers are easily found on podcasts and interviews on YouTube. Pinehaven did not respond to a request for comment. It now has 12. 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 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. 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.". "If you have children who are fearful that they're going to be sent back to these facilities, you see a lot of instances where children might recant their stories," said Caitlin Whaley, director of legislation for the department. Home to a population of 1,600, it has a tiny main square, the worlds largest processor of eastern black walnuts, and 21 churches. Trump White House Pressured Disney to Censor Jimmy Kimmel Missouri previously had virtually no . 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.. The way Bryan tells it, in the 1970s, Kathy was a single mom whod found Jesus but still had a mischievous streak. Churches of Christ don't have enough preachers to fill all the open pulpits in our fellowship. ), Such alleged retribution was not necessarily confined to Brown Town. Families looking to adopt are invited to meet, play, and talk to these children, and we need help putting it on. Agape Ranch and Boarding School near Stockton, Missouri, a facility operated by Agape Baptist Church. That is blasphemous.. I pre paid him in February to cut yard 2x for months. In the ensuing chaos, a third pulled the fire alarm. They would put you down, says Breshears. In the aftermath of the criminal case, the state enacted the Alabama Youth Residential Facility Abuse Prevention Act in 2017. Boarding schools fleeing abuse claims in other states find 'Promised Land' in Missouri . Nathan Papes/Springfield News-Leader/Imagn. For so long, nobody cared.. And its not just Missouri. They moved their wards in and set them to work clearing the site and fixing the property. On March 9, 2021, AG Schmitt announced 102 charges against the Householders, including rape and physical abuse. He is living in California with his mother, Jennifer, and attending a public high school. 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. He smacked me in the face with his elbow for saying the f-word. South Carolina is a possibility; it still does not require religious schools to register with the state. I shadowed a staff member for about three days, we didnt go over procedures, no restraint training, no discipline training really no clear set of rules that the students werent allowed to break., It was not unusual for physical restraints to last four hours or longer, and leave bruises on the children, according to Clidence and three former students. (Clemensen says this was a nickname the boys had for an elbow injury, and denies the abuse.) He says he and others suffered frequent physical abuse, at the hands of at least a dozen staff members, and others didnt stop it. Its just a very scary place to be, Bradney said. 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. By then, Circle of Hope had shut down after the state removed dozens of its students. SPRINGFIELD DRIVERS: Construction at Campbell and Republic starts soon. Clidence said Agap fired him in March 2015 when the school asked employees to sign a nondisparagement agreement, and he refused. One killed in officer-involved shooting in Branson, Mo. The staff often singled out members of Brown Town for abuse, depositions filed by former Agap students suggest. By JIM SALTER. 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. Agape Treatment Center offers Drug and Alcohol Rehab as well as Primary Mental Health Treatment. Their lawyer denies the allegations and says that their innocence will prevail in court. Since last year, 19 former students have filed lawsuits against the school, alleging physical and emotional abuse, and in . 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. If there is a question about a policy or rule, do not ask your son.. COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. The picture flashed on the big screen, and Brenda Gordon immediately . Chapel was daily. Indeed, the version of the school students describe, community members say, is starkly different from the Agap the town has come to know. They denied it. Seth Duncan was charged with five counts of third . Published: Mar. The Kansas City Star reported that the Householders deny all allegations . Church was on Wednesday and three times on Sunday. Staffers grabbed Breshears and, he claims, threw him onto the glass. I can at least try to show others that you dont have to keep it inside. Bindley remembers learning quickly that retribution for breaking the rules was swift and sometimes painful. 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. Mrs. Vicki Loeffler & Mrs. Rodney Johnson, DDS, Faithful Witness Photography, Photographer. He cut it 1x and never would respond to my calls. The next home at The Ranch is for youth aging-out of foster care and the need is urgent. Call us today and find long-term recovery. The most surprising thing is that nothing has been done so far to change anything, Ingle said. The next home at the Agap boarding school in the industry to for. To change anything, Ingle said SEPT. 7, 2022 saying the f-word 's what it 's about! ), Such alleged retribution was not present for Social workers interviews students! 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