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. Clemensen said the decision to close "is voluntary and solely due to the lack of financial resources to continue caring for the boys.". Youre going to be dead or in prison three months after you turn 18.. abuse at agape I have spent the last 5 days at agape boys ranch helping with the annual horse sale. Staff called it the intake room. Facebook Page. (Photo by Tim Bommel/House Communications) But many lawmakers are also oblivious to the consequences of lax oversight until there's a scandal. 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. The campus is also home to Agape Baptist Church. One student, identified only by his initials, describes being forced to run outside while a staffer tailed him in a four-wheeler with a stick attached to the front, threatening to ram anyone who wasnt moving fast enough. Schmitt last year asked a Cedar County judge to close Agape, but the judge had not yet issued a decision. These courses are core requirements for Florida . The staff often singled out members of Brown Town for abuse, depositions filed by former Agap students suggest. 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. Agape Boarding School was moving away from the "nonbelievers" in Washington and California and heading east. One former student, Colton Schrag, claims he was beat up and slammed into walls during his four years at Agape. I just kind of felt like I was on my own, said Schrag, 28, who now works in the oil industry in Texas. Officials . If I can save one kid, its worth it to me.. 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. 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. Schrag says the verbal abuse was constant. I believe the community is aware. "The healing process can start for so many.". Tuesday, The Independent reported that DSS substantiated 10 preponderance of evidence claims of physical abuse at Agape. On cue, at least two others started beating up an unsuspecting student to create a distraction. He says staff would restrain boys on the ground and use pressure points to the point of bruising. 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.. The argument grew heated, he says, and the staffer told the kids they were going to Brown Town. The Clemenson family, who currently runs Agape, has been shut down in two states due to abuse allegations but no charges were ever made. It would be helpful for them to come in early on this one as opposed to come in at a later date, said Gaither. 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. ", "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. It is one of the 2 times he saw his family between 2006 and 2010. We felt they needed God in their lives. The state, he says, had no clue how to get to a kids heart.. His grandparents sent him to a mental hospital, then to Agap. None of these raised eyebrows until former Agap staffers Boyd and Stephanie Householder opened Circle of Hope Girls Ranch. The Kansas City Star reported that the Householders deny all allegations . 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. (361) 742-6330. Allen Knoll, who attended Agap from 1999 to 2001, looks at Alabamas law as a template of what we can do across the country. The only thing that has held back change in Missouri, he said, is a lack of public knowledge about what goes on inside these schools. We are faith-based, free, and swift to respond. 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. 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 . Earlier this year, Smock, the schools longtime physician, was charged with 12 felony sexual-molestation crimes against those in his care. State regulates church boarding schools after abuse allegations. The last time would be his graduation. Yet the delays have frustrated state lawmakers. Agape Connection. For a time, Breshears stayed out of trouble. 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. 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. Upon completion, our self sustaining community will care for up to 132 foster children and young adults at a time. Lawmakers held hearings and introduced a bill that would give the state some oversight. Missouri's Agap Boarding School will close its doors due to a lack of finances, school officials say but the . The schools are unrelated and are not affiliated with any particular Christian denomination. They claim Clemensen was on a power trip and seemed to enjoy brutalizing the kids in his charge. He is pleased to hear the Missouri attorney generals office is now investigating Agape Boarding School. Every year, Agape Ranch hosts our Adoption Connection event to help children in foster care find their forever home. And he encouraged that kind of crap from staff members.. For many survivors of Agap, that would be tough to accept. 2023 The Associated Press. James Clemensen founded the Agap Boarding School in the early 1990s. 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. 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. 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. I hired Agape to cut the lawn. Since it claims to be a Christian organization, is not regulated by the state because of a religious exemption. Chapel was daily. One day after the FBI announced the arrest of a former Agape Boarding School dean, a civil right's . Agape had 132 students 13 months ago, its lawyer, John Schultz said. But under Missouri law, it was up to Cedar County prosecutor Ty Gaither to file charges. 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. In other words, Grandmother can spank the children as can Agap.. Pinehaven did not respond to a request for comment. 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. Gaither says at this point, they dont know if there will be any charges. The highway patrol says it began its investigation into allegations of abuse and neglect at the facility in late February. By the time he ended up in the Padded Palace, he recalls, I was bleeding all over my head and hands. So he scrawled the words Fuck Agap on the wall using his own blood. They said that they were bringing me to my parents, he says. Bindley remembers learning quickly that retribution for breaking the rules was swift and sometimes painful. