It will stop providing service effective Jan. 20, according to a statement from the school for boys. 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 . By 14, Breshears says, he was fully in staffers crosshairs. There were horses, a swimming pool, and a football team. However, the Cedar County prosecutor says no students have been removed from the school. Copyright 2023 Penske Business Media, LLC. 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. Meanwhile, tales of abuse continue to emerge. (Clemensen denies this happened, but says he considers Bindley one of Agaps top success stories.). The argument grew heated, he says, and the staffer told the kids they were going to Brown Town. The Kansas City Star reported that the Householders deny all allegations . 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. The result, experts said, is that in much of the country, no one from the government checks to ensure that these facilities, often in remote regions, meet basic standards before children are enrolled. "Pinehaven has had challenges over the years, but so has everyone," Montana Family Foundation President Jeff Laszloffy said at a 2019 hearing. COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. The picture flashed on the big screen, and Brenda Gordon immediately . Former students said their communication with parents and local authorities was censored. At least two other states Montana and Arkansas carve out licensing exemptions for religious facilities. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. 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.) 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. The troubled teen industry is a term used to refer to a broad range of youth residential programs aimed at struggling teenagers. Editors picks 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. Missouri previously had virtually no . The schools are unrelated and are not affiliated with any particular Christian denomination. 79 were here. 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. 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. But hes not complaining. All Rights Reserved. The posts went viral even receiving a thumbs-up from Paris Hilton. Church was on Wednesday and three times on Sunday. Via Fox13, the local news station out of Salt Lake City, we get a detailed response to the lawsuit from ranch management: "We at Turn-About Ranch strongly deny the allegations put forward in Ms. Allred's press conference. They would put you down, says Breshears. 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. (Agap denies any knowledge of these allegations. Bindley, who Clemensen calls one of Agaps top success stories, says the experience left him with lasting trauma, and left a stain on my childhood growing up., Colton Schrag says he decided to speak after PTSD drove him into counseling. Students called it the Padded Palace. More than a decade later, legislators are finally making headway. 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. And he encouraged that kind of crap from staff members.. Jan 5, 2023 9:58 am. Jacob smelled foul and the . Passing under the majestic cross affixed to its towering arched entryway, Breshears gazed over a beautiful campus. The school closed in 2020 amid investigations. . 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. In 1996, Agap moved to a 200-acre ranch in Cedar County, Missouri. Trump White House Pressured Disney to Censor Jimmy Kimmel Bryan Clemensen was not among those charged. And that's what it's all about.. But under Missouri law, it was up to Cedar County prosecutor Ty Gaither to file charges. He says staff would restrain boys on the ground and use pressure points to the point of bruising. The more Ingle learned about Circle of Hope, the more she came to believe that the problem wasn't limited to one school, but pointed to a systemic failure of state oversight. . 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. UPDATE (Feb. 12, 2021, 2:33 p.m. He says he and others suffered frequent physical abuse, at the hands of at least a dozen staff members, and others didnt stop it. Earlier this year, Smock, the schools longtime physician, was charged with 12 felony sexual-molestation crimes against those in his care. Agape Boarding school has had its share of abuse allegations over the years. Minnesota has even less control. 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. Boyd opened the ranch in 2006 as a "school that he claimed could reform rebellious teenage girls," according to NBC News. STOCKTON, Mo. One day after the FBI announced the arrest of a former Agape Boarding School dean, a civil right's . They claim Clemensen was on a power trip and seemed to enjoy brutalizing the kids in his charge. He is pleased to hear the Missouri attorney generals office is now investigating Agape Boarding School. NBC News reported on the allegations earlier this . Cedar County Prosecutor Ty Gaither asked the governors office for help in his investigation of the Agape Ranch and Boarding School west of Stockton. They held a blood drive, organized a Fourth of July fireworks spectacular, and began holding an annual rodeo. Updated: Dec 13, 2022 / 12:48 PM CST. In 1991, Todd Bindley, then 13, moved in. And its not just Missouri. Thanks to the generosity of others, Agape Ranch will now be able to provide housing and mentorship for foster youth who age-out while they pursue higher education or career training. 