Wednesday afternoon, a House committee questions Missouri Department of Social Services leaders about their investigations into boarding schools. Contact Jorden Tramp, Donor Relations & Event Coordinator at jorden@agaperanch.org or click the button below. 24, 2021 at 10:23 AM PDT | Updated: Mar. 1.0 Stephen H. Winter Haven, FL. 3 KCPD officers shot; standoff continues into Wednesday morning. The founders of Circle of Hope face around 100 charges, some alleging sexual abuse. They were very detailed and professional. At the time of reporting, he is not yet in police custody, and an arrest warrant has been issued in his name. / AP. Clemensen said the decision to close "is voluntary and solely due to the lack of financial resources to continue caring for the boys.". Former students wonder if its because of this that authorities failed to act sooner. For a time, Breshears stayed out of trouble. 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. 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. 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. Nathan Papes/Springfield News-Leader/Imagn. 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. Cant make those decisions until weve had an opportunity to review the investigative reports, and those are being put together, said Gaither. DSS added . 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. Mow Grass and Maintain Landscaping. Related: 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. 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. In other words, Grandmother can spank the children as can Agap.. I tried to find a record of it, but there was none. (The Cedar County Sheriffs Department did not return calls seeking comment.). 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. But under Missouri law, it was up to Cedar County prosecutor Ty Gaither to file charges. 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. Church was on Wednesday and three times on Sunday. But he would soon come to suffer horrifying abuse, he says experiences in line with what at least 18 former Agap students have recently alleged in lawsuits. Officials . Its good to be back with family, he says. It was renewed on Dec. 7. It appeared to be a vast improvement over his previous digs. The cases against five people who worked at Agape Boarding school are moving forward. Jacob smelled foul and the . 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. Bindley remembers learning quickly that retribution for breaking the rules was swift and sometimes painful. After each event, the team assesses what went well, what could be done better, and how many children/foster families were positively impacted. 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. Another describes a staffer holding a pocket knife to his throat. abuse at agape I have spent the last 5 days at agape boys ranch helping with the annual horse sale. It was time to go. Award honors influential children's minister. 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. (They do so much good for this town and you cannot believe the difference they have made in these young men, says Jackie Cargell, who has lived in the town for 57 years.) The school closed in 2020 amid investigations. NBC News reported on the allegations earlier this . 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.. Trump Melts Down Over Murdoch Admitting Fox Lied About Election Fraud. 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 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. Missouri previously had virtually no . In March 2020, a former Agap student named Joseph Askins stopped in to visit, and witnessed abuse that shocked him. They promoted me I was the youngest person to go red. 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. Families looking to adopt are invited to meet, play, and talk to these children, and we need help putting it on. 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. One former Agape student who sued, Robert Bucklin, said the closure means justice "has finally prevailed. Contact Jorden Tramp, Donor Relations & Event Coordinator at. 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. They also look at records from any incidents in which a child is injured or restrained. 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. 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. So they were all, in my book, guilty of association, said Schrag. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. Right away, staff shaved his head, handed him an orange shirt and a pair of Wranglers, moved him into a dorm that looked like Marine barracks, and introduced him to a dizzying litany of rules. I realized I cant be the only former student to have these problems, he says. The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time 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. Lucas Francis, 19, said he regularly witnessed staff members slam boys into walls and onto the ground when he attended Agap from 2017 to 2020. Circle of Hope was opened in 2006 by Boyd Householder, a former Agap employee, as a school for rebellious teenage girls. Schmitt last year asked a Cedar County judge to close Agape, but the judge had not yet issued a decision. He is a manipulator, says Breshears. Jan. 23, 2023. 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 troubled teen industry is a term used to refer to a broad range of youth residential programs aimed at struggling teenagers. It is a matter of time before youth aging out of the foster care system fall prey to the statistics. McCrary said in an email on Friday that Graves was not present for social workers interviews with students. They claim Clemensen was on a power trip and seemed to enjoy brutalizing the kids in his charge. 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. 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.. 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. Located just outside Stockton, Agape is the second unlicensed Christian boarding school in the state to be investigated for allegations of abuse. Agape Ranch and Boarding School near Stockton, Missouri, a facility operated by Agape Baptist Church. Regretfully, child abuse and neglect have continued to rise and the work of Agape Ranch is needed now more than ever. 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 could last for days on end. The boarding school typically has about 150 boys enrolled, ages 12 to 17, and they share the ranch with farm and exotic animals, including cows, horses, llamas, water buffalo, camels and zebras, according to the schools website. 