The campus is also home to Agape Baptist Church. The Missouri Department of Social Services does not conduct regular inspections of private religious schools, but child protective services and police can investigate if there is a specific abuse allegation reported. But under Missouri law, it was up to Cedar County prosecutor Ty Gaither to file charges. I have concerns about every inch of that place, County Commissioner Sue Miller said. It won't be long here in Missouri, he said. Advocates are watching the Agap case, and suggest it illustrates why federal legislation is needed. They promoted me I was the youngest person to go red. It was easy to get in trouble for stupid shit, Breshears recalls. After the state removed students from the school in August, Circle of Hope voluntarily shut down. Officials . In 1995, county officials shut them down after health inspectors found the school which by then had 140 students and 25 staffers had rotting food, holes in the walls large enough to allow rodents to enter, and exposed wiring. The report found those leaders had chronically mistreated survivors of abuse and spent decades trying to deny responsibility for abuse at individual . The school still faces a wave of lawsuits accusing administrators of abuse. A Christian boarding school in Missouri that's been under intense scrutiny over abuse allegations announced Wednesday that it will close later this month due to financial hardship. Josh Bradney, 19, who attended Agap from 2014 to 2016, said staff members slammed him to the ground when he told his parents on a phone call that Agap employees hit another boy with a football helmet. Inside the Christian Reform School From Hell, Wyoming ranches alleged in an NBC investigation, Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints. 2023 The Associated Press. Agap, which according to its parent handbook costs $39,000 a year, is also influenced by Lester Roloff, a radio evangelist and pastor who founded schools for teenage girls in the late 1960s that relied on physical abuse and immersion in biblical teachings to reform them. They claim Clemensen was on a power trip and seemed to enjoy brutalizing the kids in his charge. 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. 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. The Agap case is just the latest scandal to emerge from the billion-dollar troubled-teen industry, a loosely regulated network of therapeutic boarding schools, residential treatment centers, religious academies, and wilderness camps set up to help teenagers with drug addiction and behavioral problems. The only thing it would have done, Smith said of her bill, is require these adolescent facilities to have oversight by our Department of Public Health and Human Services, just like a senior citizen home or a barbershop.. Churches of Christ don't have enough preachers to fill all the open pulpits in our fellowship. 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. I am proof that money doesnt protect against abuse, Hilton told state legislators, speaking in support of a bill that would better protect children in troubled-youth treatment programs. but has gone public in the past year with his . By 5+ Local Business Owners! The plaintiffs in the newest cases, filed June 15 in Vernon County . 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. Agape Treatment Center offers Drug and Alcohol Rehab as well as Primary Mental Health Treatment. 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. Their lawyer denies the allegations and says that their innocence will prevail in court. I realized I cant be the only former student to have these problems, he says. Bryan, by then in his twenties, was working in a state-funded group home. The curriculum included traditional math and English. We want to hear it. Montana carved out a religious exemption when it set up a new system for licensing youth facilities and reform schools in 2007. STOCKTON, Mo. To him, it seemed arbitrary and needlessly brutal. Former Calallen ISD teacher Joseph Sandoval sentenced to 35 years in prison for sexual abuse . 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.. 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. ), Other students describe staffers encouraging classmates to fight one another, and cutting off communication with loved ones when they complained. It was renewed on Dec. 7. In March 2020, a former Agap student named Joseph Askins stopped in to visit, and witnessed abuse that shocked him. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. 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. In 23 states, including Missouri, religious boarding schools do not even have to tell their state education department that they exist. 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. The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time When speaking with Rolling Stone, Clemensen denied the allegations against him and explained his approach to reform. (Clemensen says this was a nickname the boys had for an elbow injury, and denies the abuse.) The schools are unrelated and are not affiliated with any particular Christian denomination. 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 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. 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. He liked Metallica and Garbage Pail Kids cards, and had a tendency to cause trouble. Jan 5, 2023 9:58 am. 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.. 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. Jacob smelled foul and the . Jan. 18, 2023. Closing Agap wouldnt be so easy, but throughout 2021 and 2022, the lawsuits began. Chapel was daily. 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. 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. On cue, at least two others started beating up an unsuspecting student to create a distraction. 79 were here. The troubled teen industry is a term used to refer to a broad range of youth residential programs aimed at struggling teenagers. For so long, nobody cared.. The program markets itself as a Christian school that turns around rebellious boys. Schrags parents said they were unaware of any abuse occurring at the facility; the school had promised close supervision and to redirect his anger in positive ways. I watched him choke, slam kids into the floor, and just basically beat the shit out of them. And he said, No, theyre not., In 1996, the Clemensens purchased 40 acres just outside of town. He is living in California with his mother, Jennifer, and attending a public high school. The school follows a fundamentalist Baptist belief system, according to a 2002 St. Louis Post-Dispatch article, and displayed a photo of the radio evangelist Lester Roloff, who died in a plane crash in 1982. . Clemensen said the decision to close "is voluntary and solely due to the lack of financial resources to continue caring for the boys.". 