Seven former students said staff members had assaulted them. We need people who will financially contribute and volunteer at the event to help give these . 180 Ministries, a ministry of Teen Challenge, located in Denver Colorado, is a residential substance abuse . The video was posted Sunday by Robert Bucklin, who says he survived physical and sexual abuse at Agape Boarding School near Stockton. Send us a tip using our anonymous form. 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. 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. Clemensen has said the move was necessary because negative publicity has caused enrollment to plummet, and it was not financially feasible to stay open. The team at Agape Ranch said they wanted the youth there Friday night to know that they are valued. If I can save one kid, its worth it to me.. Bindley remembers learning quickly that retribution for breaking the rules was swift and sometimes painful. . Montana carved out a religious exemption when it set up a new system for licensing youth facilities and reform schools in 2007. 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. By 5+ Local Business Owners! 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. One former student, Colton Schrag, claims he was beat up and slammed into walls during his four years at Agape. Contact Jorden Tramp, Donor Relations & Event Coordinator at jorden@agaperanch.org or click the button below. The founders of Circle of Hope face around 100 charges, some alleging sexual abuse. One former student reportedly mentioned Agap in a suicide note. Mow Grass and Maintain Landscaping. 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! KANSAS CITY (AP) Maggie Drew's dad sent her to Circle . This created an environment ripe for abuse to happen. 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. Agape Treatment Center offers Drug and Alcohol Rehab as well as Primary Mental Health Treatment. Their lawyer denies the allegations and says that their innocence will prevail in court. Seth Duncan was charged with five counts of third . COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. The picture flashed on the big screen, and Brenda Gordon immediately . More than 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 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. One former student said he was raped at Agape and called "seizure boy" because of his epilepsy. I can at least try to show others that you dont have to keep it inside. In 2021, Agape's longtime doctor, David Smock, was charged with child sex crimes and five employees were charged with low-level abuse counts. The state social services department determined in a preliminary finding in 2018 that Householder physically abused a minor, according to court documents but that was not publicized and the school continued to enroll students for more than two years before it voluntarily closed. Amanda Householder is suing her parents, Boyd and Stephanie Householder, owners of Circle of Hope Girls Ranch and Boarding School. Earlier this year, Smock, the schools longtime physician, was charged with 12 felony sexual-molestation crimes against those in his care. Circle of Hope Girls Ranch near Humansville . 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. The only thing it would have done, Smith said of her bill, is require these adolescent facilities to have oversight by our Department of Public Health and Human Services, just like a senior citizen home or a barbershop.. (The recommendations are not public, so the implicated staff members are unknown.) It received initial passage in the house and needs one more vote before going on to the Senate. 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. As a 501(c)3 charitable organization dedicated to providing high quality foster care in South Texas by supporting foster and adoptive families, we have been working diligently in the areas of prevention, foster care, adoption, and aging-out to provide support and mentorship for vulnerable children in our community. abuse at agape I have spent the last 5 days at agape boys ranch helping with the annual horse sale. Missouri has been a particular hotbed for religious schools since 1982, when the state passed a law exempting faith-based residential child-care facilities from state oversight. The AG was on board. 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. The school has been operating in Missouri where until 2021, privately owned schools were not required to report to the state. We want to hear it. Others said they suffered permanent injuries from being disciplined or forced to work long hours of manual labor. A judge ordered the school closed only to put the order on hold after Agap fired the staffer in question. They claim Clemensen was on a power trip and seemed to enjoy brutalizing the kids in his charge. Full Gala Taping. Yet the delays have frustrated state lawmakers. 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 1991, Todd Bindley, then 13, moved in. "The healing process can start for so many.". 25, 2021 at 2:05 PM PDT. I hired Agape to cut the lawn. Contact Agape International Missions Email: info@aim4asia.org Phone: 916.784.2800. They allowed it to happen.. The next morning, Breshears made a plan with the other students to start a riot. That evening, as Agaps 150 students and staffers were finishing up dinner, Breshears spotted a fellow conspirator flash a thumbs-up. 