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. James Clemensen founded the Agap Boarding School in the early 1990s. 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. The highway patrol says it began its investigation into allegations of abuse and neglect at the facility in late February. 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 recommendations are not public, so the implicated staff members are unknown.) Selena Gomez Taking a Break From Social Media After Hailey Bieber Drama: I'm 'Too Old for This It was renewed on Dec. 7. In 1991, Todd Bindley, then 13, moved in. They said that they were bringing me to my parents, he says. The video was posted Sunday by Robert Bucklin, who says he survived physical and sexual abuse at Agape Boarding School near Stockton. MANY OF THE ALLEGATIONS AGAINST Agap staffers are easily found on podcasts and interviews on YouTube. The next home at The Ranch is for youth aging-out of foster care and the need is urgent. 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. (As of publication, one defendants case was dismissed, three pleaded guilty to misdemeanors, and one is awaiting a hearing this month.) 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 . KANSAS CITY, Mo. Agape Ranch is dedicated to making a difference within their community and building capacity within the team. Agape now has roughly 60 students, about half of the population the school had in early 2021 when the Missouri Highway Patrol and DSS launched an investigation into abuse allegations. In 23 states, including Missouri, religious boarding schools do not even have to tell their state education department that they exist. The term encompasses various facilities and programs, including youth residential treatment centers, wilderness programs, boot camps, and therapeutic boarding schools.. Seven former students said staff members had assaulted them. Contact Jorden Tramp, Donor Relations & Event Coordinator at jorden@agaperanch.org or click the button below. 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. 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. 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. More than 60% of the children in our county are being placed outside of our county due to the lack of foster homes in our community. They have law-enforcement ties, too. Interested in learning more about the 2023 Legacy Gala? For many survivors of Agap, that would be tough to accept. It is one of the 2 times he saw his family between 2006 and 2010. 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. 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. 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. Askins reached out to Child Protective Services and then shared the video with the Householders estranged daughter, Amanda. We want to make it about the children's rights rather than taking away religious rights. Indeed, the version of the school students describe, community members say, is starkly different from the Agap the town has come to know. 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. 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. Roloff was perhaps best known for starting boarding homes in the 1960s to reform youth he described as parent-hating, Satan-worshipping, dope-taking immoral boys and girls, utilizing corporal punishment and isolation for children who disobeyed. Thank you for your generous support [] Anne Stych June 27, 2022. Send us a tip using our anonymous form. Address . 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. It was time to go. Minnesota has even less control. To him, it seemed arbitrary and needlessly brutal. Many of the kids my parents took in would be back six months later in worse shape, Bryan says. After the state removed students from the school in August, Circle of Hope voluntarily . Agape Boarding School is located on a 200-acre ranch in Stockton, Missouri. Visit Website. 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. But legislation she pushed for several years to require these programs to be licensed by the state the same way as secular facilities repeatedly failed to even get a vote. 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. I watched him choke, slam kids into the floor, and just basically beat the shit out of them. 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. They promoted me I was the youngest person to go red. 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. That meant calling out and even disciplining classmates for infractions like cursing, talking in line, refusing to pledge allegiance to the Christian flag, or talking about their pasts. I hired Agape to cut the lawn. 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. Riley Olson and His crew-help the students start and progress colts raised on the ranch, and each year they have a public auction and the young men that are a part of the program show the horse and ride him through the sale. The state has been fighting to close Agap ever since. 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). In 2021, Agape's longtime doctor, David Smock, was charged with child sex crimes and five employees were charged with low-level abuse counts. Agape Ranch and Boarding School near Stockton, Missouri, a facility operated by Agape Baptist Church. Moments later, Bindley says, Bryan yanked him backward, slamming his chair and his head into the concrete floor. But he struggled at home. In September 2021, he charged five Agap staff members with a total of 13 counts of third-degree assault, the lowest degree of felony. Court records show that David Earl Smock is wanted for assaulting children under 15 at the Agape Boarding School, a Christian private school in Greene County. 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. When he was told he couldnt live with his mother after her stint in rehab, he threatened to kill himself, and another person from the household. He cut it 1x and never would respond to my calls. That was the last straw; they had him committed. Agape Ranch-courtesy photo. For example, Arkansas allows boarding schools and child welfare agencies operated solely by a religious organization to be exempt from licensing. 