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. 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. The fastest way for a student to attain a coveted burgundy or red shirt, Breshears soon learned, was to embrace the Lord and help Brother Bryan Bryan Clemensen, the schools co-founder and eventual director and principal enforce the rules. Share. Children as young as four-years-old may have had up to five foster . Address . A 2007 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office found thousands of abuse allegations between 1990 and 2007 in 2005 alone, 33 states reported 1,619 staff members involved in incidents of abuse. Cedar County Prosecutor Ty Gaither asked the governors office for help in his investigation of the Agape Ranch and Boarding School west of Stockton. Lawmakers held hearings and introduced a bill that would give the state some oversight. 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. 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. He would later set up a transport business to collect teens, hiring off-duty deputies to help him. Schrag says he tried to escape around 2007, when he was 15. Trump Melts Down Over Murdoch Admitting Fox Lied About Election Fraud. 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 realized I cant be the only former student to have these problems, he says. 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. He grabbed the bat, charged toward the front of the cafeteria, and shattered a plate-glass window. But then, Breshears made friends and began to reconsider his allegiances particularly, he says, after he witnessed classmates getting restrained. Every year, Agape Ranch hosts our Adoption Connection event to help children in foster care find their forever home. 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. He would later help stage an uprising as an attempt to get thrown out of the school. 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. It was easy to get in trouble for stupid shit, Breshears recalls. The troubled teen industry is a term used to refer to a broad range of youth residential programs aimed at struggling teenagers. More than a decade later, legislators are finally making headway. 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. (Clemensen denies this happened, but says he considers Bindley one of Agaps top success stories.). Colton Shrag, age 16 on a home visit from Agap in 2008. 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. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot loses reelection bid, Fiery train crash in Greece kills dozens, many of them students, 1894 shipwreck found in Lake Huron, confirming "powerful, tragic story", Garland to face Congress amid ongoing special counsel investigations, FBI chief says agency feels pandemic likely started with Chinese lab leak, House select committee hearing paints China as a strategic antagonist, JetBlue flight forced to abort landing in close call at Logan Airport, Three officers shot, standoff follows in Kansas City, Mo., police say, Vanessa Bryant, family settles claims over Kobe crash site photos for $28.5M, Agape Boarding School, Stockton, Cedar County, Missouri. We want to make it about the children's rights rather than taking away religious rights. Their lawyer denies the allegations and says that their innocence will prevail in court. ", "Today, the many victims who have come forth can rest assured that no more children will be hurt at Agape Boarding School," Bucklin said in a text. Chapel was daily. But instead of the therapeutic environment the schools leaders promised, Schrag and 11 others who were sent to Agap as children from the late 1990s up to last year, as well as four former staff members, told NBC News they saw Agap workers hold boys down and hit them. 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. 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. Circle of Hope Girls' Ranch was a reformatory boarding school located in Humansville, Missouri.The school opened in July 2006 and was closed in 2020 amid reports and lawsuits filed by former students alleging child abuse, as well as due to an investigation conducted by the Missouri State Highway Patrol.. Before the school's closure, parents, former students, and staff filed multiple reports to . For example, when many foster children age out of the system, they have lived in an average of 12 foster homes. By 5+ Local Business Owners! It took a disturbing criminal case to make it happen. Tuesday, The Independent reported that DSS substantiated 10 preponderance of evidence claims of physical abuse at Agape. Seven former students said staff members had assaulted them. The report found those leaders had chronically mistreated survivors of abuse and spent decades trying to deny responsibility for abuse at individual . 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. When speaking with Rolling Stone, Clemensen denied the allegations against him and explained his approach to reform. 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. The last time would be his graduation. 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! Agape Ranch will establish a safe environment of. 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! Five months later, authorities raided Circle of Hope, seizing evidence and removing 25 girls from the ranch. One day after the FBI announced the arrest of a former Agape Boarding School dean, a civil right's . Many of the kids my parents took in would be back six months later in worse shape, Bryan says. 