Trump White House Pressured Disney to Censor Jimmy Kimmel . The team at Agape Ranch said they wanted the youth there Friday night to know that they are valued. 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. At first glance, the facility for at-risk and unmotivated boys a Baptist institution in Stockton, Missouri wasnt so terrible. 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. Andrew Breshears in his Agap uniform. Contact Agape International Missions Email: info@aim4asia.org Phone: 916.784.2800. 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.. Netflixs Outer Banks Buries Itself in Ridiculous Season 3 This results in many children being separated from their siblings and the only community that they know. 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. Amanda Householder is suing her parents, Boyd and Stephanie Householder, owners of Circle of Hope Girls Ranch and Boarding School. 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. (KY3) - Missouri's attorney general is investigating a second Cedar County boarding school. The report found those leaders had chronically mistreated survivors of abuse and spent decades trying to deny responsibility for abuse at individual . In September 2021, he charged five Agap staff members with a total of 13 counts of third-degree assault, the lowest degree of felony. Mow Grass and Maintain Landscaping. Agape Boarding School, a Christian reform school in Cedar County, is under investigation by local authorities and the Missouri Attorney Generals office. 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. 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. It also lays out a set of childrens rights, banning corporal punishment and verbal and emotional abuse, and giving youth the ability to call their parents whenever they want. They would say, Youre nothing. Hed hoped to get kicked out, which didnt happen. Copyright 2023 Penske Business Media, LLC. Regretfully, child abuse and neglect have continued to rise and the work of Agape Ranch is needed now more than ever. James Clemensen founded the Agap Boarding School in the early 1990s. Former students and their attorneys allege that for years Clemensen has been a toxic presence at the school, encouraging his staff to use violence to maintain order. 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. We felt they needed God in their lives. The state, he says, had no clue how to get to a kids heart.. Meanwhile, tales of abuse continue to emerge. IN THE MONTHS AFTER HIS ARRIVAL, Breshears feelings about Agap changed. Many Stockton residents consider Agap a mark of honor. The Thrive program will provide housing and mentorship for young adults during their college or trade school career. 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. They called the school Agap, meaning Gods love for man. We are faced with the horrifying truth that a network of immoral individuals have engaged in what amounts to organized crime against children, Rob Vescovo, the Republican speaker of the Missouri House, wrote in a letter to U.S. Attorney Teresa Moore, urging her to employ the FBI to investigate. One former student, Colton Schrag, claims he was beat up and slammed into walls during his four years at Agape. Child welfare officials in Washington cited Agap for overcrowding and poor sanitation, according to a 1995 newspaper article. Bucklin wrote the video shows a staff . Yet Agaps neighbors insist they never had any idea. Lawmakers held hearings and introduced a bill that would give the state some oversight. But in some states that have tried to close this oversight gap in recent years, like Montana, lawmakers have met with resistance. ), Such alleged retribution was not necessarily confined to Brown Town. He has been a trainer for 10 years specializing in substance abuse. Bryan, by then in his twenties, was working in a state-funded group home. Im trying to aim for a decent life, you know what Im saying? Breshears spotted a baseball bat poking out of an equipment bag. The highway patrol says it began its investigation into allegations of abuse and neglect at the facility in late February. Agape's trouble began in 2020 when former students came forward with 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 allegations of abuse were filed at the Cedar County Circuit . Home to a population of 1,600, it has a tiny main square, the worlds largest processor of eastern black walnuts, and 21 churches. Former students wonder if its because of this that authorities failed to act sooner. It is a matter of time before youth aging out of the foster care system fall prey to the statistics. UPDATE (Feb. 12, 2021, 2:33 p.m. 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. NWS confirms EF-1 tornado near Goodman, Mo. For secular youth facilities regulated by Missouris social services department, as well as those that have contracts with the state, social welfare agents conduct inspections at least twice a year to review staff training, check compliance with fire and health codes, and make sure employees have background checks and that children get proper medical attention. But he struggled at home. Recently, individuals associated with Agap have been accused of a growing list of crimes. There is no cost to you, not even if you enroll in any school we might mention to you. Boyd opened the ranch in 2006 as a "school that he claimed could reform rebellious teenage girls," according to NBC News. Since it claims to be a Christian organization, is not regulated by the state because of a religious exemption. Others said they suffered permanent injuries from being disciplined or forced to work long hours of manual labor. Clemensen said the decision to close "is voluntary and solely due to the lack of financial resources to continue caring for the boys.". 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. 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. 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. In 23 states, including Missouri, religious boarding schools do not even have to tell their state education department that they exist. 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. STOCKTON, Mo. 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 . Gaither declined to comment, but told the Cedar County Republican that Agap has the right to administer corporal punishment. After a months-long investigation, the AGs office recommended 65 charges against 22 staff members, accusing them of abusing 36 children. 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.) 24, 2021 at 10:23 AM PDT | Updated: Mar. ON SEPT. 7, 2022, ATTORNEY GENERAL SCHMITT and the State Department of Social Services (DSS) filed to close Agap. 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. 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. They were very detailed and professional. Many other states, such as New Jersey, Oklahoma and Texas, do not require religious boarding schools to be licensed by education or child welfare authorities because they are privately owned or privately funded. Chapel was daily. (KY3) - Missouris attorney general is investigating a second Cedar County boarding school. More than a decade later, legislators are finally making headway. Lawmakers proposed legislation to provide oversight for faith-based boarding schools in Missouri. It was renewed on Dec. 7. 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. Posted Apr 03, 2022 11:00 AM. Several lawsuits filed on behalf of former students also have named Agape and Circle of Hope. Children as young as four-years-old may have had up to five foster . The boarding school typically has about 150 boys enrolled, ages 12 to 17, and they share the ranch with farm and exotic animals, including cows, horses, llamas, water buffalo, camels and zebras, according to the schools website. 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. For example, when many foster children age out of the system, they have lived in an average of 12 foster homes. 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