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. But Breshears got a rude welcome. Colton Schrag remembers the night at the Agap Boarding School when, he says, a staff member punched him in the face. All Rights Reserved. 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 . Clemensen has said the move was necessary because negative publicity has caused enrollment to plummet, and it was not financially feasible to stay open. Chapel was daily. Within months, Jim was both saved and married, and Bryan had a new stepdad. I watched him choke, slam kids into the floor, and just basically beat the shit out of them. 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 home at The Ranch is for youth aging-out of foster care and the need is urgent. Many Stockton residents consider Agap a mark of honor. Agaps handbook states it has a strict hands-off policy regarding the students, and does not use corporal punishment. The founders, Boyd and Stephanie Householder, received 99 charges of sex crimes, child abuse . Copyright 2023 Penske Business Media, LLC. Boyd and Stephanie Householders daughter says they worked at Agape for four years. The allegations of abuse were filed at the Cedar County Circuit . 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. 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. STOCKTON, Mo. The school is a nonprofit owned by the Agap Baptist Church, which was also started by the Clemensens. The foothills of the Ozarks sat in the distance. None of these inspections are required at religious boarding schools. The term encompasses various facilities and programs, including youth residential treatment centers, wilderness programs, boot camps, and therapeutic boarding schools.. Jan 5, 2023 9:58 am. We felt they needed God in their lives. The state, he says, had no clue how to get to a kids heart.. On March 9, 2021, AG Schmitt announced 102 charges against the Householders, including rape and physical abuse. Trump White House Pressured Disney to Censor Jimmy Kimmel Earlier this year, Smock, the schools longtime physician, was charged with 12 felony sexual-molestation crimes against those in his care. (Householder has denied that any abuse occurred at the ranch.). Woody Harrelson Spreads Anti-Vax Conspiracies During SNL Monologue The curriculum included traditional math and English. Agape Ranch will establish a safe environment of. Agape Boarding School, a Christian reform school in Cedar County, is under investigation by local authorities and the Missouri Attorney Generals office. I dont want another kid to have to go through what I went through, Schrag said. 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. The most surprising thing is that nothing has been done so far to change anything, Ingle said. The charges come after the Missouri State Highway Patrol investigated allegations of abuse at the boarding school. 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 site was littered with old barrels, wood piles, abandoned cars, and insulation containing asbestos. Montana carved out a religious exemption when it set up a new system for licensing youth facilities and reform schools in 2007. First published on January 11, 2023 / 6:04 PM. They called the school Agap, meaning Gods love for man. 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. He says one told local police that he had escaped from a Nazi camp.. One former student, Colton Schrag, claims he was beat up and slammed into walls during his four years at Agape. (888) 614-0077. . Circle of Hope Girls' Ranch, a nearby Christian boarding school for girls, was shut down in 2020. Jim and Kathy appeared at the hospital a few weeks later. In Missouri, at least, this could be changing. . 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. Still, administrators at many of these schools insist they are a force for good. In Missouri, parents are allowed to discipline their children, he said. . In 1996, Agap moved to a 200-acre ranch in Cedar County, Missouri. Christian Reform School Accused of Abuse Shuts Down After Rolling Stone Expos. 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. Carlson said he never witnessed abuse and credited the school with temporarily keeping him off meth and teaching him how to lay tile. A scandal-plagued fundamentalist boarding school in Missouri is facing renewed criticism after video surfaced allegedly showing "clear abuse" by a leader at the school. It will stop providing service effective Jan. 20, according to a statement from the school for boys. Pinehaven did not respond to a request for comment. (As of publication, one defendants case was dismissed, three pleaded guilty to misdemeanors, and one is awaiting a hearing this month.) The Montana Family Foundation, an anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage advocacy organization, lobbied against the proposals, as well, and Smith said their opposition scared lawmakers who didnt want a negative mark on the conservative groups legislative scorecard. Agape's trouble began in 2020 when former students came forward with abuse allegations. Operators advertise it as a national boarding school for at-risk or unmotivated boys. That shouldn't be happening., If not, he added, kids are going to wind up losing their lives.. His religious mother wasnt having it. The three were convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison. 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. The group claims a wide range of abuse, from starvation to physical and emotional abuse. But a Senate staffer helping to write the legislation cautions that in order to get a bill passed, they will likely have to tie compliance to funding, and are unlikely to mandate it. I was sheltered, Breshears says. 25, 2021 at 2:05 PM PDT. None of these raised eyebrows until former Agap staffers Boyd and Stephanie Householder opened Circle of Hope Girls Ranch. One day after the FBI announced the arrest of a former Agape Boarding School dean, a civil right's . As owners of the Circle of Hope Ranch, the couple faces 100 criminal abuse charges between them. 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. 90% of young adults aging-out of the foster care system will become homeless, incarcerated, in prostitution, sex trafficked, or dead within three years. 5151 Flynn Parkway Suite 106 Corpus Christi, TX 78411. 