Bindley, who Clemensen calls one of Agaps top success stories, says the experience left him with lasting trauma, and left a stain on my childhood growing up., Colton Schrag says he decided to speak after PTSD drove him into counseling. I watched him choke, slam kids into the floor, and just basically beat the shit out of them. Thank you for your generous support [] Visit Website. Agape Ranch is dedicated to making a difference within their community and building capacity within the team. Jim and Kathy Clemensen a married couple whom people call Brother Clemensen and Maam started Agap in the early 1990s. Though Ms. Allred's office has spent months soliciting a cash settlement, we were unaware that a suit would be filed. Its about getting these kids to a place in their life where they have to look to God for help, he says. He says one told local police that he had escaped from a Nazi camp.. Bryan Clemensen was not among those charged. 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. Robert Bucklin, 28, who is identified in the motion and lawsuit as R.B. 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. 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. It is one of the 2 times he saw his family between 2006 and 2010. 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. I have concerns about every inch of that place, County Commissioner Sue Miller said. Clidence said Agap fired him in March 2015 when the school asked employees to sign a nondisparagement agreement, and he refused. Francis said that Robert Graves, a Cedar County sheriffs deputy who had worked at Agap, sat in on a meeting Francis had with a social worker who was looking into abuse allegations at the school. He grabbed the bat, charged toward the front of the cafeteria, and shattered a plate-glass window. Several lawsuits filed on behalf of former students also have named Agape and Circle of Hope. 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. 3/11/2021. I was just like, Screw it, he says. His religious mother wasnt having it. 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. Passing under the majestic cross affixed to its towering arched entryway, Breshears gazed over a beautiful campus. This results in many children being separated from their siblings and the only community that they know. (NBC News presented a copy of Clidences nondisparagement agreement to Agap to confirm or dispute its authenticity, but the school did not respond.). Staff members would jump on you, said Schrag. The video was posted Sunday by Robert Bucklin, who says he survived physical and sexual abuse at Agape Boarding School near Stockton. (The recommendations are not public, so the implicated staff members are unknown.) At least two other states Montana and Arkansas carve out licensing exemptions for religious facilities. Jan. 23, 2023. But under Missouri law, it was up to Cedar County prosecutor Ty Gaither to file charges. . Some who attended and worked at the school said otherwise. They would say, Youre nothing. I realized I cant be the only former student to have these problems, he says. They also look at records from any incidents in which a child is injured or restrained. 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. I hired Agape to cut the lawn. Circle of Hope Girls Ranch near Humansville . He says staff would restrain boys on the ground and use pressure points to the point of bruising. Mr. Lewis, CAP, has been credentialed as a certified alcohol and drug counselor for 20 years. But instead of the therapeutic environment the schools leaders promised, Schrag and 11 others who were sent to Agap as children from the late 1990s up to last year, as well as four former staff members, told NBC News they saw Agap workers hold boys down and hit them. Chapel was daily. Mrs. Vicki Loeffler & Mrs. Rodney Johnson, DDS, Faithful Witness Photography, Photographer. That was the last straw; they had him committed. ", "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. By then, Circle of Hope had shut down after the state removed dozens of its students. 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 . Jacob smelled foul and the . The way Bryan tells it, in the 1970s, Kathy was a single mom whod found Jesus but still had a mischievous streak. Selena Gomez Taking a Break From Social Media After Hailey Bieber Drama: I'm 'Too Old for This Askins reached out to Child Protective Services and then shared the video with the Householders estranged daughter, Amanda. It received initial passage in the house and needs one more vote before going on to the Senate. Agape Boarding school has had its share of abuse allegations over the years. 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. Lawmakers proposed legislation to provide oversight for faith-based boarding schools in Missouri. The most surprising thing is that nothing has been done so far to change anything, Ingle said. Nonetheless, the outcome of the civil suits is far from certain. Interested in learning more about the 2023 Legacy Gala? Throughout the 1980s, Kathy and Jim fostered children whose parents were in jail. 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. He liked Metallica and Garbage Pail Kids cards, and had a tendency to cause trouble. I can at least try to show others that you dont have to keep it inside. Bucklin wrote the video shows a staff . Children as young as four-years-old may have had up to five foster . Hunt was one of a number of SBC leaders named in a 2022 report from the investigative firm Guidepost Solutions hired by the denomination in 2021 to resolve long-running conflicts over sexual abuse. The Agape Boarding School was in Othello from 1992-96. 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. The posts went viral even receiving a thumbs-up from Paris Hilton. 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. Regretfully, child abuse and neglect have continued to rise and the work of Agape Ranch is needed now more than ever. 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.. On cue, at least two others started beating up an unsuspecting student to create a distraction. They denied it. 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. It appeared to be a vast improvement over his previous digs. Operators advertise it as a national boarding school for at-risk or unmotivated boys. 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. 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. (Both have pleaded not guilty.) None of these inspections are required at religious boarding schools. His outrage became open defiance. 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 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time Montana carved out a religious exemption when it set up a new system for licensing youth facilities and reform schools in 2007. KANSAS CITY, Mo. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. Andrew Breshears in his Agap uniform. People who have care, custody, and control of those children have that right, as well. They moved their wards in and set them to work clearing the site and fixing the property. 