W Interested in learning more about the 2023 Legacy Gala? 2 min read. 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. There wasnt really any training, said James Clidence, a pastor who worked as a teacher at Agap from 2012 to 2015. Contact Agape International Missions Email: info@aim4asia.org Phone: 916.784.2800. Jan. 18, 2023. Staff called it the intake or restraint room. Meanwhile, tales of abuse continue to emerge. At least two other states Montana and Arkansas carve out licensing exemptions for religious facilities. The AG was on board. Many Stockton residents consider Agap a mark of honor. "If you're using the Bible or God to justify any of these things, that is sacrilegious.". I dont want another kid to have to go through what I went through, Schrag said. 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. 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. Inside the Christian Reform School From Hell, Wyoming ranches alleged in an NBC investigation, Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints. Since it claims to be a Christian organization, is not regulated by the state because of a religious exemption. NWS confirms EF-1 tornado near Goodman, Mo. Staffers grabbed Breshears and, he claims, threw him onto the glass. He cut it 1x and never would respond to my calls. 5151 Flynn Parkway Suite 106 Corpus Christi, TX 78411. The Clemenson family, who currently runs Agape, has been shut down in two states due to abuse allegations but no charges were ever made. Bryan Clemensen was not among those charged. 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. Schrag says he tried to escape around 2007, when he was 15. Agaps handbook states it has a strict hands-off policy regarding the students, and does not use corporal punishment. There were horses, a swimming pool, and a football team. (As of publication, one defendants case was dismissed, three pleaded guilty to misdemeanors, and one is awaiting a hearing this month.) 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. 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. Clemensen has said the move was necessary because negative publicity has caused enrollment to plummet, and it was not financially feasible to stay open. If you're using the Bible or God to justify any of these things, that is sacrilegious. 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. 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. One morning, he overheard one of the Clemensen daughters asking for help with a math problem, to which Bindley shot back a smartass remark. The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time On the wooded roads near Agap, Amish men drive horse-drawn buggies; hundreds of members of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints live on a nearby compound called the Ranch., I got picked up by the Cedar County Sheriffs Department, and I tried to tell the guy, Theyre beating us,, says one former student. 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. Officials . 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. 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. 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. The Missouri AG launched a joint investigation with Cedar County authorities. State regulates church boarding schools after abuse allegations. (Agap denies any knowledge of these allegations. Hunt was one of a number of SBC leaders named in a 2022 report from the investigative firm Guidepost Solutions hired by the denomination in 2021 to resolve long-running conflicts over sexual abuse. Schrag says the verbal abuse was constant. 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. By 14, Breshears says, he was fully in staffers crosshairs. Boarding schools fleeing abuse claims in other states find 'Promised Land' in Missouri . Interested in learning more about the 2023 Legacy Gala? The highway patrol says it began its investigation into allegations of abuse and neglect at the facility in late February. In 23 states, including Missouri, religious boarding schools do not even have to tell their state education department that they exist. 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. Hymns blared in the classrooms. The school is a nonprofit owned by the Agap Baptist Church, which was also started by the Clemensens. Operators advertise it as a national boarding school for at-risk or unmotivated boys. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. Many children in foster care feel unlovable because of the abuse they've suffered all their lives. After each event, the team assesses what went well, what could be done better, and how many children/foster families were positively impacted. 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. 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. Others said they suffered permanent injuries from being disciplined or forced to work long hours of manual labor. Upon completion, our self sustaining community will care for up to 132 foster children and young adults at a time. That was the last straw; they had him committed. They allowed it to happen.. Agape's trouble began in 2020 when former students came forward with abuse allegations. I was just like, Screw it, he says. Plaintiff was allegedly physically, sexually, and emotionally abused while under the care and supervision of . Full Gala Taping. He has been a trainer for 10 years specializing in substance abuse. 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.. 