Christian Reform School Accused of Abuse Shuts Down After Rolling Stone Expos. 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). Paris Hilton's fellow PCS alums said they were stunned to see the heiress, who has amassed 12.6 million followers on Instagram alone, used the hashtag #BreakingCodeSilence in a social media post. 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. 2023 The Associated Press. Agape Boarding School in Stockton has been the subject of state and local investigations and several lawsuits from former students. The Agape Boarding School was in Othello from 1992-96. 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. STOCKTON, Mo. I hired Agape to cut the lawn. 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. Several former staffers opened up similar schools nearby: There was the Legacy Academy Adventures, on a property owned by David Smock, Agaps longtime doctor who would later be accused of molesting students; there was the Masters Ranch Christian Academy, which later opened two more campuses. He smacked me in the face with his elbow for saying the f-word. Others said they suffered permanent injuries from being disciplined or forced to work long hours of manual labor. There is no cost to you, not even if you enroll in any school we might mention to you. His outrage became open defiance. Former students wonder if its because of this that authorities failed to act sooner. Several lawsuits filed on behalf of former students also have named Agape and Circle of Hope. But then, Breshears made friends and began to reconsider his allegiances particularly, he says, after he witnessed classmates getting restrained. 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. They say theyre still haunted by nightmares, hypervigilance, and other symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. They insisted everyone call them Brother Jim and Maam, and their son Brother Bryan.. Then-Attorney General Eric Schmitt's office contended that 22 workers should have been charged, and with more serious crimes. It could last for days on end. 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 . The founders of Circle of Hope face around 100 charges, some alleging sexual abuse. 3/11/2021. Staff members would jump on you, said Schrag. Another describes a staffer holding a pocket knife to his throat. 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. (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.) . Students called it the Padded Palace. Youre never gonna make it out.. For more on this story, watch NBC's "Dateline" episode, "Broken Circle". 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. Officials . I realized I cant be the only former student to have these problems, he says. The AG was on board. SPRINGFIELD DRIVERS: Construction at Campbell and Republic starts soon. They said that they were bringing me to my parents, he says. He says one told local police that he had escaped from a Nazi camp.. By 5+ Local Business Owners! 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. 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. It was late on April 20, 2007, he said, and the staff at the all-boys boarding school in southwestern Missouri wanted him to confess that he and two other boys were going to try to run away. People who have care, custody, and control of those children have that right, as well. To keep order, Agap instituted a military-like hierarchy, indicated by colored shirts that denoted ranks. Once in the car, Bindley says, they took him to their home. The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time He is living in California with his mother, Jennifer, and attending a public high school. That's because Agap is a religious school, which makes it exempt from the state rules governing secular boarding schools and childrens homes. The foothills of the Ozarks sat in the distance. "For nearly three decades, students at Agape Boarding School have experienced emotional, mental, physical . Share. These courses are core requirements for Florida . 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. 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 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. We are gathered here, former students,. 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. In the aftermath of the criminal case, the state enacted the Alabama Youth Residential Facility Abuse Prevention Act in 2017. If there is a question about a policy or rule, do not ask your son.. I was scared I would get in trouble, and just make everything worse for me, said Francis, whose account was first reported by the Kansas City Star. It is one of the 2 times he saw his family between 2006 and 2010. Graves did not respond to a request for comment. Plaintiff was allegedly physically, sexually, and emotionally abused while under the care and supervision of . The argument grew heated, he says, and the staffer told the kids they were going to Brown Town. The team at Agape Ranch said they wanted the youth there Friday night to know that they are valued. Stockton is located 130 miles south of Kansas City, a lazy drive down sunbaked roads lined with oak forests and rolling fields. Nathan Papes/Springfield News-Leader/Imagn. 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. But hes not complaining. Ellie Hill Smith, a state lawmaker from Missoula, was concerned that this meant the state had no way of ensuring children were safe in these programs. 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. "I would argue Pinehaven is doing a very good job with very difficult kids.". Former Calallen ISD teacher Joseph Sandoval sentenced to 35 years in prison for sexual abuse . 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. One former Agape student who sued, Robert Bucklin, said the closure means justice "has finally prevailed. 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. The Clemenson family, who currently runs Agape, has been shut down in two states due to abuse allegations but no charges were ever made. . 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 glass flew everywhere, he says. 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. By JIM SALTER. Nonetheless, the outcome of the civil suits is far from certain. Court records show that David Earl Smock is wanted for assaulting children under 15 at the Agape Boarding School, a Christian private school in Greene County. More than 90% of young adults aging-out of the foster care system will become homeless, incarcerated, in prostitution, sex trafficked, or dead within three years. 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. The Missouri AG launched a joint investigation with Cedar County authorities. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Clemensen said that the abuse allegations are lies, and suggests they are inspired by the political ambitions of State Attorney General Eric Schmitt who was elected to the U.S. Senate in November and a small group of disgruntled former students hoping for a big payday. What they are claiming would never be OK, he says. Seth Duncan was charged with five counts of third . 3 KCPD officers shot; standoff continues into Wednesday morning. In 1991, Todd Bindley, then 13, moved in. It is a matter of time before youth aging out of the foster care system fall prey to the statistics. Facebook Page. 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. It now has 12. Jan. 18, 2023. (Jill Toyoshiba/The Kansas City Star/Tribune News Service via Getty Images), Pennsylvania police seized gloves, flashlight from home of Idaho murders suspect. Locals says the Clemensens ingratiated themselves by offering tours, and hosting Boy Scout breakfasts and luncheons for the local Methodist group. (As of publication, one defendants case was dismissed, three pleaded guilty to misdemeanors, and one is awaiting a hearing this month.) The next home at The Ranch is for youth aging-out of foster care and the need is urgent. The posts went viral even receiving a thumbs-up from Paris Hilton. 1.0 Stephen H. Winter Haven, FL. Schrag says he tried to escape around 2007, when he was 15. It was renewed on Dec. 7. He would later set up a transport business to collect teens, hiring off-duty deputies to help him. Agape Ranch plans out programs, fund raisers, and community outreach monthly. 5151 Flynn Parkway Suite 106 Corpus Christi, TX 78411. 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. 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. Bryan, by then in his twenties, was working in a state-funded group home. 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