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. (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 site was littered with old barrels, wood piles, abandoned cars, and insulation containing asbestos. 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. If you resisted any, they would start kneeing you, hitting you, just mashing your face into the tile or concrete, wherever it was.. Jan. 18, 2023. Schmitt was elected to the U.S. Senate last year and sworn in this month. When 19-year-old Rebekah Cooper started her mission, she had to give up her first name . Its just a very scary place to be, Bradney said. Interested in learning more about the 2023 Legacy Gala? He grabbed the bat, charged toward the front of the cafeteria, and shattered a plate-glass window. The Thrive program will provide housing and mentorship for young adults during their college or trade school career. 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. The campus is also home to Agape Baptist Church. 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. Agape bills itself as a 30-year-old Christian outfit that "has helped thousands of troubled teens" in part "by showing God's love daily to these boys." But those who identify as abuse survivors . After the state removed students from the school in August, Circle of Hope voluntarily shut down. 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. 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. "If you have children who are fearful that they're going to be sent back to these facilities, you see a lot of instances where children might recant their stories," said Caitlin Whaley, director of legislation for the department. It was renewed on Dec. 7. 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. Meanwhile, Agap was growing. It won't be long here in Missouri, he said. 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. He would later set up a transport business to collect teens, hiring off-duty deputies to help him. By then, Circle of Hope had shut down after the state removed dozens of its students. Roloff was perhaps best known for starting boarding homes in the 1960s to reform youth he described as parent-hating, Satan-worshipping, dope-taking immoral boys and girls, utilizing corporal punishment and isolation for children who disobeyed. . Gaither declined to comment, but told the Cedar County Republican that Agap has the right to administer corporal punishment. January 11, 2023 / 6:04 PM Youre dirtbags, youre hoodlums. I believe the community is aware. The three were convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison. RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT FOR SUBSTANCE ABUSE. The school states on its website that its staff are trained in proper restraining tactics, which are only used if a child is a threat to others and last for just a few minutes. Nathan Papes/Springfield News-Leader/Imagn. 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. Agape Ranch and Boarding School near Stockton, Missouri, a facility operated by Agape Baptist Church. Cedar County Sheriff James Jimbob McCrary denied that Graves was present for interviews with students. If you need expert assistance finding the right program for your boy, fill in this inquiry form or call 888-363-0888 (24/7) for a free, confidential information service (not affiliated with Agape). 1:00. At the time of reporting, he is not yet in police custody, and an arrest warrant has been issued in his name. These rules and policies are for their son's success and protection. After the state removed students from the school in August, Circle of Hope voluntarily . The founders, Boyd and Stephanie Householder, received 99 charges of sex crimes, child abuse . Agape Ranch-courtesy photo. Woody Harrelson Spreads Anti-Vax Conspiracies During SNL Monologue A Christian boarding school in Missouri that's been under intense scrutiny over abuse allegations announced Wednesday that it will close later this month due to financial hardship. Appalled, he used his phone to surreptitiously record Boyd Householder, who appeared to be ordering Circle of Hope students to physically assault one of their classmates. McCrary said in an email on Friday that Graves was not present for social workers interviews with students. As owners of the Circle of Hope Ranch, the couple faces 100 criminal abuse charges between them. 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. I pre paid him in February to cut yard 2x for months. Agape Boys Ranch Entrance. 2 min read. Former students say Clemensen, a paunchy middle-aged man with a buzz cut, a soft chin, and a stern manner, had a technique that he called Jurassic Elbow which entailed slamming his elbow into the back of a students skull, face, ribs, or down between the shoulder blades. It was then he discovered an effort far more worthwhile than smashing windows: At least 18 other former students were filing lawsuits accusing the school and its staff of emotional, sexual, and physical abuse. To him, it seemed arbitrary and needlessly brutal. Bryan, by then in his twenties, was working in a state-funded group home. 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. Agaps handbook states it has a strict hands-off policy regarding the students, and does not use corporal punishment. We are faith-based, free, and swift to respond. 3 KCPD officers shot; standoff continues into Wednesday morning. (Agap denies any knowledge of these allegations. 