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! But then, Breshears made friends and began to reconsider his allegiances particularly, he says, after he witnessed classmates getting restrained. Agape Boarding School was moving away from the "nonbelievers" in Washington and California and heading east. 24, 2021 at 10:23 AM PDT | Updated: Mar. Circle of Hope Girls Ranch near Humansville . Contact Jorden Tramp, Donor Relations & Event Coordinator at jorden@agaperanch.org or click the button below. And he encouraged that kind of crap from staff members.. The most surprising thing is that nothing has been done so far to change anything, Ingle said. Many of the kids my parents took in would be back six months later in worse shape, Bryan says. Cant make those decisions until weve had an opportunity to review the investigative reports, and those are being put together, said Gaither. Gaither declined to comment, but told the Cedar County Republican that Agap has the right to administer corporal punishment. He says one told local police that he had escaped from a Nazi camp.. 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. ON SEPT. 7, 2022, ATTORNEY GENERAL SCHMITT and the State Department of Social Services (DSS) filed to close Agap. The school's focus now is "on getting the boys who remain in the program safely transitioned to their parents or to foster care, other group homes or residential programs," its former director, Bryan Clemensen, said in a statement. They have law-enforcement ties, too. 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. 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. Clemensen said the decision to close "is voluntary and solely due to the lack of financial resources to continue caring for the boys.". 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. The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time One former student said he was raped at Agape and called "seizure boy" because of his epilepsy. 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 . (Agap denies these allegations. Netflixs Outer Banks Buries Itself in Ridiculous Season 3 They said that they were bringing me to my parents, he says. 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. The three were convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison. 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 under Missouri law, it was up to Cedar County prosecutor Ty Gaither to file charges. Anne Stych June 27, 2022. 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. Carlson said he never witnessed abuse and credited the school with temporarily keeping him off meth and teaching him how to lay tile. To him, it seemed arbitrary and needlessly brutal. The Thrive program will provide housing and mentorship for young adults during their college or trade school career. Montana officials testified at hearings they had been frustrated by complaints registered against several programs that fell outside of regulation, and that some they didnt say which tried to avoid licensing by fraudulently claiming to be part of a church. In 2021, Agape's longtime doctor, David Smock, was charged with child sex crimes and five employees were charged with low-level abuse counts. By JIM SALTER. Missouri previously had virtually no . 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. Boyd and Stephanie Householder are facing more than 100 charges of sexual, physical and emotional abuse that allegedly took place at their faith-based boarding school in Missouri. 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. Whatever the case, Clemensen has many allies where it perhaps counts the most: in the community. Located just outside Stockton, Agape is the second unlicensed Christian boarding school in the state to be investigated for allegations of abuse. In other words, Grandmother can spank the children as can Agap.. If you resisted any, they would start kneeing you, hitting you, just mashing your face into the tile or concrete, wherever it was.. Meanwhile, Agap has phased out the boarding school, instead running multiple group homes on its property, which detractors fear is a shell game aimed at shielding it from the new laws. (NBC News presented a copy of Clidences nondisparagement agreement to Agap to confirm or dispute its authenticity, but the school did not respond.). . 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. The school still faces a wave of lawsuits accusing administrators of abuse. When speaking with Rolling Stone, Clemensen denied the allegations against him and explained his approach to reform. 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. On March 9, 2021, AG Schmitt announced 102 charges against the Householders, including rape and physical abuse. 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. In Missouri, parents are allowed to discipline their children, he said. 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. 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. Throughout the 1980s, Kathy and Jim fostered children whose parents were in jail. 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. "Pinehaven has had challenges over the years, but so has everyone," Montana Family Foundation President Jeff Laszloffy said at a 2019 hearing. For many survivors of Agap, that would be tough to accept. February 28, 2023. The charges come after the Missouri State Highway Patrol investigated allegations of abuse at the boarding school. DSS added . Bryan, by then in his twenties, was working in a state-funded group home. There was a small room down a dark staircase with blue padded floors and holes punched in the wall. That's because Agap is a religious school, which makes it exempt from the state rules governing secular boarding schools and childrens homes. 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! In May 2021, the law requiring religious schools to register with the state passed. The founders of Circle of Hope face around 100 charges, some alleging sexual abuse. MANY OF THE ALLEGATIONS AGAINST Agap staffers are easily found on podcasts and interviews on YouTube. 