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. But many lawmakers are also oblivious to the consequences of lax oversight until there's a scandal. One former student, Colton Schrag, claims he was beat up and slammed into walls during his four years at Agape. By then, Circle of Hope had shut down after the state removed dozens of its students. And its not just Missouri. 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 morning, he overheard one of the Clemensen daughters asking for help with a math problem, to which Bindley shot back a smartass remark. 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 charges come after the Missouri State Highway Patrol investigated allegations of abuse at the boarding school. 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. 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. 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. At least two other states Montana and Arkansas carve out licensing exemptions for religious facilities. Staffers grabbed Breshears and, he claims, threw him onto the glass. Advocates are watching the Agap case, and suggest it illustrates why federal legislation is needed. The staff often singled out members of Brown Town for abuse, depositions filed by former Agap students suggest. 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. The way Bryan tells it, in the 1970s, Kathy was a single mom whod found Jesus but still had a mischievous streak. Thank you for your generous support [] It would be helpful for them to come in early on this one as opposed to come in at a later date, said Gaither. 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. Yet Agaps neighbors insist they never had any idea. Seven former students said staff members had assaulted them. 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. (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 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. Many children in foster care feel unlovable because of the abuse they've suffered all their lives. It was easy to get in trouble for stupid shit, Breshears recalls. James Clemensen founded the Agap Boarding School in the early 1990s. 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.. 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. (They do so much good for this town and you cannot believe the difference they have made in these young men, says Jackie Cargell, who has lived in the town for 57 years.) The site, designed as a Christian camp, had cabins, a shower facility, a mess hall, and a small chapel. It was a video secretly recorded at nearby Circle of Hope Ranch that finally moved state authorities to get involved. We are faith-based, free, and swift to respond. / AP. 60% of the children in our county are being placed outside of our county due to the lack of foster homes in our community. 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. Agape Boarding School is located on a 200-acre ranch in Stockton, Missouri. At the time of reporting, he is not yet in police custody, and an arrest warrant has been issued in his name. Once in the car, Bindley says, they took him to their home. Trump White House Pressured Disney to Censor Jimmy Kimmel 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. I was sheltered, Breshears says. If you resisted any, they would start kneeing you, hitting you, just mashing your face into the tile or concrete, wherever it was.. (361) 742-6330. 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 . Jan 5, 2023 9:58 am. They would say, Youre nothing. The school still faces a wave of lawsuits accusing administrators of abuse. The next evening, a man found Jacob begging for change at a neighboring county supermarket 10 miles from Blue Creek and called Clay County Child Protective Services. Missouri's Agap Boarding School will close its doors due to a lack of finances, school officials say but the . After the state removed students from the school in August, Circle of Hope voluntarily . 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 . 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. 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. Child welfare officials in Washington cited Agap for overcrowding and poor sanitation, according to a 1995 newspaper article. Clidence said Agap fired him in March 2015 when the school asked employees to sign a nondisparagement agreement, and he refused. Every year, Agape Ranch hosts our Adoption Connection event to help children in foster care find their forever home. 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. 1.0 Stephen H. Winter Haven, FL. More than 90% of young adults aging out of the foster system will become homeless, incarcerated, in prostitution, sex trafficked, or dead within three years. Schmitt was elected to the U.S. Senate last year and sworn in this month. In May 2021, the law requiring religious schools to register with the state passed. 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. And they would never tell you how long your stay in Brown Town will be, Breshears says. (Knock her out! he can be heard saying.) The founders, Boyd and Stephanie Householder, received 99 charges of sex crimes, child abuse . Where they stop looking to drugs, or their friends, and say to God, I need your help to feel better. If you dont save their souls, it aint going to stick.. But under Missouri law, it was up to Cedar County prosecutor Ty Gaither to file charges. Agape Boarding School, a Christian reform school in Cedar County, is under investigation by local authorities and the Missouri Attorney Generals office. Agape Connection. Interested in learning more about the 2023 Legacy Gala? For a time, Breshears stayed out of trouble. His religious mother wasnt having it. Operators declined to comment about the investigation. Many Stockton residents consider Agap a mark of honor. The state attorney generals office claims that Agap staff threw students into walls, pushed them to the ground, ordered them to perform 1,000 pushups, intentionally starved them, and forced them to sleep in handcuffs and wear them for as long as eight days. Agape had 132 students 13 months ago, its lawyer, John Schultz said. The most surprising thing is that nothing has been done so far to change anything, Ingle said. 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. Chapel was daily. 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. But in Missouri, only the local prosecutor can file charges, and Cedar County Prosecuting Attorney Ty Gaither has said no additional employees would be charged. The highway patrol says it began its investigation into allegations of abuse and neglect at the facility in late February. The group claims a wide range of abuse, from starvation to physical and emotional abuse. The industry is a multi-billion dollar industry that claims to help or fix troubled teenagers . This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. 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 Hed hoped to get kicked out, which didnt happen. I pre paid him in February to cut yard 2x for months. They literally took the practices of Agape and opened up Circle of Hope, so we know for a fact that there is one other school that is ran just like Circle of Hope, and that place is what Circle of Hope modeled their school after, said Amanda Householder, daughter of Circle of Hope operators. Jim and Kathy Clemensen a married couple whom people call Brother Clemensen and Maam started Agap in the early 1990s. None of these inspections are required at religious boarding schools. Weve had 6,000 students and only a small percent are making these claims, and I could give you the names of many who thank me. Rolling Stone contacted one of them, Matt Carlson, who says he spent the better part of a year at Agap in the early 2000s. Hymns blared in the classrooms. 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. To him, it seemed arbitrary and needlessly brutal. 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. 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. 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. Staff called it the intake or restraint room. Agape Boarding School was moving away from the "nonbelievers" in Washington and California and heading east. However, the Cedar County prosecutor says no students have been removed from the school. Circle of Hope Girls' Ranch, a nearby Christian boarding school for girls, was shut down in 2020. THORNTON, Colo. Agape Bible Church canceled all church services last weekend after a FOX31 Problem Solvers investigation into whether its head pastor tried to cover up an alleged sexual abuse . One of them is Robert Graves, a student turned staffer who joined as a sheriffs deputy and married Kathy and Jims daughter, and is listed as a member of the board of an Agap-affiliated church. 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. 2023 The Associated Press. When I first got there, I just stayed on the low, trying to do my best, hoping to get out, he says. All Rights reserved. He likes to get in peoples heads.. Posted Apr 03, 2022 11:00 AM. An investigation into the school began after The Star reported on the abuse allegations last year. They promoted me I was the youngest person to go red. Plaintiff was allegedly physically, sexually, and emotionally abused while under the care and supervision of . Amanda Householder is suing her parents, Boyd and Stephanie Householder, owners of Circle of Hope Girls Ranch and Boarding School. 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. He has been a trainer for 10 years specializing in substance abuse. A 2007 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office found thousands of abuse allegations between 1990 and 2007 in 2005 alone, 33 states reported 1,619 staff members involved in incidents of abuse. Master's Ranch Christian Academy which has had a facility in southern Missouri for more than a decade opened a new location . Contact Jorden Tramp, Donor Relations & Event Coordinator at jorden@agaperanch.org or click the button below. The term encompasses various facilities and programs, including youth residential treatment centers, wilderness programs, boot camps, and therapeutic boarding schools.. Cedar . Officials . 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. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Sandoval, Agaps dean of students, worked shifts at the county jail. 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. 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. 25, 2021 at 2:05 PM PDT. He would later help stage an uprising as an attempt to get thrown out of the school. 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