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 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. 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 Contact Jorden Tramp, Donor Relations & Event Coordinator at jorden@agaperanch.org or click the button below. Agape Ranch breaks that cycle by providing compassionate care, connections within the community, and now by creating a neighborhood to give them a place to call home with families that provide unconditional love. "Pinehaven has had challenges over the years, but so has everyone," Montana Family Foundation President Jeff Laszloffy said at a 2019 hearing. 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! UPDATE (Feb. 12, 2021, 2:33 p.m. According to AG Schmitts office, the Cedar County Sheriffs Department employs at least three people who used to work at Agap. I tried to find a record of it, but there was none. (The Cedar County Sheriffs Department did not return calls seeking comment.). 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. NBC News reported on the allegations earlier this . It took a disturbing criminal case to make it happen. Jim and Kathy appeared at the hospital a few weeks later. 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. One day after the FBI announced the arrest of a former Agape Boarding School dean, a civil right's . That shouldn't be happening., If not, he added, kids are going to wind up losing their lives.. The cases against five people who worked at Agape Boarding school are moving forward. They held a blood drive, organized a Fourth of July fireworks spectacular, and began holding an annual rodeo. Some former students have made the allegations against Agape Boarding School and Legacy Boys Academy in Stockton, Masters Ranch in far southern Missouri, and Circle of Hope Girls Ranch near . The most surprising thing is that nothing has been done so far to change anything, Ingle said. Their lawyer denies the allegations and says that their innocence will prevail in court. 5151 Flynn Parkway Suite 106 Corpus Christi, TX 78411. After the state removed students from the school in August, Circle of Hope voluntarily . Staff called it the intake or restraint room. 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. The school's focus now is "on getting the boys who remain in the program safely transitioned to their parents or to foster care, other group homes or residential programs," its former director, Bryan Clemensen, said in a statement. On cue, at least two others started beating up an unsuspecting student to create a distraction. These punishments, former students say, were often administered in a small room down a dark staircase, in the basement of the church, with blue padded floors and holes punched in the wall. But then, Breshears made friends and began to reconsider his allegiances particularly, he says, after he witnessed classmates getting restrained. 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. Agape now has roughly 60 students, about half of the population the school had in early 2021 when the Missouri Highway Patrol and DSS launched an investigation into abuse allegations. When 19-year-old Rebekah Cooper started her mission, she had to give up her first name . Schmitt was elected to the U.S. Senate last year and sworn in this month. "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. Via Fox13, the local news station out of Salt Lake City, we get a detailed response to the lawsuit from ranch management: "We at Turn-About Ranch strongly deny the allegations put forward in Ms. Allred's press conference. Jim Clemensen, a former California Highway Patrol officer, initially decided to open a group home in Stockton, California, before setting up Agap on an old Air Force base in Othello, Washington. 90% of young adults aging-out of the foster care system will become homeless, incarcerated, in prostitution, sex trafficked, or dead within three years. It was easy to get in trouble for stupid shit, Breshears recalls. I watched him choke, slam kids into the floor, and just basically beat the shit out of them. Agape's trouble began in 2020 when former students came forward with abuse allegations. 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. Many of these programs, which are estimated to serve as many as 200,000 kids at any one time, are allowed to operate with virtual impunity, thanks to federal inaction and permissive state laws. 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. Today, its home to at least 28 such institutions, though some estimates place the number at upward of 100, many of which are still operating under the radar. 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. Agape Baptist Church owns and operates the private boarding school for boys in Stockton, MO. A student at Agap Boarding School near Stockton, Missouri, performs push ups when his student guide ruled his clean up work was not good enough in September 2002. Staffers grabbed Breshears and, he claims, threw him onto the glass. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. 1.0 Stephen H. Winter Haven, FL. Once in the car, Bindley says, they took him to their home. McCrary said his office has received complaints about Agap, and that theyve all been investigated as far as it could go. He called Graves a very good deputy. McCrary said that he ensures there is no conflict of interest when investigating Agap complaints by involving other agencies, like the social services department. LAST MARCH, BRESHEARS SAYS, he was on kitchen duty when a staffer said some chocolate milk was missing from the fridge, and accused Breshears and several other students of stealing it. 