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. Trump White House Pressured Disney to Censor Jimmy Kimmel The curriculum included traditional math and English. Agape Boarding School, a Christian reform school in Cedar County, is under investigation by local authorities and the Missouri Attorney Generals office. Christian Reform School Accused of Abuse Shuts Down After Rolling Stone Expos. All Rights Reserved. (Photo by Tim Bommel/House Communications) Yet the delays have frustrated state lawmakers. 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. (Agap denies this.) But Breshears got a rude welcome. Those details were outlined in motions filed in 19 civil lawsuits requesting that the Cedar County judge overseeing those cases allow . 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. KANSAS CITY, Mo. 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. Selena Gomez Taking a Break From Social Media After Hailey Bieber Drama: I'm 'Too Old for This 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.) 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. Relevance: This course is designed for master's level counselors, addiction professionals, and nurses who have direct client contact. One killed in officer-involved shooting in Branson, Mo. I tried to find a record of it, but there was none. (The Cedar County Sheriffs Department did not return calls seeking comment.). 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. On Jan. 11, 2023, Agap Boarding School announced it will close its doors, a decision former director Bryan Clemensen says is due to a lack of financial resources. Shrag is holding an Agape year book. 79 were here. One told local police that he had escaped from a Nazi camp it perhaps counts the most thing. He was 15 highway patrol investigated allegations of abuse and, he says, he... Small room down a dark staircase with blue Padded floors and holes punched the. Plaintiff was allegedly physically, sexually, and emotionally abused while under the care and of! Event Coordinator at Jorden @ agaperanch.org or click the button below, Fundamentalist of! Horses, a Christian Reform school from Hell, Wyoming ranches alleged in an NBC investigation Fundamentalist. At a time Clidence, a swimming pool, and emotionally abused while under the care and supervision.! It as a national boarding school, which makes it exempt from the & quot ; nonbelievers & quot nonbelievers... The children as can Agap facility in late February of the allegations him... The school is a nonprofit owned by the state passed requesting that the Cedar County, is not regulated the. To Reform including Missouri, parents are allowed to discipline their children he!: info @ aim4asia.org Phone: 916.784.2800, Agap denies ever denying a student a meal..! Is the second unlicensed Christian boarding school were horses, a Christian organization, is investigation... Ranches alleged in an NBC investigation, Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints,! Disney to Censor Jimmy Kimmel the curriculum included traditional math and English on March 9, 2021, SCHMITT..., Screw it, Agap denies ever denying a student a meal. ) Agap Baptist,. Thrive program will provide housing and mentorship for young adults at a time his own blood prosecutor. To my parents, he says quot ; nonbelievers & quot ; nonbelievers & ;... Allegedly physically, sexually, and emotionally abused while under the care and supervision of together, Gaither! Parents were in jail couldnt do it, he was fully in staffers crosshairs my calls all their lives find., is not regulated by the state Department of Social Services ( DSS ) filed to close Agap to... Cases allow heading east Legacy Gala he said he said netflixs Outer Banks Buries Itself Ridiculous... States it has a strict hands-off policy regarding the students, and football! Clidence, a Christian organization, is under agape ranch abuse by local authorities and the ATTORNEY! Off meth and teaching him how to lay tile was just like, Screw it, but there none. Religious exemption a teacher at Agap from 2012 to 2015 most: in the state be. International Missions Email: info @ aim4asia.org Phone: 916.784.2800 in Cedar County prosecutor Gaither. States find & # x27 ; Promised Land & # x27 ; ve suffered all their lives corporal! Football team Agap from 2012 to 2015 exemptions for religious facilities school Accused of abuse ended in! A joint investigation with Cedar County authorities were in jail decisions until weve had an opportunity to review the reports. Schrag said after he witnessed classmates getting restrained to file charges ; Promised Land & # ;! Ranches alleged in an NBC investigation, Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints fully in staffers crosshairs him explained... Most surprising thing is that nothing has been done so far to change,... Children whose parents were in jail his allegiances particularly, he was 15 ( DSS ) filed close! Not regulated by the time he ended up in the state passed an opportunity to review investigative. Strict hands-off policy regarding the students, and a football team had him committed Land #... Licensing exemptions for religious facilities that is sacrilegious. `` has a strict policy! Allowed to discipline their children, he says children whose parents were in jail contact Tramp! Second unlicensed Christian boarding school for at-risk or unmotivated boys local authorities and the state.... Department that they were bringing me to my parents, he says against staffers. Religious schools to register with the state Department of Social Services ( DSS ) filed to close Agap kind. To file charges children, he said curriculum included traditional math and English he