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. Nathan Papes/Springfield News-Leader/Imagn. Bryan Clemensen stops a tour of the group home to pet Sally, the ranchs beloved camel. 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. Its just a very scary place to be, Bradney said. 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. There, according to Bindley, he was put to work painting, roofing, and helping to dismantle a web of lead pipes covered in asbestos, which he was told to carry to the top of a hill and throw into a pit used to burn garbage. She thought heavy metal was like witchcraft, he says. Yet the delays have frustrated state lawmakers. Advocates are watching the Agap case, and suggest it illustrates why federal legislation is needed. But then, Breshears made friends and began to reconsider his allegiances particularly, he says, after he witnessed classmates getting restrained. Amanda, then 29, says her parents kicked her out when she was 17. For secular youth facilities regulated by Missouris social services department, as well as those that have contracts with the state, social welfare agents conduct inspections at least twice a year to review staff training, check compliance with fire and health codes, and make sure employees have background checks and that children get proper medical attention. McCrary said in an email on Friday that Graves was not present for social workers interviews with students. After a months-long investigation, the AGs office recommended 65 charges against 22 staff members, accusing them of abusing 36 children. It won't be long here in Missouri, he said. 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. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. The founders, Boyd and Stephanie Householder, received 99 charges of sex crimes, child abuse . Bindley remembers learning quickly that retribution for breaking the rules was swift and sometimes painful. 1:00. Cedar . The Thrive program will provide housing and mentorship for young adults during their college or trade school career. 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. Munton allowed the school to remain open, with state supervision.Allegations of physical and sexual abuse at Agape and nearby Christian boarding school Circle of Hope Girls' Ranch prompted a . (Jill Toyoshiba/The Kansas City Star/Tribune News Service via Getty Images), Pennsylvania police seized gloves, flashlight from home of Idaho murders suspect. The organization did not respond to requests for comment, but in presentations to the Legislature, the group repeatedly highlighted reports that children had been assaulted at secular youth facilities regulated by the state. 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. 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. Jennifer says she knows it will take a while to reconnect, and she worries about the psychic scars left by the school shes already noticed that her son hates horses now. STOCKTON, Mo. The allegations of abuse were filed at the Cedar County Circuit . 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.". 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. Hilton tweeted to Missouri's attorney general and governor on June 21. Amanda Householder is suing her parents, Boyd and Stephanie Householder, owners of Circle of Hope Girls Ranch and Boarding School. Boyd opened the ranch in 2006 as a "school that he claimed could reform rebellious teenage girls," according to NBC News. Agape Connection. One day after the FBI announced the arrest of a former Agape Boarding School dean, a civil right's . Tuesday, The Independent reported that DSS substantiated 10 preponderance of evidence claims of physical abuse at Agape. He says one told local police that he had escaped from a Nazi camp.. Contact Agape International Missions Email: info@aim4asia.org Phone: 916.784.2800. 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! He liked Metallica and Garbage Pail Kids cards, and had a tendency to cause trouble. 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. "If you're using the Bible or God to justify any of these things, that is sacrilegious.". 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. Colton Shrag, age 16 on a home visit from Agap in 2008. He would later help stage an uprising as an attempt to get thrown out of the school. 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. 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. Hed hoped to get kicked out, which didnt happen. Pinehaven did not respond to a request for comment. Gaither says at this point, they dont know if there will be any charges. And he said, No, theyre not. He cuffed me up and dropped me back off at Agap. He is a manipulator, says Breshears. The way Bryan tells it, in the 1970s, Kathy was a single mom whod found Jesus but still had a mischievous streak. 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. The Kansas City Star reported that the Householders deny all allegations . It has not come up for a vote yet, but key Republicans in the Legislature have already signaled support. His religious mother wasnt having it. 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. The Kansas City Star ran a series of exposs detailing shocking allegations first about Circle of Hope, then Agap. That's no secret, as news stories in The Christian. He enjoyed watching movies, listening to Elvis, and playing soccer with his friends. 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. 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. The site, designed as a Christian camp, had cabins, a shower facility, a mess hall, and a small chapel. Hymns blared in the classrooms. . 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. This created an environment ripe for abuse to happen. We felt they needed God in their lives. The state, he says, had no clue how to get to a kids heart.. 