It has not come up for a vote yet, but key Republicans in the Legislature have already signaled support. 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. More than a decade later, legislators are finally making headway. In November, a man who is reportedly a former Agap employee was charged with 215 counts of possession of child pornography. One former student, Colton Schrag, claims he was beat up and slammed into walls during his four years at Agape. ), Such alleged retribution was not necessarily confined to Brown Town. He says staff would restrain boys on the ground and use pressure points to the point of bruising. The argument grew heated, he says, and the staffer told the kids they were going to Brown Town. 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. Boyd opened the ranch in 2006 as a "school that he claimed could reform rebellious teenage girls," according to NBC News. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. On cue, at least two others started beating up an unsuspecting student to create a distraction. He likes to get in peoples heads.. Several lawsuits filed on behalf of former students also have named Agape and Circle of Hope. 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. If there is a question about a policy or rule, do not ask your son.. 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. 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. (KY3) - Missouris attorney general is investigating a second Cedar County boarding school. For more on this story, watch NBC's "Dateline" episode, "Broken Circle". Within months, Jim was both saved and married, and Bryan had a new stepdad. Clidence said Agap fired him in March 2015 when the school asked employees to sign a nondisparagement agreement, and he refused. 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. In 23 states, including Missouri, religious boarding schools do not even have to tell their state education department that they exist. At least two other states Montana and Arkansas carve out licensing exemptions for religious facilities. The staff often singled out members of Brown Town for abuse, depositions filed by former Agap students suggest. (Both have pleaded not guilty.) Jan 5, 2023 9:58 am. 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. 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. After the state removed students from the school in August, Circle of Hope voluntarily . Thank you for your generous support [] But hes not complaining. (Agap denies this.) The next home at The Ranch is for youth aging-out of foster care and the need is urgent. The Clemenson family, who currently runs Agape, has been shut down in two states due to abuse allegations but no charges were ever made. But then, Breshears made friends and began to reconsider his allegiances particularly, he says, after he witnessed classmates getting restrained. He grabbed the bat, charged toward the front of the cafeteria, and shattered a plate-glass window. The way Bryan tells it, in the 1970s, Kathy was a single mom whod found Jesus but still had a mischievous streak. Share. And I did get saved.. abuse at agape I have spent the last 5 days at agape boys ranch helping with the annual horse sale. I just kind of felt like I was on my own, said Schrag, 28, who now works in the oil industry in Texas. Jim and Kathy Clemensen a married couple whom people call Brother Clemensen and Maam started Agap in the early 1990s. but has gone public in the past year with his . 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. They claim Clemensen was on a power trip and seemed to enjoy brutalizing the kids in his charge. 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. 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. Graves did not respond to a request for comment. They moved their wards in and set them to work clearing the site and fixing the property. 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. Colton Shrag, age 16 on a home visit from Agap in 2008. 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. At first glance, the facility for at-risk and unmotivated boys a Baptist institution in Stockton, Missouri wasnt so terrible. Gaither says at this point, they dont know if there will be any charges. His religious mother wasnt having it. By then, Circle of Hope had shut down after the state removed dozens of its students. Its good to be back with family, he says. One day after the FBI announced the arrest of a former Agape Boarding School dean, a civil right's . The desire of 51:10 Youth Ranch is to provide a safe place for children, horses and families. It received initial passage in the house and needs one more vote before going on to the Senate. . Its about getting these kids to a place in their life where they have to look to God for help, he says. I for sure think it would be harder to bring charges, because then your standard of proof is going to be higher, said Daniel Pollack, a social work professor at Yeshiva University. 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 was time to go. Operators declined to comment about the investigation. 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. Others said they suffered permanent injuries from being disciplined or forced to work long hours of manual labor. There is no cost to you, not even if you enroll in any school we might mention to you. State regulates church boarding schools after abuse allegations. Pinehaven did not respond to a request for comment. KANSAS CITY (AP) Maggie Drew's dad sent her to Circle . 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. Church was on Wednesday and three times on Sunday. Im trying to aim for a decent life, you know what Im saying? 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. Sandoval, Agaps dean of students, worked shifts at the county jail. If you're using the Bible or God to justify any of these things, that is sacrilegious. 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. One killed in officer-involved shooting in Branson, Mo. On Dec. 21, a judge issued a preliminary injunction that will keep him off the list until he receives a full trial (with testimony and subpoenaed witnesses) or until further Order of this Court. In the meantime, Clemensen is prevented from having physical contact with students, but can continue working at the school. 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 . 