Breshears spotted a baseball bat poking out of an equipment bag. For example, when many foster children age out of the system, they have lived in an average of 12 foster homes. 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 its not just Missouri. (888) 614-0077. . So they constructed wooden bunks on the second floor of their modest home, set up cubicles in the garage, and obtained work booklets produced by Accelerated Christian Education. If you resisted any, they would start kneeing you, hitting you, just mashing your face into the tile or concrete, wherever it was.. But in some states that have tried to close this oversight gap in recent years, like Montana, lawmakers have met with resistance. Jan 5, 2023 9:58 am. 2 min read. He is a manipulator, says Breshears. 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. Christian Reform School Accused of Abuse Shuts Down After Rolling Stone Expos. 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. 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. 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. Copyright 2023 Penske Business Media, LLC. "I would argue Pinehaven is doing a very good job with very difficult kids.". 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. Agape Ranch-courtesy photo. 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. It will stop providing service effective Jan. 20, according to a statement from the school for boys. Send us a tip using our anonymous form. In the aftermath of the criminal case, the state enacted the Alabama Youth Residential Facility Abuse Prevention Act in 2017. The state has been fighting to close Agap ever since. 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. Hymns blared in the classrooms. The glass flew everywhere, he says. Minnesota has even less control. Many children in foster care feel unlovable because of the abuse they've suffered all their lives. Master's Ranch Christian Academy which has had a facility in southern Missouri for more than a decade opened a new location . The cases against five people who worked at Agape Boarding school are moving forward. 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. We need people who will financially contribute and volunteer at the event to help give these . 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. He cut it 1x and never would respond to my calls. 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 he said, No, theyre not., In 1996, the Clemensens purchased 40 acres just outside of town. For $3,250 in tuition per month, the school claims on its website that it can turn around defiant and rebellious boys through spiritual growth., Parents, who are only allowed to visit with two weeks notice, are warned in the school handbook they should never try and interfere with the policies or rules of Agap Boarding School. Though he is 16, he is a freshman; Agaps curriculum is often not compatible with local requirements. Cedar County Sheriff James Jimbob McCrary denied that Graves was present for interviews with students. All Rights Reserved. Each worker is facing abuse charges. One former student, Colton Schrag, claims he was beat up and slammed into walls during his four years at Agape. 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. According to AG Schmitts office, the Cedar County Sheriffs Department employs at least three people who used to work at Agap. Earlier this year, Smock, the schools longtime physician, was charged with 12 felony sexual-molestation crimes against those in his care. There was a small room down a dark staircase with blue padded floors and holes punched in the wall. I was just like, Screw it, he says. 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. To keep order, Agap instituted a military-like hierarchy, indicated by colored shirts that denoted ranks. The Kansas City Star reported that the Householders deny all allegations . Some who attended and worked at the school said otherwise. Carlson said he never witnessed abuse and credited the school with temporarily keeping him off meth and teaching him how to lay tile. I dont want another kid to have to go through what I went through, Schrag said. 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 Ranch is dedicated to making a difference within their community and building capacity within the team. By then, Circle of Hope had shut down after the state removed dozens of its students. 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. When I first got there, I just stayed on the low, trying to do my best, hoping to get out, he says. 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. 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 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. We are gathered here, former students,. Thanks to the generosity of others, Agape Ranch will now be able to provide housing and mentorship for foster youth who age-out while they pursue higher education or career training. A Tri-City Herald story from 1996 said that Franklin County officials ordered the facility to close for code violations over removing and . The way Bryan tells it, in the 1970s, Kathy was a single mom whod found Jesus but still had a mischievous streak. Selena Gomez Taking a Break From Social Media After Hailey Bieber Drama: I'm 'Too Old for This . He says staff would restrain boys on the ground and use pressure points to the point of bruising. Throughout the 1980s, Kathy and Jim fostered children whose parents were in jail. However, the Cedar County prosecutor says no students have been removed from the school. It has not come up for a vote yet, but key Republicans in the Legislature have already signaled support. Jan. 23, 2023. Staff called it the intake room. They would put you down, says Breshears. And they would never tell you how long your stay in Brown Town will be, Breshears says. The highway patrol says it began its investigation into allegations of abuse and neglect at the facility in late February. Located just outside Stockton, Agape is the second unlicensed Christian boarding school in the state to be investigated for allegations of abuse. Call us today and find long-term recovery. Agape Boys Ranch Entrance. Children as young as four-years-old may have had up to five foster . Lack of oversight is not limited to Missouri. 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 . Bryan Clemensen stops a tour of the group home to pet Sally, the ranchs beloved camel. Agape Ranch breaks that cycle by providing compassionate care, connections within the community, and now by creating a neighborhood to give them a place to call home with families that provide unconditional love. They were very detailed and professional. By 5+ Local Business Owners! Today, its home to at least 28 such institutions, though some estimates place the number at upward of 100, many of which are still operating under the radar. For the first time, religious schools would be required to register with the state and undergo inspections; the attorney general would now have authority to close down facilities that posed a threat to students. 1.0 Stephen H. Winter Haven, FL. The legislation would require the schools to register with the state, and create paths for the state to conduct safety inspections of the facilities and shut them down after abuse allegations. McCrary said in an email on Friday that Graves was not present for social workers interviews with students. After the state removed students from the school in August, Circle of Hope voluntarily . Sandoval, Agaps dean of students, worked shifts at the county jail. I was sheltered, Breshears says. Facebook Page. 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. Thank you for your generous support [] The Agape Boarding School was in Othello from 1992-96. The term encompasses various facilities and programs, including youth residential treatment centers, wilderness programs, boot camps, and therapeutic boarding schools.. 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. Bucklin wrote the video shows a staff . 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. Visit Website. Churches of Christ don't have enough preachers to fill all the open pulpits in our fellowship. 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. The video was posted Sunday by Robert Bucklin, who says he survived physical and sexual abuse at Agape Boarding School near Stockton. Gaither says at this point, they dont know if there will be any charges. The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time 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. 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! Their lawyer denies the allegations and says that their innocence will prevail in court. 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. Full Gala Taping. A decent life.. 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. Plaintiff was allegedly physically, sexually, and emotionally abused while under the care and supervision of . You can start to heal., For his part, Breshears is grateful to be free. 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. 180 Ministries, a ministry of Teen Challenge, located in Denver Colorado, is a residential substance abuse . Indeed, the version of the school students describe, community members say, is starkly different from the Agap the town has come to know. Agape Boarding School in Stockton has been the subject of state and local investigations and several lawsuits from former students. First published on January 11, 2023 / 6:04 PM. Agape Ranch will establish a safe environment of. 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.) 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. . The campus is also home to Agape Baptist Church. UPDATE (Feb. 12, 2021, 2:33 p.m. Mr. Lewis, CAP, has been credentialed as a certified alcohol and drug counselor for 20 years. 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.
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