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. The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time 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.". NBC News reported on the allegations earlier this . 24 homes where foster children can receive the support they need in order to mature in all aspects of their lives. 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. Those details were outlined in motions filed in 19 civil lawsuits requesting that the Cedar County judge overseeing those cases allow . People who have care, custody, and control of those children have that right, as well. If I can save one kid, its worth it to me.. Agape Baptist Church owns and operates the private boarding school for boys in Stockton, MO. 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. It also taught creationism and that women should be subservient to their husbands, while weaving biblical references into the materials. 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. . 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. Locals says the Clemensens ingratiated themselves by offering tours, and hosting Boy Scout breakfasts and luncheons for the local Methodist group. Carlson said he never witnessed abuse and credited the school with temporarily keeping him off meth and teaching him how to lay tile. Award honors influential children's minister. Mr. Lewis, CAP, has been credentialed as a certified alcohol and drug counselor for 20 years. To keep order, Agap instituted a military-like hierarchy, indicated by colored shirts that denoted ranks. The site was littered with old barrels, wood piles, abandoned cars, and insulation containing asbestos. (Agap denies this.) Regretfully, child abuse and neglect have continued to rise and the work of Agape Ranch is needed now more than ever. Share. 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. Wednesday afternoon, a House committee questions Missouri Department of Social Services leaders about their investigations into boarding schools. It is a matter of time before youth aging out of the foster care system fall prey to the statistics. 2023 The Associated Press. The criminal division of the EPA investigated and charged Jim Clemensen for improperly disposing of hazardous material. 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. By 5+ Local Business Owners! Their lawyer denies the allegations and says that their innocence will prevail in court. They allowed it to happen.. 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. (NBC News presented a copy of Clidences nondisparagement agreement to Agap to confirm or dispute its authenticity, but the school did not respond.). Former students said their communication with parents and local authorities was censored. If you're using the Bible or God to justify any of these things, that is sacrilegious. He says one told local police that he had escaped from a Nazi camp.. Seven former students said staff members had assaulted them. In 1996, Agap moved to a 200-acre ranch in Cedar County, Missouri. His outrage became open defiance. 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. The 57-year-old is currently facing charges of second-degree statutory sodomy . Throughout the 1980s, Kathy and Jim fostered children whose parents were in jail. In November, a man who is reportedly a former Agap employee was charged with 215 counts of possession of child pornography. First published on January 11, 2023 / 6:04 PM. Montana carved out a religious exemption when it set up a new system for licensing youth facilities and reform schools in 2007. 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. 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. 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 . One former Agape student who sued, Robert Bucklin, said the closure means justice "has finally prevailed. 90% of young adults aging-out of the foster care system will become homeless, incarcerated, in prostitution, sex trafficked, or dead within three years. But in July, his mother rewon custody and sprung him from Agap. 3 KCPD officers shot; standoff continues into Wednesday morning. Agape Boarding School Abuse Lawsuit - Pennsylvania Schools Details: WebFormer students of Agape from Alabama, Texas, and Michigan have filed two civil lawsuits against the Boarding School for multiple charges that include physical, agape ranch abuse Verified 5 days ago Our rehabilitation center in Fort Lauderdale for substance abuse embraces a universal, unconditional love that transcends, that serves regardless of circumstances. Former students wonder if its because of this that authorities failed to act sooner. For a time, Breshears stayed out of trouble. 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. 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 . Child welfare experts say that makes it more difficult for a state to look into maltreatment, because police will only investigate what counts as a crime, rather than what places a child in danger. 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. 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. New court filings reveal some of the most brutal allegations of abuse at Agape Boarding School so far, including former students' account that two staffers sexually assaulted him. 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. Alumni from Agap and Circle of Hope feel the momentum is swinging in their direction. The newly appointed attorney general, Andrew Bailey, had said he planned to continue pursuing closure. 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. 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. He says staff would restrain boys on the ground and use pressure points to the point of bruising. Each worker is facing abuse charges. His grandparents sent him to a mental hospital, then to Agap. Graves did not respond to a request for comment. 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. Stockton is located 130 miles south of Kansas City, a lazy drive down sunbaked roads lined with oak forests and rolling fields. 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. 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. W Mow Grass and Maintain Landscaping. There were horses, a swimming pool, and a football team. 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. 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. Exposing Agape is about exactly what it's name says. Upon completion, our self sustaining community will care for up to 132 foster children and young adults at a time. 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. Agape Ranch will establish a safe environment of 24 homes where foster children can receive the support they need in order to mature in all aspects of their lives. One morning, he overheard one of the Clemensen daughters asking for help with a math problem, to which Bindley shot back a smartass remark. Agape Ranch breaks that cycle by providing compassionate care, connections within the community, and now by creating a neighborhood to give them a place to call home with families that provide unconditional love. It won't be long here in Missouri, he said. Whatever the case, Clemensen has many allies where it perhaps counts the most: in the community. 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. 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