180 Ministries, a ministry of Teen Challenge, located in Denver Colorado, is a residential substance abuse . The school is a nonprofit owned by the Agap Baptist Church, which was also started by the Clemensens. There wasnt really any training, said James Clidence, a pastor who worked as a teacher at Agap from 2012 to 2015. The curriculum included traditional math and English. State regulates church boarding schools after abuse allegations. One killed in officer-involved shooting in Branson, Mo. Christian Reform School Accused of Abuse Shuts Down After Rolling Stone Expos. 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. After the state removed students from the school in August, Circle of Hope voluntarily . 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. Agape Boarding School is located on a 200-acre ranch in Stockton, Missouri. Agape Ranch plans out programs, fund raisers, and community outreach monthly. NWS confirms EF-1 tornado near Goodman, Mo. 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. By the time he ended up in the Padded Palace, he recalls, I was bleeding all over my head and hands. So he scrawled the words Fuck Agap on the wall using his own blood. He liked Metallica and Garbage Pail Kids cards, and had a tendency to cause trouble. Its education and human services departments do not license religious schools, or any private boarding schools, and child protective services does not have the authority to investigate allegations of abuse or neglect at them; instead, they must refer those reports to law enforcement. (Agap denies these allegations. 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. These courses are core requirements for Florida . Nathan Papes/Springfield News-Leader/Imagn. 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. After being charged with more than 100 felonies last year linked to allegations of child sex abuse, physical abuse, endangerment and neglect, the owners of a now-defunct Missouri girls ranch . Amanda, then 29, says her parents kicked her out when she was 17. Alumni from Agap and Circle of Hope feel the momentum is swinging in their direction. abuse at agape I have spent the last 5 days at agape boys ranch helping with the annual horse sale. 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. Andrew Breshears in his Agap uniform. Mow Grass and Maintain Landscaping. It would be helpful for them to come in early on this one as opposed to come in at a later date, said Gaither. 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. Still, administrators at many of these schools insist they are a force for good. Stockton is located 130 miles south of Kansas City, a lazy drive down sunbaked roads lined with oak forests and rolling fields. Since it claims to be a Christian organization, is not regulated by the state because of a religious exemption. Staff members would jump on you, said Schrag. 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. The founders of Circle of Hope face around 100 charges, some alleging sexual abuse. 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. At first glance, the facility for at-risk and unmotivated boys a Baptist institution in Stockton, Missouri wasnt so terrible. Youre dirtbags, youre hoodlums. McCrary said in an email on Friday that Graves was not present for social workers interviews with students. ), Other students describe staffers encouraging classmates to fight one another, and cutting off communication with loved ones when they complained. She thought heavy metal was like witchcraft, he says. 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. Yet the delays have frustrated state lawmakers. Yet Agaps neighbors insist they never had any idea. Colton Shrag, age 16 on a home visit from Agap in 2008. 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. Surprise! (KY3) - Missouris attorney general is investigating a second Cedar County boarding school. Though the area is largely Baptist, Cedar County has a tradition of religious tolerance. But in some states that have tried to close this oversight gap in recent years, like Montana, lawmakers have met with resistance. Askins reached out to Child Protective Services and then shared the video with the Householders estranged daughter, Amanda. If you're using the Bible or God to justify any of these things, that is sacrilegious. Every year, Agape Ranch hosts our Adoption Connection event to help children in foster care find their forever home. But then, Breshears made friends and began to reconsider his allegiances particularly, he says, after he witnessed classmates getting restrained. Agaps handbook states it has a strict hands-off policy regarding the students, and does not use corporal punishment. In May 2021, the law requiring religious schools to register with the state passed. 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