Schrag says he tried to escape around 2007, when he was 15. The industry is a multi-billion dollar industry that claims to help or fix troubled teenagers . They moved their wards in and set them to work clearing the site and fixing the property. South Carolina is a possibility; it still does not require religious schools to register with the state. Circle of Hope was opened in 2006 by Boyd Householder, a former Agap employee, as a school for rebellious teenage girls. In civil suits, Agap students describe being choked with rebar and electrical cords, pushed through drywall, having their noses broken, and hit in the testicles hard enough to cause traumatic groin injury. They say several boys attempted to hang themselves, in what they call a pandemic among students. Agap, through its attorney, denies the allegations, and says that no student there has ever killed himself. Students called it the Padded Palace., Punishments allegedly ranged from calisthenics to wall time, where kids stood with their foreheads and noses touching the wall, except when sleeping, doing schoolwork, or eating. Agaps handbook states it has a strict hands-off policy regarding the students, and does not use corporal punishment. 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. 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. "The healing process can start for so many.". Upon completion, our self sustaining community will care for up to 132 foster children and young adults at a time. Graves did not respond to a request for comment. I watched him choke, slam kids into the floor, and just basically beat the shit out of them. Tripadvisor names the world's top 25 beaches, three in the U.S. CDC warns drug-resistant stomach bug a "serious public health threat". Church was on Wednesday and three times on Sunday. Bryan, by then in his twenties, was working in a state-funded group home. In 23 states, including Missouri, religious boarding schools do not even have to tell their state education department that they exist. 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. 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. Its good to be back with family, he says. 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. The committee is considering bills introduced by Ingle and a Republican colleague last month to give the Missouri Department of Social Services oversight of religious boarding schools. Missouri has been a particular hotbed for religious schools since 1982, when the state passed a law exempting faith-based residential child-care facilities from state oversight. 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. 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. In addition to the fired staffer, DSS has substantiated findings of child abuse or neglect against Bryan Clemensen and two other Agap employees, according to The Kansas City Star. Bryan Clemensen was not among those charged. It was time to go. RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT FOR SUBSTANCE ABUSE. For a time, Breshears stayed out of trouble. Colton Schrag remembers the night at the Agap Boarding School when, he says, a staff member punched him in the face. I tried to find a record of it, but there was none. (The Cedar County Sheriffs Department did not return calls seeking comment.). SPRINGFIELD DRIVERS: Construction at Campbell and Republic starts soon. These rules and policies are for their son's success and protection. ), Other students describe staffers encouraging classmates to fight one another, and cutting off communication with loved ones when they complained. When speaking with Rolling Stone, Clemensen denied the allegations against him and explained his approach to reform. Those details were outlined in motions filed in 19 civil lawsuits requesting that the Cedar County judge overseeing those cases allow . They held a blood drive, organized a Fourth of July fireworks spectacular, and began holding an annual rodeo. He says he and others suffered frequent physical abuse, at the hands of at least a dozen staff members, and others didnt stop it. Carlson said he never witnessed abuse and credited the school with temporarily keeping him off meth and teaching him how to lay tile. 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. Jan 5, 2023 9:58 am. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. (NBC News presented a copy of Clidences nondisparagement agreement to Agap to confirm or dispute its authenticity, but the school did not respond.). 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. Staff called it the intake or restraint room. "For nearly three decades, students at Agape Boarding School have experienced emotional, mental, physical . 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. However, the Cedar County prosecutor says no students have been removed from the school. None of these inspections are required at religious boarding schools. It was renewed on Dec. 7. (The recommendations are not public, so the implicated staff members are unknown.) Yet Agaps neighbors insist they never had any idea. 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. After each event, the team assesses what went well, what could be done better, and how many children/foster families were positively impacted. Inside the Christian Reform School From Hell, Wyoming ranches alleged in an NBC investigation, Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints. Regretfully, child abuse and neglect have continued to rise and the work of Agape Ranch is needed now more than ever. 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. Since it claims to be a Christian organization, is not regulated by the state because of a religious exemption. Bryan Clemensen stops a tour of the group home to pet Sally, the ranchs beloved camel. Woody Harrelson Spreads Anti-Vax Conspiracies During SNL Monologue Amanda Householder is suing her parents, Boyd and Stephanie Householder, owners of Circle of Hope Girls Ranch and Boarding School. Sandoval, Agaps dean of students, worked shifts at the county jail. 