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. The glass flew everywhere, he says. I'm not trying to reach for the moon on this stuff, said Richard Fiene, a research psychologist who spent decades directing public welfare and child services agencies in Pennsylvania, but Id like to see kids in safe environments where they cant be restrained and someone can't put a knee in their back and hold them to the floor where they can't breathe. "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. 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. 25, 2021 at 2:05 PM PDT. It won't be long here in Missouri, he said. Within a few months, he says, three students ran away. Another describes a staffer holding a pocket knife to his throat. For many survivors of Agap, that would be tough to accept. Please enter valid email address to continue. Editors Note: This story, which appears in the January 2023 issue of Rolling Stone, has been updated to include additional details on court cases that had not been decided until after the print deadline. In May 2021, the law requiring religious schools to register with the state passed. 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. . Related: 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. Former Calallen ISD teacher Joseph Sandoval sentenced to 35 years in prison for sexual abuse . After the state removed students from the school in August, Circle of Hope voluntarily . But in July, his mother rewon custody and sprung him from Agap. It was time to go. Though he is 16, he is a freshman; Agaps curriculum is often not compatible with local requirements. Gaither declined to comment, but told the Cedar County Republican that Agap has the right to administer corporal punishment. 180 Ministries, a ministry of Teen Challenge, located in Denver Colorado, is a residential substance abuse . Agape Baptist Church owns and operates the private boarding school for boys in Stockton, MO. Upon completion, our self sustaining community will care for up to 132 foster children and young adults at a time. Breshears spotted a baseball bat poking out of an equipment bag. Its good to be back with family, he says. Contact Jorden Tramp, Donor Relations & Event Coordinator at jorden@agaperanch.org or click the button below. Circle of Hope closed in 2020, and its owners, Boyd and Stephanie Householder, face 101 felony charges, including statutory rape, abuse and neglect of a child. Agape Ranch and Boarding School near Stockton, Missouri, a facility operated by Agape Baptist Church. January 11, 2023 / 6:04 PM The AG was on board. The schools are unrelated and are not affiliated with any particular Christian denomination. And he said, No, theyre not., In 1996, the Clemensens purchased 40 acres just outside of town. In 1991, Todd Bindley, then 13, moved in. 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. The law many former students of schools like Agap see as a model comes from an unlikely state to scrap religious exemptions: Alabama. Clemensen said the decision to close "is voluntary and solely due to the lack of financial resources to continue caring for the boys.". 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. 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. (KY3) - Missouri's attorney general is investigating a second Cedar County boarding school. We are faith-based, free, and swift to respond. 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. One former student reportedly mentioned Agap in a suicide note. "For nearly three decades, students at Agape Boarding School have experienced emotional, mental, physical . 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 . Since it claims to be a Christian organization, is not regulated by the state because of a religious exemption. . The Clemensens sent 100 boys home, and moved the rest to base housing. After each event, the team assesses what went well, what could be done better, and how many children/foster families were positively impacted. He has been a trainer for 10 years specializing in substance abuse. The curriculum included traditional math and English. Editors picks 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. He lost his red shirt and became familiar with the one place no student wanted to end up: Brown Town. That status, characterized by the brown shirt a student was forced to wear, according to lawsuits and depositions, came with extreme workouts, the loss of talking privileges, and a restricted meal plan that often consisted of a slice of bread and peanut butter, or a tortilla with a scoop of cold refried beans. 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! J.M. But in some states that have tried to close this oversight gap in recent years, like Montana, lawmakers have met with resistance. Im trying to aim for a decent life, you know what Im saying? 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. 60% of the children in our county are being placed outside of our county due to the lack of foster homes in our community. Officials . Pinehaven did not respond to a request for comment. That shouldn't be happening., If not, he added, kids are going to wind up losing their lives.. One former Agape student who sued, Robert Bucklin, said the closure means justice "has finally prevailed. The charges come after the Missouri State Highway Patrol investigated allegations of abuse at the boarding school. Former students wonder if its because of this that authorities failed to act sooner. State regulates church boarding schools after abuse allegations. 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. On the wooded roads near Agap, Amish men drive horse-drawn buggies; hundreds of members of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints live on a nearby compound called the Ranch., I got picked up by the Cedar County Sheriffs Department, and I tried to tell the guy, Theyre beating us,, says one former student. Bryan, by then in his twenties, was working in a state-funded group home. And that's what it's all about.. MANY OF THE ALLEGATIONS AGAINST Agap staffers are easily found on podcasts and interviews on YouTube. The Missouri Department of Social Services does not conduct regular inspections of private religious schools, but child protective services and police can investigate if there is a specific abuse allegation reported. 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. Netflixs Outer Banks Buries Itself in Ridiculous Season 3 The 100 Best Albums of 2022. Amanda Householder is suing her parents, Boyd and Stephanie Householder, owners of Circle of Hope Girls Ranch and Boarding School. hen Andrew Breshears arrived at the Agap Boarding School in 2018, he was a sandy-haired 12-year-old who weighed less than 100 pounds. 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. Indeed, the version of the school students describe, community members say, is starkly different from the Agap the town has come to know. 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. 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. Clemensen picked the state specifically because of its lack of regulation, he told a reporter in 2002, and said the school would leave Missouri if required to get a license. Staff called it the intake room. The action galvanized Agap alumni, as well, and they began telling their stories to local media and on podcasts. Agape had 132 students 13 months ago, its lawyer, John Schultz said. 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