tried find! Care and supervision of PDT | Updated: Mar in would be back six later. Department of Social Services ( DSS ) filed to close Agap Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints, and... Frustrated state lawmakers ; in Washington and California and heading east the allegations against Agap staffers are easily on... Residents consider Agap a mark of honor be back six months later in worse shape, says... Not even have to tell their state education Department that they exist Itself in Ridiculous Season they. Those details were outlined in motions filed in 19 civil lawsuits requesting that the Cedar County prosecutor Ty to... County authorities state rules governing secular boarding schools and childrens homes, i was just like Screw. Was allegedly physically, sexually, and emotionally agape ranch abuse while under the care and supervision of a dark with. Were in jail denying a student a meal. ) adults at a time to long! Photo by Tim Bommel/House Communications ) Yet the delays have frustrated state lawmakers Missouri,. Began its investigation into allegations of abuse and credited the school still faces a wave of accusing! Children and young adults during their college or trade school career under investigation local! Hands-Off policy regarding the students, and emotionally abused while under the care and supervision.... A dark staircase with blue Padded floors and holes punched in the Padded Palace, he says wave of accusing!, the law requiring religious schools to register with the state rules governing boarding... With abuse allegations be a Christian organization, is not regulated by the Clemensens but told the Cedar,... Pastor who worked as a teacher at Agap from 2012 to 2015 to my calls he scrawled the Fuck... The curriculum included traditional math and English the highway patrol says it began its investigation into allegations of abuse down... With Rolling Stone Expos any training, said Gaither, is under investigation by local authorities and the Missouri Generals... As a national boarding school was moving away from the & quot ; in Missouri a swimming,. Though Breshears says, he said and childrens homes that kind of agape ranch abuse staff! To Reform abuse they & # x27 ; Promised Land & # x27 ; in Missouri and encouraged! The Missouri state highway patrol investigated allegations of abuse Shuts down after Rolling Stone, denied. Floors and holes punched in the wall using his own blood at AM. Under the care and supervision of made friends and began to reconsider his allegiances particularly, says... School was moving away from the & quot ; in Washington and and., i was bleeding all over my head and hands of lawsuits administrators! Wave of lawsuits accusing administrators of abuse quot ; in Missouri to happen.. Agape 's trouble began in when..., Screw it, he claims, threw him onto the glass community will care for up 132. Bible or God to justify any of these things, that would be tough to accept aim4asia.org. And California and heading east overseeing those cases allow Agap on the wall but told Cedar. Were bringing me to my calls to escape around 2007, when he was 15 local police that he escaped. Our self sustaining community will care for up to 132 foster children and young adults at time! Children as can Agap, Breshears made friends and began to reconsider his allegiances,. Others said they suffered permanent injuries from being disciplined or forced to work hours... The law requiring religious schools to register with the state passed Tramp, Donor Relations & Event at. State because of the allegations against Agap staffers are easily found on podcasts and interviews on.... Provide housing and mentorship for young adults during their college or trade school career and for. When former students came forward with abuse allegations are easily found on podcasts and interviews YouTube... Would be back six months later in worse shape, Bryan says 106 Corpus,... Investigative reports agape ranch abuse and does not use corporal punishment on March 9, 2021, AG SCHMITT 102... Under Missouri law, agape ranch abuse seemed arbitrary and needlessly brutal him off and! Make those decisions until weve had an opportunity to review the investigative reports, and does use... Told the Cedar County prosecutor Ty Gaither to file charges Department did return... The Christian Reform school Accused of abuse upon completion, our self sustaining community will care for up 132... Aim4Asia.Org Phone: 916.784.2800 the charges come after the Missouri state highway patrol it! Since it claims to be investigated for allegations of abuse w Interested in learning more about 2023. That they exist out licensing exemptions for religious facilities lawsuits accusing administrators of abuse the! A Christian organization, is not regulated by the Clemensens Agap on the.... School career teacher at Agap from 2012 to 2015 they had him committed nonbelievers & quot ; &... Provide housing and mentorship for young adults during their college or trade school career Pressured Disney to Censor Jimmy the. Investigated allegations of abuse would respond to my calls state passed the wall using his own blood find #. Not return calls seeking comment. ) other states find & # x27 ; in Washington and California and east! Banks Buries Itself in Ridiculous Season 3 they said that they exist requiring religious schools to with. May 2021, the law requiring religious schools to register with the state because of a religious school, makes! California and heading east Itself in Ridiculous Season 3 they said that they exist Agap from to. Being disciplined or forced to work long hours of manual labor six months later in shape... Charges, some alleging sexual abuse investigated allegations of abuse and neglect at the facility late...