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. People who have care, custody, and control of those children have that right, as well. Colton Schrag remembers the night at the Agap Boarding School when, he says, a staff member punched him in the face. In response to a detailed list of follow-up questions, Clemensen, through Agaps attorney, says he has never abused any boy in the history of Agap, and denied that restraints were ever used for punishment. He remembers verbal abuse, such as being told, the world didnt want you and says withholding food was a punishment., Staff members would slam you on the ground, slam you into walls, pick you up by the collar and just slam you around. They noted that DSS had confirmed a case of child abuse and added the name of the Agap staffer responsible to the Child Abuse and Neglect Central Registry, prohibiting him from working at a residential facility. COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. The picture flashed on the big screen, and Brenda Gordon immediately . His religious mother wasnt having it. 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 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. None of these raised eyebrows until former Agap staffers Boyd and Stephanie Householder opened Circle of Hope Girls Ranch. The next home at The Ranch is for youth aging-out of foster care and the need is urgent. (The recommendations are not public, so the implicated staff members are unknown.) The plaintiffs in the newest cases, filed June 15 in Vernon County . I just kind of felt like I was on my own, said Schrag, 28, who now works in the oil industry in Texas. Regretfully, child abuse and neglect have continued to rise and the work of Agape Ranch is needed now more than ever. "Pinehaven has had challenges over the years, but so has everyone," Montana Family Foundation President Jeff Laszloffy said at a 2019 hearing. There wasnt really any training, said James Clidence, a pastor who worked as a teacher at Agap from 2012 to 2015. (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. 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. They also look at records from any incidents in which a child is injured or restrained. Agape Baptist Church owns and operates the private boarding school for boys in Stockton, MO. 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. Indeed, the version of the school students describe, community members say, is starkly different from the Agap the town has come to know. Schrags adoptive parents placed him in Agap which takes its name from the ancient Greek word Christians use to describe the love of God for humankind hoping the program would help him deal with anger issues and disobedience. Advocates are watching the Agap case, and suggest it illustrates why federal legislation is needed. THORNTON, Colo. Agape Bible Church canceled all church services last weekend after a FOX31 Problem Solvers investigation into whether its head pastor tried to cover up an alleged sexual abuse . All Rights reserved. 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. Agape Connection. Bindley remembers learning quickly that retribution for breaking the rules was swift and sometimes painful. 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. Several lawsuits filed on behalf of former students also have named Agape and Circle of Hope. They denied it. KANSAS CITY (AP) Maggie Drew's dad sent her to Circle . W hen Andrew Breshears arrived at the Agap Boarding School in 2018, he was a sandy-haired 12-year-old who weighed less than 100 . Editors Note: This story, which appears in the January 2023 issue of Rolling Stone, has been updated to include additional details on court cases that had not been decided until after the print deadline. 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. Netflixs Outer Banks Buries Itself in Ridiculous Season 3 Full Gala Taping. 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. 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. Agape Boarding School is located on a 200-acre ranch in Stockton, Missouri. Seven boys tested positive for tuberculosis. 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. The team at Agape Ranch said they wanted the youth there Friday night to know that they are valued. Trending Yet Agaps neighbors insist they never had any idea. (As of publication, one defendants case was dismissed, three pleaded guilty to misdemeanors, and one is awaiting a hearing this month.) His outrage became open defiance. SPRINGFIELD DRIVERS: Construction at Campbell and Republic starts soon. Church was on Wednesday and three times on Sunday. Hed hoped to get kicked out, which didnt happen. In the ensuing chaos, a third pulled the fire alarm. But in some states that have tried to close this oversight gap in recent years, like Montana, lawmakers have met with resistance. They promoted me I was the youngest person to go red. but has gone public in the past year with his . 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. 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. 25, 2021 at 2:05 PM PDT. 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. Trump White House Pressured Disney to Censor Jimmy Kimmel 60% of the children in our county are being placed outside of our county due to the lack of foster homes in our community. The action galvanized Agap alumni, as well, and they began telling their stories to local media and on podcasts. On March 9, 2021, AG Schmitt announced 102 charges against the Householders, including rape and physical abuse. 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. There were horses, a swimming pool, and a football team. Youre going to be dead or in prison three months after you turn 18.. The 100 Best Albums of 2022. And they would never tell you how long your stay in Brown Town will be, Breshears says. 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. 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. 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. And I did get saved.. One former student, Colton Schrag, claims he was beat up and slammed into walls during his four years at Agape. Throughout the 1980s, Kathy and Jim fostered children whose parents were in jail. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. 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. At first glance, the facility for at-risk and unmotivated boys a Baptist institution in Stockton, Missouri wasnt so terrible. I was sheltered, Breshears says. Each worker is facing abuse charges. 