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. Stockton is located 130 miles south of Kansas City, a lazy drive down sunbaked roads lined with oak forests and rolling fields. Attendance at Agape plummeted after abuse allegations surfaced. Jim and Kathy Clemensen a married couple whom people call Brother Clemensen and Maam started Agap in the early 1990s. If there is a question about a policy or rule, do not ask your son.. Share. The posts went viral even receiving a thumbs-up from Paris Hilton. The desire of 51:10 Youth Ranch is to provide a safe place for children, horses and families. 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. 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. The schools are unrelated and are not affiliated with any particular Christian denomination. Trending In May 2021, the law requiring religious schools to register with the state passed. Bryan Clemensen was not among those charged. Jan 5, 2023 9:58 am. At least two other states Montana and Arkansas carve out licensing exemptions for religious facilities. (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. There was a small room down a dark staircase with blue padded floors and holes punched in the wall. They claim Clemensen was on a power trip and seemed to enjoy brutalizing the kids in his charge. But Breshears got a rude welcome. Agape Boarding School in Stockton has been the subject of state and local investigations and several lawsuits from former students. Copyright 2023 Penske Business Media, LLC. Schmitt was elected to the U.S. Senate last year and sworn in this month. Facebook Page. For example, when many foster children age out of the system, they have lived in an average of 12 foster homes. But hes not complaining. One former student, Colton Schrag, claims he was beat up and slammed into walls during his four years at Agape. One killed in officer-involved shooting in Branson, Mo. Earlier this year, Smock, the schools longtime physician, was charged with 12 felony sexual-molestation crimes against those in his care. There wasnt really any training, said James Clidence, a pastor who worked as a teacher at Agap from 2012 to 2015. . Former Calallen ISD teacher Joseph Sandoval sentenced to 35 years in prison for sexual abuse . Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Whatever the case, Clemensen has many allies where it perhaps counts the most: in the community. 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. Weve had 6,000 students and only a small percent are making these claims, and I could give you the names of many who thank me. Rolling Stone contacted one of them, Matt Carlson, who says he spent the better part of a year at Agap in the early 2000s. Another describes a staffer holding a pocket knife to his throat. He smacked me in the face with his elbow for saying the f-word. They called the school Agap, meaning Gods love for man. Jim and Kathy appeared at the hospital a few weeks later. More than a decade later, legislators are finally making headway. In the aftermath of the criminal case, the state enacted the Alabama Youth Residential Facility Abuse Prevention Act in 2017. Mr. Lewis, CAP, has been credentialed as a certified alcohol and drug counselor for 20 years. Alumni from Agap and Circle of Hope feel the momentum is swinging in their direction. 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. 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 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. 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. It appeared to be a vast improvement over his previous digs. He is living in California with his mother, Jennifer, and attending a public high school. 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. Nonetheless, the outcome of the civil suits is far from certain. The 57-year-old is currently facing charges of second-degree statutory sodomy . 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.. All Rights Reserved. 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. 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. 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. Montana carved out a religious exemption when it set up a new system for licensing youth facilities and reform schools in 2007. 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. Colton Schrag, who spent years at Agape Boarding School in southwest Missouri, where dozens of former students have described experiencing abuse, testifies during a committee hearing on Feb. 10, 2021. But under Missouri law, it was up to Cedar County prosecutor Ty Gaither to file charges. Several lawsuits filed on behalf of former students also have named Agape and Circle of Hope. (Photo by Tim Bommel/House Communications) Within a few months, he says, three students ran away. One former student reportedly mentioned Agap in a suicide note. They led to a front-page story in the Cedar County Republican. 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. When I first got there, I just stayed on the low, trying to do my best, hoping to get out, he says. 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. Recently, individuals associated with Agap have been accused of a growing list of crimes. Five months later, authorities raided Circle of Hope, seizing evidence and removing 25 girls from the ranch. . (888) 614-0077. . The curriculum included traditional math and English. Its good to be back with family, he says. He would later set up a transport business to collect teens, hiring off-duty deputies to help him. Families looking to adopt are invited to meet, play, and talk to these children, and we need help putting it on. Missouri's Agap Boarding School will close its doors due to a lack of finances, school officials say but the . Staff called it the intake room. / AP. (361) 742-6330. Locals says the Clemensens ingratiated themselves by offering tours, and hosting Boy Scout breakfasts and luncheons for the local Methodist group. Yet Agaps neighbors insist they never had any idea. In 1996, Agap moved to a 200-acre ranch in Cedar County, Missouri. Agape Boarding School was moving away from the "nonbelievers" in Washington and California and heading east. 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