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). Earlier this year, Smock, the schools longtime physician, was charged with 12 felony sexual-molestation crimes against those in his care. Yet, when a social worker visited the school a year ago to follow up on a report that boys had been forced to run outside in the freezing temperatures and sleet, Francis said he claimed hed never seen abuse at Agap. 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. But in Missouri, only the local prosecutor can file charges, and Cedar County Prosecuting Attorney Ty Gaither has said no additional employees would be charged. 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. Former students and their attorneys allege that for years Clemensen has been a toxic presence at the school, encouraging his staff to use violence to maintain order. The allegations of abuse were filed at the Cedar County Circuit . But in July, his mother rewon custody and sprung him from Agap. Agape's trouble began in 2020 when former students came forward with abuse allegations. IN THE MONTHS AFTER HIS ARRIVAL, Breshears feelings about Agap changed. 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. Many children in foster care feel unlovable because of the abuse they've suffered all their lives. Contact Jorden Tramp, Donor Relations & Event Coordinator at. Interested in learning more about the 2023 Legacy Gala? This results in many children being separated from their siblings and the only community that they know. We are faith-based, free, and swift to respond. Editors picks Master's Ranch Christian Academy which has had a facility in southern Missouri for more than a decade opened a new location . After a months-long investigation, the AGs office recommended 65 charges against 22 staff members, accusing them of abusing 36 children. We are the best rehab . 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. 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. For example, Arkansas allows boarding schools and child welfare agencies operated solely by a religious organization to be exempt from licensing. His religious mother wasnt having it. 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.. 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. But then, Breshears made friends and began to reconsider his allegiances particularly, he says, after he witnessed classmates getting restrained. It was time to go. Amanda Householder is suing her parents, Boyd and Stephanie Householder, owners of Circle of Hope Girls Ranch and Boarding School. 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. Nathan Papes/Springfield News-Leader/Imagn. 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 . In 1996, Agap moved to a 200-acre ranch in Cedar County, Missouri. 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. Call us today and find long-term recovery. KANSAS CITY (AP) Maggie Drew's dad sent her to Circle . We felt they needed God in their lives. The state, he says, had no clue how to get to a kids heart.. Every year, thousands of young Mormons go on missions to try to recruit others into the religion. They say theyre still haunted by nightmares, hypervigilance, and other symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Yet the delays have frustrated state lawmakers. But hes not complaining. The site was littered with old barrels, wood piles, abandoned cars, and insulation containing asbestos. Hilton tweeted to Missouri's attorney general and governor on June 21. Agape Boys Ranch Entrance. 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. Nonetheless, the outcome of the civil suits is far from certain. That's no secret, as news stories in The Christian. The 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time However, the Cedar County prosecutor says no students have been removed from the school. Locals says the Clemensens ingratiated themselves by offering tours, and hosting Boy Scout breakfasts and luncheons for the local Methodist group. She thought heavy metal was like witchcraft, he says. Missouri previously had virtually no oversight for religious boarding schools. The school has been operating in Missouri where until 2021, privately owned schools were not required to report to the state. More than 90% of young adults aging out of the foster system will become homeless, incarcerated, in prostitution, sex trafficked, or dead within three years. He likes to get in peoples heads.. 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. 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. 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 Thrive program will provide housing and mentorship for young adults during their college or trade school career. Circle of Hope Girls Ranch near Humansville . We are gathered here, former students,. Bryan Clemensen stops a tour of the group home to pet Sally, the ranchs beloved camel. 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. Agape had 132 students 13 months ago, its lawyer, John Schultz said. In May 2021, the law requiring religious schools to register with the state passed. Former students say Clemensen, a paunchy middle-aged man with a buzz cut, a soft chin, and a stern manner, had a technique that he called Jurassic Elbow which entailed slamming his elbow into the back of a students skull, face, ribs, or down between the shoulder blades. LAST MARCH, BRESHEARS SAYS, he was on kitchen duty when a staffer said some chocolate milk was missing from the fridge, and accused Breshears and several other students of stealing it. Surprise! Since Circle of Hope opened in 2006, at least 15 people said they reported abuse at the ranch to at least six local, state and federal agencies in Missouri, an NBC News investigation found, based . This created an environment ripe for abuse to happen. 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. After the state removed students from the school in August, Circle of Hope voluntarily . Seth Duncan was charged with five counts of third . The cases against five people who worked at Agape Boarding school are moving forward. 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! 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. The school closed in 2020 amid investigations. 24 homes where foster children can receive the support they need in order to mature in all aspects of their lives. Minnesota has even less control. It also taught creationism and that women should be subservient to their husbands, while weaving biblical references into the materials. Staff members would jump on you, said Schrag. At first glance, the facility for at-risk and unmotivated boys a Baptist institution in Stockton, Missouri wasnt so terrible. 