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. Many of these programs, which are estimated to serve as many as 200,000 kids at any one time, are allowed to operate with virtual impunity, thanks to federal inaction and permissive state laws. Minnesota has even less control. (The recommendations are not public, so the implicated staff members are unknown.) Lawmakers proposed legislation to provide oversight for faith-based boarding schools in Missouri. Bryan Clemensen stops a tour of the group home to pet Sally, the ranchs beloved camel. Clemensen picked the state specifically because of its lack of regulation, he told a reporter in 2002, and said the school would leave Missouri if required to get a license. . These courses are core requirements for Florida . 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. 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 . State regulates church boarding schools after abuse allegations. ON SEPT. 7, 2022, ATTORNEY GENERAL SCHMITT and the State Department of Social Services (DSS) filed to close Agap. When speaking with Rolling Stone, Clemensen denied the allegations against him and explained his approach to reform. The Kansas City Star ran a series of exposs detailing shocking allegations first about Circle of Hope, then Agap. 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. Please enter valid email address to continue. Posted Apr 03, 2022 11:00 AM. It is one of the 2 times he saw his family between 2006 and 2010. A decent life.. And he encouraged that kind of crap from staff members.. The team at Agape Ranch said they wanted the youth there Friday night to know that they are valued. On cue, at least two others started beating up an unsuspecting student to create a distraction. For example, when many foster children age out of the system, they have lived in an average of 12 foster homes. I can't find any scriptures in the Bible that would say that it's OK to physically or sexually abuse children, to starve them as means of punishment, to withhold medication, to deprive them of sleep, to force them into manual labor, Ingle said. 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. And they would never tell you how long your stay in Brown Town will be, Breshears says. Child welfare officials in Washington cited Agap for overcrowding and poor sanitation, according to a 1995 newspaper article. Nonetheless, the outcome of the civil suits is far from certain. Many of the kids my parents took in would be back six months later in worse shape, Bryan says. At least two other states Montana and Arkansas carve out licensing exemptions for religious facilities. (Both have pleaded not guilty.) Soon theyd be in a place where they were untouchable. At first glance, the facility for at-risk and unmotivated boys a Baptist institution in Stockton, Missouri wasnt so terrible. Since last year, 19 former students have filed lawsuits against the school, alleging physical and emotional abuse, and in . He is living in California with his mother, Jennifer, and attending a public high school. 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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. James Clemensen was a California State Highway patrolman with a death wish so extreme the wives of his fellow troopers forbade their husbands from hanging out with him. Boyd opened the ranch in 2006 as a "school that he claimed could reform rebellious teenage girls," according to NBC News. In 1991, Todd Bindley, then 13, moved in. That's because Agap is a religious school, which makes it exempt from the state rules governing secular boarding schools and childrens homes. 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. They would say, Youre nothing. Nathan Papes/Springfield News-Leader/Imagn. By JIM SALTER. He likes to get in peoples heads.. Meanwhile, tales of abuse continue to emerge. I hired Agape to cut the lawn. The newly appointed attorney general, Andrew Bailey, had said he planned to continue pursuing closure. 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. (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. Seven boys tested positive for tuberculosis. 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. They held a blood drive, organized a Fourth of July fireworks spectacular, and began holding an annual rodeo. Cedar County Sheriff James Jimbob McCrary denied that Graves was present for interviews with students. Agape Ranch plans out programs, fund raisers, and community outreach monthly. The school still faces a wave of lawsuits accusing administrators of abuse. Facebook Page. It has not come up for a vote yet, but key Republicans in the Legislature have already signaled support. 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. Visit Website. Gaither declined to comment, but told the Cedar County Republican that Agap has the right to administer corporal punishment. Alumni from Agap and Circle of Hope feel the momentum is swinging in their direction. 180 Ministries, a ministry of Teen Challenge, located in Denver Colorado, is a residential substance abuse . You can start to heal., For his part, Breshears is grateful to be free. A judge ordered the school closed only to put the order on hold after Agap fired the staffer in question. More than a decade later, legislators are finally making headway. 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. 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. 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. We need people who will financially contribute and volunteer at the event to help give these . ), Such alleged retribution was not necessarily confined to Brown Town. It was Clemensen who introduced the practice of restraints in the early 2000s, says Ryan Frazier, attorney for Monsees and Mayer PC, which is representing 18 former students in suits against the school. Circle of Hope Girls Ranch near Humansville . (Knock her out! he can be heard saying.) The 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time The Agape Boarding School was in Othello from 1992-96. But hes not complaining. 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. 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. Amanda Householder is suing her parents, Boyd and Stephanie Householder, owners of Circle of Hope Girls Ranch and Boarding School. Francis lied, he said, because Robert Graves a Cedar County sheriffs deputy who is on the board of Agaps church and has worked at the school was present for the interview. 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