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. We need people who will financially contribute and volunteer at the event to help give these . Clidence said Agap fired him in March 2015 when the school asked employees to sign a nondisparagement agreement, and he refused. The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time Just last summer, former students at a pair of Wyoming ranches alleged in an NBC investigation that they had been forced to perform backbreaking manual labor and subjected to traumatic physical and emotional abuse. 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. 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. According to AG Schmitts office, the Cedar County Sheriffs Department employs at least three people who used to work at Agap. (Agap denies this.) 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. The site, designed as a Christian camp, had cabins, a shower facility, a mess hall, and a small chapel. 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. Thats where someone went too far. It also taught creationism and that women should be subservient to their husbands, while weaving biblical references into the materials. 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. Others said they suffered permanent injuries from being disciplined or forced to work long hours of manual labor. The next evening, a man found Jacob begging for change at a neighboring county supermarket 10 miles from Blue Creek and called Clay County Child Protective Services. 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. All Rights Reserved. He is pleased to hear the Missouri attorney generals office is now investigating Agape Boarding School. Agape Ranch will establish a safe environment of. When 19-year-old Rebekah Cooper started her mission, she had to give up her first name . 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. Cedar . 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 . A judge ordered the school closed only to put the order on hold after Agap fired the staffer in question. Agape had 132 students 13 months ago, its lawyer, John Schultz said. The posts went viral even receiving a thumbs-up from Paris Hilton. The next home at The Ranch is for youth aging-out of foster care and the need is urgent. Their lawyer denies the allegations and says that their innocence will prevail in court. The only thing it would have done, Smith said of her bill, is require these adolescent facilities to have oversight by our Department of Public Health and Human Services, just like a senior citizen home or a barbershop.. Agap did not respond to repeated requests for comment and interviews via phone, email and a letter left at the schools reception desk. The Thrive program will provide housing and mentorship for young adults during their college or trade school career. That's because Agap is a religious school, which makes it exempt from the state rules governing secular boarding schools and childrens homes. Passing under the majestic cross affixed to its towering arched entryway, Breshears gazed over a beautiful campus. Updated: Dec 13, 2022 / 12:48 PM CST. 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. 79 were here. (Agap denies any knowledge of these allegations. Missouri's Agap Boarding School will close its doors due to a lack of finances, school officials say but the . 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. Schmitt last year asked a Cedar County judge to close Agape, but the judge had not yet issued a decision. Operators advertise it as a national boarding school for at-risk or unmotivated boys. Seven former students said staff members had assaulted them. 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. By 14, Breshears says, he was fully in staffers crosshairs. Pinehaven did not respond to a request for comment. We want to make it about the children's rights rather than taking away religious rights. 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 . He says staff would restrain boys on the ground and use pressure points to the point of bruising. At least three Cedar County Sheriff's Department employees currently or previously work at Agape, including two full-time deputies, one of whom is married to the daughter of Agape's founder, the petition read. Attendance at Agape plummeted after abuse allegations surfaced. 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! Mrs. Vicki Loeffler & Mrs. Rodney Johnson, DDS, Faithful Witness Photography, Photographer. Circle of Hope Girls' Ranch, a nearby Christian boarding school for girls, was shut down in 2020. He is a manipulator, says Breshears. UPDATE (Feb. 12, 2021, 2:33 p.m. The glass flew everywhere, he says. Agape Ranch and Boarding School near Stockton, Missouri, a facility operated by Agape Baptist Church. They led to a front-page story in the Cedar County Republican. Agape Connection. Selena Gomez Taking a Break From Social Media After Hailey Bieber Drama: I'm 'Too Old for This The allegations of abuse were filed at the Cedar County Circuit . Yet the delays have frustrated state lawmakers. One former student reportedly mentioned Agap in a suicide note. 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. It was easy to get in trouble for stupid shit, Breshears recalls. 2023 The Associated Press. He grabbed the bat, charged toward the front of the cafeteria, and shattered a plate-glass window. Nonetheless, the outcome of the civil suits is far from certain. The term encompasses various facilities and programs, including youth residential treatment centers, wilderness programs, boot camps, and therapeutic boarding schools.. Former students wonder if its because of this that authorities failed to act sooner. Posted Apr 03, 2022 11:00 AM. Circle of Hope Girls Ranch near Humansville . 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. Mow Grass and Maintain Landscaping. 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. Many Stockton residents consider Agap a mark of honor. KANSAS CITY (AP) Maggie Drew's dad sent her to Circle . The argument grew heated, he says, and the staffer told the kids they were going to Brown Town. (Knock her out! he can be heard saying.) 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.. 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