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. February 28, 2023. Though the area is largely Baptist, Cedar County has a tradition of religious tolerance. 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. Amanda, then 29, says her parents kicked her out when she was 17. Boarding schools fleeing abuse claims in other states find 'Promised Land' in Missouri . (Clemensen denies this happened, but says he considers Bindley one of Agaps top success stories.). The evening began with a social hour and silent auction and continued with dinner and inspirational testimonies as we opened the next chapter of Agape Ranch. 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. Seth Duncan was charged with five counts of third . 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. South Carolina is a possibility; it still does not require religious schools to register with the state. By JIM SALTER. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. It appeared to be a vast improvement over his previous digs. I can at least try to show others that you dont have to keep it inside. Passing under the majestic cross affixed to its towering arched entryway, Breshears gazed over a beautiful campus. Agape Ranch will establish a safe environment of. 3 KCPD officers shot; standoff continues into Wednesday morning. The Thrive program will provide housing and mentorship for young adults during their college or trade school career. The school still faces a wave of lawsuits accusing administrators of abuse. Staff called it the intake or restraint room. 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. 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.. / AP. Federal lawmakers say they plan to introduce legislation to curtail abuses in the industry. Jim and Kathy appeared at the hospital a few weeks later. I hired Agape to cut the lawn. hen Andrew Breshears arrived at the Agap Boarding School in 2018, he was a sandy-haired 12-year-old who weighed less than 100 pounds. It is a matter of time before youth aging out of the foster care system fall prey to the statistics. The law many former students of schools like Agap see as a model comes from an unlikely state to scrap religious exemptions: Alabama. Schrag says he tried to escape around 2007, when he was 15. Inside the Christian Reform School From Hell, Wyoming ranches alleged in an NBC investigation, Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints. Lawmakers held hearings and introduced a bill that would give the state some oversight. When speaking with Rolling Stone, Clemensen denied the allegations against him and explained his approach to reform. We are the best rehab . I pre paid him in February to cut yard 2x for months. He smacked me in the face with his elbow for saying the f-word. Wednesday afternoon, a House committee questions Missouri Department of Social Services leaders about their investigations into boarding schools. Until 2017, Alabamas Religious Freedom Amendment shielded boarding schools such as the Restoration Youth Academy and its sister facility, the Saving Youth Foundation, from government oversight. The cases against five people who worked at Agape Boarding school are moving forward. 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 . It was renewed on Dec. 7. 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. In September 2021, he charged five Agap staff members with a total of 13 counts of third-degree assault, the lowest degree of felony. Visit Website. Home to a population of 1,600, it has a tiny main square, the worlds largest processor of eastern black walnuts, and 21 churches. (KY3) - Missouri's attorney general is investigating a second Cedar County boarding school. And he said, No, theyre not. He cuffed me up and dropped me back off at Agap. 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. Circle of Hope Girls Ranch near Humansville . For a time, Breshears stayed out of trouble. 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. . 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. There were horses, a swimming pool, and a football team. Staff members would jump on you, said Schrag. STOCKTON, Mo. Missouri previously had virtually no oversight for religious boarding schools. After each event, the team assesses what went well, what could be done better, and how many children/foster families were positively impacted. 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. Still, administrators at many of these schools insist they are a force for good. The founders of Circle of Hope face around 100 charges, some alleging sexual abuse. 2022 maintained by Gibler Shaw Enterprises. 5151 Flynn Parkway Suite 106 Corpus Christi, TX 78411. Upon completion, our self sustaining community will care for up to 132 foster children and young adults at a time. They would put you down, says Breshears. Lack of oversight is not limited to Missouri. But many lawmakers are also oblivious to the consequences of lax oversight until there's a scandal. A decent life.. Agape Ranch is dedicated to making a difference within their community and building capacity within the team. Breshears spotted a baseball bat poking out of an equipment bag. Former Calallen ISD teacher Joseph Sandoval sentenced to 35 years in prison for sexual abuse . Mow Grass and Maintain Landscaping. Seven former students said staff members had assaulted them. 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 state has been fighting to close Agap ever since. The troubled teen industry is a term used to refer to a broad range of youth residential programs aimed at struggling teenagers. 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. 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.". 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. 2 min read. 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. Youre never gonna make it out.. 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. Bryan, by then in his twenties, was working in a state-funded group home. 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. If I can save one kid, its worth it to me.. First published on January 11, 2023 / 6:04 PM. They called the school Agap, meaning Gods love for man. 2023 The Associated Press. I was sheltered, Breshears says. 90% of young adults aging-out of the foster care system will become homeless, incarcerated, in prostitution, sex trafficked, or dead within three years. 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