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. in solitary confinement, handcuffed them to beds, Alabama Youth Residential Facility Abuse Prevention Act. One former student reportedly mentioned Agap in a suicide note. Child welfare officials in Washington cited Agap for overcrowding and poor sanitation, according to a 1995 newspaper article. One former student, Colton Schrag, claims he was beat up and slammed into walls during his four years at Agape. For a time, Breshears stayed out of trouble. They allowed it to happen.. Agape Baptist Church owns and operates the private boarding school for boys in Stockton, MO. Thats where someone went too far. Just last summer, former students at a pair of Wyoming ranches alleged in an NBC investigation that they had been forced to perform backbreaking manual labor and subjected to traumatic physical and emotional abuse. Regretfully, child abuse and neglect have continued to rise and the work of Agape Ranch is needed now more than ever. South Carolina is a possibility; it still does not require religious schools to register with the state. Plaintiff was allegedly physically, sexually, and emotionally abused while under the care and supervision of . 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. He is a manipulator, says Breshears. "For nearly three decades, students at Agape Boarding School have experienced emotional, mental, physical . To report a correction or typo, please email digitalnews@ky3.com, State of Missouri investigating Agape Ranch and Boarding School near Stockton, Deputy seriously hurt in crash with driver opening beer, Greene County prosecutor files charges against man accused of crashing truck into a house. 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. I just kind of felt like I was on my own, said Schrag, 28, who now works in the oil industry in Texas. It now has 12. 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 . They held a blood drive, organized a Fourth of July fireworks spectacular, and began holding an annual rodeo. Since last year, 19 former students have filed lawsuits against the school, alleging physical and emotional abuse, and in . DSS added . I pre paid him in February to cut yard 2x for months. Schmitt was elected to the U.S. Senate last year and sworn in this month. The founders, Boyd and Stephanie Householder, received 99 charges of sex crimes, child abuse . Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. . None of these inspections are required at religious boarding schools. STOCKTON, Mo. 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. STOCKTON, Mo. 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. Via Fox13, the local news station out of Salt Lake City, we get a detailed response to the lawsuit from ranch management: "We at Turn-About Ranch strongly deny the allegations put forward in Ms. Allred's press conference. Hymns blared in the classrooms. Its just a very scary place to be, Bradney said. Askins reached out to Child Protective Services and then shared the video with the Householders estranged daughter, Amanda. It would be helpful for them to come in early on this one as opposed to come in at a later date, said Gaither. Agape Boarding School Abuse Lawsuit - Pennsylvania Schools Details: WebFormer students of Agape from Alabama, Texas, and Michigan have filed two civil lawsuits against the Boarding School for multiple charges that include physical, agape ranch abuse Verified 5 days ago To keep order, Agap instituted a military-like hierarchy, indicated by colored shirts that denoted ranks. Students called it the Padded Palace. 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. (Clemensen denies this happened, but says he considers Bindley one of Agaps top success stories.). As owners of the Circle of Hope Ranch, the couple faces 100 criminal abuse charges between them. The way Bryan tells it, in the 1970s, Kathy was a single mom whod found Jesus but still had a mischievous streak. Some former students have made the allegations against Agape Boarding School and Legacy Boys Academy in Stockton, Masters Ranch in far southern Missouri, and Circle of Hope Girls Ranch near . 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. On March 9, 2021, AG Schmitt announced 102 charges against the Householders, including rape and physical abuse. 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. (The recommendations are not public, so the implicated staff members are unknown.) 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. Circle of Hope closed in 2020, and its owners, Boyd and Stephanie Householder, face 101 felony charges, including statutory rape, abuse and neglect of a child. The school states on its website that its staff are trained in proper restraining tactics, which are only used if a child is a threat to others and last for just a few minutes. NWS confirms EF-1 tornado near Goodman, Mo. Send us a tip using our anonymous form. Nathan Papes/Springfield News-Leader/Imagn. Trump White House Pressured Disney to Censor Jimmy Kimmel The Kansas City Star ran a series of exposs detailing shocking allegations first about Circle of Hope, then Agap. Passing under the majestic cross affixed to its towering arched entryway, Breshears gazed over a beautiful campus. After abuse allegations at Circle of Hope Girls Ranch, a religious boarding school near Agap, began spreading on TikTok last spring, the Cedar County Sheriffs Department opened an investigation, which the state attorney general joined and is ongoing. (NBC News presented a copy of Clidences nondisparagement agreement to Agap to confirm or dispute its authenticity, but the school did not respond.). 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. 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. They would put you down, says Breshears. His grandparents sent him to a mental hospital, then to Agap. Clemensen has said the move was necessary because negative publicity has caused enrollment to plummet, and it was not financially feasible to stay open. Operators declined to comment about the investigation. None of these raised eyebrows until former Agap staffers Boyd and Stephanie Householder opened Circle of Hope Girls Ranch. 180 Ministries, a ministry of Teen Challenge, located in Denver Colorado, is a residential substance abuse . Agaps handbook states it has a strict hands-off policy regarding the students, and does not use corporal punishment. Kids into the materials nearly three decades, students at Agape the support they need in to. 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