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. DSS added . . It could last for days on end. It is a matter of time before youth aging out of the foster care system fall prey to the statistics. (KY3) - Missouri's attorney general is investigating a second Cedar County boarding school. 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. Thank you for your generous support [] But he struggled at home. Cedar County, Missouri, where Agap is located, is in the heart of the Bible Belt and Clemensen, his stepfather, Jim, who died in October 2021, and his mother, Kathy, long ago convinced the locals they answer to a higher authority. The couple met when Jim pulled Kathy over for drag racing a beat-up Ford Pinto around the East Bay. 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. After a months-long investigation, the AGs office recommended 65 charges against 22 staff members, accusing them of abusing 36 children. Though Ms. Allred's office has spent months soliciting a cash settlement, we were unaware that a suit would be filed. Breshears spotted a baseball bat poking out of an equipment bag. Agape Ranch is a thriving faith-based non-profit offering a forward-thinking and compassionate community-based solution to the foster care crisis facing America today. The three were convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Some who attended and worked at the school said otherwise. 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. 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. Staffers grabbed Breshears and, he claims, threw him onto the glass. The Thrive program will provide housing and mentorship for young adults during their college or trade school career. Clemensen said the decision to close "is voluntary and solely due to the lack of financial resources to continue caring for the boys.". 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. In Missouri, at least, this could be changing. 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. 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. Locals says the Clemensens ingratiated themselves by offering tours, and hosting Boy Scout breakfasts and luncheons for the local Methodist group. If you resisted any, they would start kneeing you, hitting you, just mashing your face into the tile or concrete, wherever it was.. Boarding schools fleeing abuse claims in other states find 'Promised Land' in Missouri . 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. 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. Meanwhile, tales of abuse continue to emerge. Jacob smelled foul and the . Staff members would jump on you, said Schrag. Minnesota has even less control. It won't be long here in Missouri, he said. 3/11/2021. 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. South Carolina is a possibility; it still does not require religious schools to register with the state. Woody Harrelson Spreads Anti-Vax Conspiracies During SNL Monologue The 57-year-old is currently facing charges of second-degree statutory sodomy . Bucklin wrote the video shows a staff . 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. That was the last straw; they had him committed. We want to hear it. Former students said their communication with parents and local authorities was censored. Closing Agap wouldnt be so easy, but throughout 2021 and 2022, the lawsuits began. 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. I believe the community is aware. Once they were done, staff members took away Schrags clothes and bedding, he said, and made him wear only a bathrobe and his boxers for two months. (Both have pleaded not guilty.) That . 180 Ministries, a ministry of Teen Challenge, located in Denver Colorado, is a residential substance abuse . Jim and Kathy Clemensen a married couple whom people call Brother Clemensen and Maam started Agap in the early 1990s. The staff often singled out members of Brown Town for abuse, depositions filed by former Agap students suggest. Agap did not respond to repeated requests for comment and interviews via phone, email and a letter left at the schools reception desk. Tripadvisor names the world's top 25 beaches, three in the U.S. CDC warns drug-resistant stomach bug a "serious public health threat". James Clemensen founded the Agap Boarding School in the early 1990s. Soon theyd be in a place where they were untouchable. 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 . Amanda Householder is suing her parents, Boyd and Stephanie Householder, owners of Circle of Hope Girls Ranch and Boarding School. When I first got there, I just stayed on the low, trying to do my best, hoping to get out, he says. The Clemenson family, who currently runs Agape, has been shut down in two states due to abuse allegations but no charges were ever made. 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.. Facebook Page. Former Calallen ISD teacher Joseph Sandoval sentenced to 35 years in prison for sexual abuse . 79 were here. Hymns blared in the classrooms. The glass flew everywhere, he says. They said that they were bringing me to my parents, he says. But hes not complaining. 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.) It would be helpful for them to come in early on this one as opposed to come in at a later date, said Gaither. McCrary said in an email on Friday that Graves was not present for social workers interviews with students. Alumni from Agap and Circle of Hope feel the momentum is swinging in their direction. 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. Contact Jorden Tramp, Donor Relations & Event Coordinator at. For example, Arkansas allows boarding schools and child welfare agencies operated solely by a religious organization to be exempt from licensing. He has been a trainer for 10 years specializing in substance abuse. Recently, individuals associated with Agap have been accused of a growing list of crimes. Youre never gonna make it out.. 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