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. Since last year, 19 former students have filed lawsuits against the school, alleging physical and emotional abuse, and in . Mrs. Vicki Loeffler & Mrs. Rodney Johnson, DDS, Faithful Witness Photography, Photographer. 24, 2021 at 10:23 AM PDT | Updated: Mar. ", "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. 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. 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. For the first time, religious schools would be required to register with the state and undergo inspections; the attorney general would now have authority to close down facilities that posed a threat to students. There were horses, a swimming pool, and a football team. Throughout the 1980s, Kathy and Jim fostered children whose parents were in jail. It now has 12. Thank you for your generous support [] We want to make it about the children's rights rather than taking away religious rights. 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. Whatever the case, Clemensen has many allies where it perhaps counts the most: in the community. The Department of Social Services declined to comment on its investigations into Agap and the interviews with students, and would not release records, but said that there have been no substantiated reports of abuse or neglect at the school. The action galvanized Agap alumni, as well, and they began telling their stories to local media and on podcasts. Located just outside Stockton, Agape is the second unlicensed Christian boarding school in the state to be investigated for allegations of abuse. Tuesday, The Independent reported that DSS substantiated 10 preponderance of evidence claims of physical abuse at Agape. This results in many children being separated from their siblings and the only community that they know. State regulates church boarding schools after abuse allegations. Missouri previously had virtually no . 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. That's because Agap is a religious school, which makes it exempt from the state rules governing secular boarding schools and childrens homes. The group claims a wide range of abuse, from starvation to physical and emotional abuse. Agape Baptist Church owns and operates the private boarding school for boys in Stockton, MO. Circle of Hope Girls' Ranch, a nearby Christian boarding school for girls, was shut down in 2020. 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. Boyd opened the ranch in 2006 as a "school that he claimed could reform rebellious teenage girls," according to NBC News. Every year, Agape Ranch hosts our Adoption Connection event to help children in foster care find their forever home. The school closed in 2020 amid investigations. But hes not complaining. 4/5/2021. The state of Missouri has opened a criminal investigation into allegations of abuse and neglect at Agap Boarding School, a Christian institution in the rural southwestern part of the state, a spokesman for the state's Highway Patrol confirmed Friday. NWS confirms EF-1 tornado near Goodman, Mo. She thought heavy metal was like witchcraft, he says. Students called it the Padded Palace. His outrage became open defiance. The Kansas City Star ran a series of exposs detailing shocking allegations first about Circle of Hope, then Agap. 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. 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 . The Missouri AG launched a joint investigation with Cedar County authorities. / AP. Pour Salt Down Your Drain At Night, Here's Why, Tyler Kingkade and Liz Brown and Keith Morrison and Rachel White and Andrew Williams and Javier Rodriguez. 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.. Hed hoped to get kicked out, which didnt happen. 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. Soon theyd be in a place where they were untouchable. Anne Stych June 27, 2022. Graves did not respond to a request for comment. Advocates are watching the Agap case, and suggest it illustrates why federal legislation is needed. Operators advertise it as a national boarding school for at-risk or unmotivated boys. They have law-enforcement ties, too. They denied it. The report, which also examined 10 cases where teenagers had died, noted that there are currently no federal laws that define and regulate residential treatment programs.. Its about getting these kids to a place in their life where they have to look to God for help, he says. One morning, he overheard one of the Clemensen daughters asking for help with a math problem, to which Bindley shot back a smartass remark. DSS added . At first glance, the facility for at-risk and unmotivated boys a Baptist institution in Stockton, Missouri wasnt so terrible. MANY OF THE ALLEGATIONS AGAINST Agap staffers are easily found on podcasts and interviews on YouTube. It has not come up for a vote yet, but key Republicans in the Legislature have already signaled support. The posts went viral even receiving a thumbs-up from Paris Hilton. STOCKTON, Mo. For more on this story, watch NBC's "Dateline" episode, "Broken Circle". After abuse allegations at Circle of Hope Girls' Ranch, a religious boarding school near Agap, began spreading on TikTok last spring, the Cedar County Sheriff's Department opened an investigation, which the state attorney general joined and is ongoing. That . Jim and Kathy Clemensen a married couple whom people call Brother Clemensen and Maam started Agap in the early 1990s. Families looking to adopt are invited to meet, play, and talk to these children, and we need help putting it on. After each event, the team assesses what went well, what could be done better, and how many children/foster families were positively impacted. 