If I can save one kid, its worth it to me.. And I did get saved.. Youre never gonna make it out.. In March 2020, a former Agap student named Joseph Askins stopped in to visit, and witnessed abuse that shocked him. February 28, 2023. One student said staffers had branded him with a cross. Colton Schrag remembers the night at the Agap Boarding School when, he says, a staff member punched him in the face. None of these inspections are required at religious boarding schools. The cases against five people who worked at Agape Boarding school are moving forward. Please enter valid email address to continue. The state has been fighting to close Agap ever since. TOUGH-LOVE SCHOOLS CAN BE traced back to the 1950s, when a secular group called Synanon pioneered an approach to curing heroin addiction with isolation, humiliation, and sleep deprivation. For so long, nobody cared.. McCrary said in an email on Friday that Graves was not present for social workers interviews with students. 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. And he said, No, theyre not., In 1996, the Clemensens purchased 40 acres just outside of town. Many children in foster care feel unlovable because of the abuse they've suffered all their lives. 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. Gaither says at this point, they dont know if there will be any charges. 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. The school still faces a wave of lawsuits accusing administrators of abuse. 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. I have concerns about every inch of that place, County Commissioner Sue Miller said. 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. Five months later, authorities raided Circle of Hope, seizing evidence and removing 25 girls from the ranch. 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. Home to a population of 1,600, it has a tiny main square, the worlds largest processor of eastern black walnuts, and 21 churches. Agape Connection. MANY OF THE ALLEGATIONS AGAINST Agap staffers are easily found on podcasts and interviews on YouTube. The stories of abuse told through reports by NBC News, the Kansas City Star and others prompted Missouri lawmakers to hold hearings and propose legislation last month to ramp up state oversight. Advocates are watching the Agap case, and suggest it illustrates why federal legislation is needed. The way Bryan tells it, in the 1970s, Kathy was a single mom whod found Jesus but still had a mischievous streak. And they would never tell you how long your stay in Brown Town will be, Breshears says. A decent life.. Many Stockton residents consider Agap a mark of honor. It won't be long here in Missouri, he said. STOCKTON, Mo. In September 2021, he charged five Agap staff members with a total of 13 counts of third-degree assault, the lowest degree of felony. ON SEPT. 7, 2022, ATTORNEY GENERAL SCHMITT and the State Department of Social Services (DSS) filed to close Agap. A Tri-City Herald story from 1996 said that Franklin County officials ordered the facility to close for code violations over removing and . 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. Despite the concerns former students have raised recently, no state agency has the ability under Missouri law to regularly inspect how children at Agap are treated. 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. 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. But then, Breshears made friends and began to reconsider his allegiances particularly, he says, after he witnessed classmates getting restrained. (Agap denies any knowledge of these allegations. 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. 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. Wednesday afternoon, a House committee questions Missouri Department of Social Services leaders about their investigations into boarding schools. I dont want another kid to have to go through what I went through, Schrag said. 180 Ministries, a ministry of Teen Challenge, located in Denver Colorado, is a residential substance abuse . January 11, 2023 / 6:04 PM There is no cost to you, not even if you enroll in any school we might mention to you. 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. If you resisted any, they would start kneeing you, hitting you, just mashing your face into the tile or concrete, wherever it was.. Im trying to aim for a decent life, you know what Im saying? Selena Gomez Taking a Break From Social Media After Hailey Bieber Drama: I'm 'Too Old for This Chapel was daily. The Montana Family Foundation, an anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage advocacy organization, lobbied against the proposals, as well, and Smith said their opposition scared lawmakers who didnt want a negative mark on the conservative groups legislative scorecard. Jim and Kathy Clemensen a married couple whom people call Brother Clemensen and Maam started Agap in the early 1990s. Agape Boarding School was moving away from the "nonbelievers" in Washington and California and heading east. We want to make it about the children's rights rather than taking away religious rights. He has been a trainer for 10 years specializing in substance abuse. 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. More than a decade later, legislators are finally making headway. That is blasphemous.. Still, administrators at many of these schools insist they are a force for good. Others said they suffered permanent injuries from being disciplined or forced to work long hours of manual labor. First published on January 11, 2023 / 6:04 PM. 5151 Flynn Parkway Suite 106 Corpus Christi, TX 78411. 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. Updated: Dec 13, 2022 / 12:48 PM CST. (Clemensen denies this happened, but says he considers Bindley one of Agaps top success stories.). Contact Jorden Tramp, Donor Relations & Event Coordinator at. Posted Apr 03, 2022 11:00 AM. It was Clemensen who introduced the practice of restraints in the early 2000s, says Ryan Frazier, attorney for Monsees and Mayer PC, which is representing 18 former students in suits against the school. For a time, Breshears stayed out of trouble. So they were all, in my book, guilty of association, said Schrag. Francis lied, he said, because Robert Graves a Cedar County sheriffs deputy who is on the board of Agaps church and has worked at the school was present for the interview. 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. Munton allowed the school to remain open, with state supervision.Allegations of physical and sexual abuse at Agape and nearby Christian boarding school Circle of Hope Girls' Ranch prompted a . Alumni from Agap and Circle of Hope feel the momentum is swinging in their direction. IN THE MONTHS AFTER HIS ARRIVAL, Breshears feelings about Agap changed. The team at Agape Ranch said they wanted the youth there Friday night to know that they are valued. 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.". The foothills of the Ozarks sat in the distance. 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. Federal lawmakers say they plan to introduce legislation to curtail abuses in the industry. Bryan Clemensen was not among those charged. Montana carved out a religious exemption when it set up a new system for licensing youth facilities and reform schools in 2007. We are faith-based, free, and swift to respond. 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. 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. The industry is a multi-billion dollar industry that claims to help or fix troubled teenagers . 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. Contact Jorden Tramp, Donor Relations & Event Coordinator at jorden@agaperanch.org or click the button below. Allegations of physical and sexual abuse at Agape and Circle of Hope Girls' Ranch prompted a state law in 2021 requiring stricter oversight of such facilities. 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. To him, it seemed arbitrary and needlessly brutal. Mrs. Vicki Loeffler & Mrs. Rodney Johnson, DDS, Faithful Witness Photography, Photographer. Moments later, Bindley says, Bryan yanked him backward, slamming his chair and his head into the concrete floor. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. DSS added . 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. They would say, Youre nothing. Hilton tweeted to Missouri's attorney general and governor on June 21. 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 says he and others suffered frequent physical abuse, at the hands of at least a dozen staff members, and others didnt stop it. Jacob smelled foul and the . If you're using the Bible or God to justify any of these things, that is sacrilegious. 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