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.". Minnesota has even less control. Regretfully, child abuse and neglect have continued to rise and the work of Agape Ranch is needed now more than ever. 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. The curriculum included traditional math and English. He says staff would restrain boys on the ground and use pressure points to the point of bruising. 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. Cedar . 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. Attendance at Agape plummeted after abuse allegations surfaced. 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. Federal lawmakers say they plan to introduce legislation to curtail abuses in the industry. 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. NWS confirms EF-1 tornado near Goodman, Mo. That was the last straw; they had him committed. Though Ms. Allred's office has spent months soliciting a cash settlement, we were unaware that a suit would be filed. 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. For many survivors of Agap, that would be tough to accept. Alumni from Agap and Circle of Hope feel the momentum is swinging in their direction. Within a few months, he says, three students ran away. In November, a man who is reportedly a former Agap employee was charged with 215 counts of possession of child pornography. This results in many children being separated from their siblings and the only community that they know. 2023 The Associated Press. The three were convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison. 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 . Robert Bucklin, 28, who is identified in the motion and lawsuit as R.B. 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. 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. He enjoyed watching movies, listening to Elvis, and playing soccer with his friends. The video follows numerous allegations of abuse against Agape, a Christian reform school for boys, which until a new law in 2021, had virtually no state oversight due to its faith-based status. 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. The Missouri AG launched a joint investigation with Cedar County authorities. I realized I cant be the only former student to have these problems, he says. (KY3) - Missouris attorney general is investigating a second Cedar County boarding school. The way Bryan tells it, in the 1970s, Kathy was a single mom whod found Jesus but still had a mischievous streak. 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. So they constructed wooden bunks on the second floor of their modest home, set up cubicles in the garage, and obtained work booklets produced by Accelerated Christian Education. They would put you down, says Breshears. Bindley remembers learning quickly that retribution for breaking the rules was swift and sometimes painful. Meanwhile, Agap was growing. Since it claims to be a Christian organization, is not regulated by the state because of a religious exemption. The school is a nonprofit owned by the Agap Baptist Church, which was also started by the Clemensens. Full Gala Taping. The state has been fighting to close Agap ever since. It is a matter of time before youth aging out of the foster care system fall prey to the statistics. By 5+ Local Business Owners! Meanwhile, tales of abuse continue to emerge. The AG was on board. Bryan Clemensen stops a tour of the group home to pet Sally, the ranchs beloved camel. Operators advertise it as a national boarding school for at-risk or unmotivated boys. The five employees of the Agape Boarding School near Stockton were charged with a total of 13 third-degree felony assault counts, Cedar County Prosecuting Attorney Ty Gaither said. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Award honors influential children's minister. You can start to heal., For his part, Breshears is grateful to be free. 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. Agape Boys Ranch Entrance. 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. (As of publication, one defendants case was dismissed, three pleaded guilty to misdemeanors, and one is awaiting a hearing this month.) The Clemensens sent 100 boys home, and moved the rest to base housing. Colton Shrag, age 16 on a home visit from Agap in 2008. Send us a tip using our anonymous form. It was time to go. Youre going to be dead or in prison three months after you turn 18.. Indeed, the version of the school students describe, community members say, is starkly different from the Agap the town has come to know. If you resisted any, they would start kneeing you, hitting you, just mashing your face into the tile or concrete, wherever it was.. Every year, thousands of young Mormons go on missions to try to recruit others into the religion. 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. (Both have pleaded not guilty.) 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. 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. 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. . 60% of the children in our county are being placed outside of our county due to the lack of foster homes in our community. 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 . KANSAS CITY, Mo. I believe the community is aware. DSS added . His grandparents sent him to a mental hospital, then to Agap. Least three people who worked at Agape Boarding school dean, a man who is identified in the motion lawsuit. 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