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. 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. Upon completion, our self sustaining community will care for up to 132 foster children and young adults at a time. These punishments, former students say, were often administered in a small room down a dark staircase, in the basement of the church, with blue padded floors and holes punched in the wall. 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. 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. Agape now has roughly 60 students, about half of the population the school had in early 2021 when the Missouri Highway Patrol and DSS launched an investigation into abuse allegations. By the time Askins contacted her, she had been in therapy for years, and was deeply enmeshed in an online community of former Agap and Circle of Hope survivors. She posted Askins video to TikTok, followed by a second post alleging her parents regularly beat her and had forced a student to eat until they threw up, then eat their own vomit. 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. Gaither says at this point, they dont know if there will be any charges. They also look at records from any incidents in which a child is injured or restrained. I was just like, Screw it, he says. 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. None of these raised eyebrows until former Agap staffers Boyd and Stephanie Householder opened Circle of Hope Girls Ranch. Agape Boarding School, a Christian reform school in Cedar County, is under investigation by local authorities and the Missouri Attorney Generals office. There wasnt really any training, said James Clidence, a pastor who worked as a teacher at Agap from 2012 to 2015. but has gone public in the past year with his . The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time Agape Connection. People who have care, custody, and control of those children have that right, as well. 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. 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. Youre never gonna make it out.. If there is a question about a policy or rule, do not ask your son.. None of these inspections are required at religious boarding schools. Former students said their communication with parents and local authorities was censored. 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. They say theyre still haunted by nightmares, hypervigilance, and other symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. 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. They were marched downstairs, where things escalated, until, Breshears alleges, he was lying facedown with a staffer sitting on his legs and two others digging their kneecaps into his pressure points. For $3,250 in tuition per month, the school claims on its website that it can turn around defiant and rebellious boys through spiritual growth., Parents, who are only allowed to visit with two weeks notice, are warned in the school handbook they should never try and interfere with the policies or rules of Agap Boarding School. Carlson said he never witnessed abuse and credited the school with temporarily keeping him off meth and teaching him how to lay tile. "If you're using the Bible or God to justify any of these things, that is sacrilegious.". 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. Yet Agaps neighbors insist they never had any idea. Visit Website. Jim and Kathy appeared at the hospital a few weeks later. Relevance: This course is designed for master's level counselors, addiction professionals, and nurses who have direct client contact. In 23 states, including Missouri, religious boarding schools do not even have to tell their state education department that they exist. They said that they were bringing me to my parents, he says. Though he is 16, he is a freshman; Agaps curriculum is often not compatible with local requirements. 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. Minnesota has even less control. Cedar County Prosecutor Gaither says, with the large number of people investigators have been interviewing in the case, hes pleased to have the assistance of the attorney generals office. Bucklin wrote the video shows a staff . NBC News reported on the allegations earlier this . 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 . The criminal division of the EPA investigated and charged Jim Clemensen for improperly disposing of hazardous material. But in some states that have tried to close this oversight gap in recent years, like Montana, lawmakers have met with resistance. Meanwhile, tales of abuse continue to emerge. One killed in officer-involved shooting in Branson, Mo. (NBC News presented a copy of Clidences nondisparagement agreement to Agap to confirm or dispute its authenticity, but the school did not respond.). For many survivors of Agap, that would be tough to accept. Still, administrators at many of these schools insist they are a force for good. And its not just Missouri. . One student said staffers had branded him with a cross. 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