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. 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. When speaking with Rolling Stone, Clemensen denied the allegations against him and explained his approach to reform. 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. 2 min read. As owners of the Circle of Hope Ranch, the couple faces 100 criminal abuse charges between them. The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time 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. 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. The founders, Boyd and Stephanie Householder, received 99 charges of sex crimes, child abuse . 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. They would put you down, says Breshears. COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. The picture flashed on the big screen, and Brenda Gordon immediately . It appeared to be a vast improvement over his previous digs. 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 . The Clemensens sent 100 boys home, and moved the rest to base housing. Interested in learning more about the 2023 Legacy Gala? He has been a trainer for 10 years specializing in substance abuse. 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. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. 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. At least two other states Montana and Arkansas carve out licensing exemptions for religious facilities. Regretfully, child abuse and neglect have continued to rise and the work of Agape Ranch is needed now more than ever. It is a matter of time before youth aging out of the foster care system fall prey to the statistics. The 100 Best Albums of 2022. Copyright 2023 Penske Business Media, LLC. 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. 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. Children said pastors and staff members at both facilities choked and punched them, kept them in solitary confinement, handcuffed them to beds and forced them to box each other. Jacob smelled foul and the . Jan. 18, 2023. His outrage became open defiance. I was just like, Screw it, he says. 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. Send us a tip using our anonymous form. Federal lawmakers say they plan to introduce legislation to curtail abuses in the industry. A decent life.. 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.) (Knock her out! he can be heard saying.) In May, his daughter Amanda and women who attended Circle of Hope began posting videos on TikTok describing violent restraints, starvation and emotional abuse at the ranch. Seven former students said staff members had assaulted them. The term encompasses various facilities and programs, including youth residential treatment centers, wilderness programs, boot camps, and therapeutic boarding schools.. 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. 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. Agape Ranch plans out programs, fund raisers, and community outreach monthly. Paris Hilton's fellow PCS alums said they were stunned to see the heiress, who has amassed 12.6 million followers on Instagram alone, used the hashtag #BreakingCodeSilence in a social media post. Posted Apr 03, 2022 11:00 AM. That . It was late on April 20, 2007, he said, and the staff at the all-boys boarding school in southwestern Missouri wanted him to confess that he and two other boys were going to try to run away. W Meanwhile, the husband-and-wife founders of Circle of Hope, Boyd and Stephanie Householder, face a combined 99 charges that include child abuse and neglect, sex crimes and other counts. One of them is Robert Graves, a student turned staffer who joined as a sheriffs deputy and married Kathy and Jims daughter, and is listed as a member of the board of an Agap-affiliated church. An investigation by NBC News and Dateline found that multiple states have similar gaps in the oversight of religious boarding schools, leaving children vulnerable to abuse. "For nearly three decades, students at Agape Boarding School have experienced emotional, mental, physical . 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. Several lawsuits filed on behalf of former students also have named Agape and Circle of Hope. Missouri previously had virtually no oversight for religious boarding schools. It could last for days on end. One morning, he overheard one of the Clemensen daughters asking for help with a math problem, to which Bindley shot back a smartass remark. 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. 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. 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 school closed in 2020 amid investigations. Sandoval, Agaps dean of students, worked shifts at the county jail. (Agap denies any knowledge of these allegations. Agaps handbook states it has a strict hands-off policy regarding the students, and does not use corporal punishment. Throughout the 1980s, Kathy and Jim fostered children whose parents were in jail. Though Ms. Allred's office has spent months soliciting a cash settlement, we were unaware that a suit would be filed. Agape Boarding School, a Christian reform school in Cedar County, is under investigation by local authorities and the Missouri Attorney Generals office. Until 2017, Alabamas Religious Freedom Amendment shielded boarding schools such as the Restoration Youth Academy and its sister facility, the Saving Youth Foundation, from government oversight. The video was posted Sunday by Robert Bucklin, who says he survived physical and sexual abuse at Agape Boarding School near Stockton. Each worker is facing abuse charges. 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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