(Householder has denied that any abuse occurred at the ranch.). I just kind of felt like I was on my own, said Schrag, 28, who now works in the oil industry in Texas. Colton Shrag, age 16 on a home visit from Agap in 2008. Allen Knoll, who attended Agap from 1999 to 2001, looks at Alabamas law as a template of what we can do across the country. The only thing that has held back change in Missouri, he said, is a lack of public knowledge about what goes on inside these schools. And that's what it's all about.. More than a decade later, legislators are finally making headway. Trending Circle of Hope Girls Ranch near Humansville . Schrag says the verbal abuse was constant. 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. Wednesday afternoon, a House committee questions Missouri Department of Social Services leaders about their investigations into boarding schools. They allowed it to happen.. 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 . Its about getting these kids to a place in their life where they have to look to God for help, he says. Former students say Clemensen, a paunchy middle-aged man with a buzz cut, a soft chin, and a stern manner, had a technique that he called Jurassic Elbow which entailed slamming his elbow into the back of a students skull, face, ribs, or down between the shoulder blades. Jim and Kathy appeared at the hospital a few weeks later. 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. James Clemensen founded the Agap Boarding School in the early 1990s. 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! Many of the kids my parents took in would be back six months later in worse shape, Bryan says. 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. I can't find any scriptures in the Bible that would say that it's OK to physically or sexually abuse children, to starve them as means of punishment, to withhold medication, to deprive them of sleep, to force them into manual labor, Ingle said. Lawmakers proposed legislation to provide oversight for faith-based boarding schools in Missouri. We are gathered here, former students,. Agape Boarding School is located on a 200-acre ranch in Stockton, Missouri. ), Other students describe staffers encouraging classmates to fight one another, and cutting off communication with loved ones when they complained. 24, 2021 at 10:23 AM PDT | Updated: Mar. The newly appointed attorney general, Andrew Bailey, had said he planned to continue pursuing closure. It was late on April 20, 2007, he said, and the staff at the all-boys boarding school in southwestern Missouri wanted him to confess that he and two other boys were going to try to run away. By the time Askins contacted her, she had been in therapy for years, and was deeply enmeshed in an online community of former Agap and Circle of Hope survivors. She posted Askins video to TikTok, followed by a second post alleging her parents regularly beat her and had forced a student to eat until they threw up, then eat their own vomit. 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. Agape Boarding School, a Christian reform school in Cedar County, is under investigation by local authorities and the Missouri Attorney Generals office. They moved their wards in and set them to work clearing the site and fixing the property. Circle of Hope Girls' Ranch, a nearby Christian boarding school for girls, was shut down in 2020. Former Calallen ISD teacher Joseph Sandoval sentenced to 35 years in prison for sexual abuse . And they would never tell you how long your stay in Brown Town will be, Breshears says. 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. Agap did not respond to repeated requests for comment and interviews via phone, email and a letter left at the schools reception desk. Jennifer says she knows it will take a while to reconnect, and she worries about the psychic scars left by the school shes already noticed that her son hates horses now. The school is a nonprofit owned by the Agap Baptist Church, which was also started by the Clemensens. SPRINGFIELD DRIVERS: Construction at Campbell and Republic starts soon. Earlier this year, Smock, the schools longtime physician, was charged with 12 felony sexual-molestation crimes against those in his care. Clemensen has said the move was necessary because negative publicity has caused enrollment to plummet, and it was not financially feasible to stay open. Agape Boarding School in Stockton has been the subject of state and local investigations and several lawsuits from former students. The school has been operating in Missouri where until 2021, privately owned schools were not required to report to the state. Youre dirtbags, youre hoodlums. 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. Carlson said he never witnessed abuse and credited the school with temporarily keeping him off meth and teaching him how to lay tile. It is a matter of time before youth aging out of the foster care system fall prey to the statistics. But in some states that have tried to close this oversight gap in recent years, like Montana, lawmakers have met with resistance. I got picked up by the Cedar County Sheriffs Department, and I tried to tell the guy, like, Theyre beating us, dont take me back there, he says. Each worker is facing abuse charges. Hymns blared in the classrooms. For a time, Breshears stayed out of trouble. And its not just Missouri. It was renewed on Dec. 7. Lawmakers held hearings and introduced a bill that would give the state some oversight. 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. Woody Harrelson Spreads Anti-Vax Conspiracies During SNL Monologue James Clemensen was a California State Highway patrolman with a death wish so extreme the wives of his fellow troopers forbade their husbands from hanging out with him. He would later set up a transport business to collect teens, hiring off-duty deputies to help him. Officials also said even if child protective services found that someone at a religious youth facility abused a child, there were no rules to prevent the person from continuing to work there. South Carolina is a possibility; it still does not require religious schools to register with the state. "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. However, the Cedar County prosecutor says no students have been removed from the school. They would put you down, says Breshears. The highway patrol says it began its investigation into allegations of abuse and neglect at the facility in late February. The campus is also home to Agape Baptist Church. Every year, thousands of young Mormons go on missions to try to recruit others into the religion. They called the school Agap, meaning Gods love for man. If you need expert assistance finding the right program for your boy, fill in this inquiry form or call 888-363-0888 (24/7) for a free, confidential information service (not affiliated with Agape). Seven boys tested positive for tuberculosis. The Missouri AG launched a joint investigation with Cedar County authorities. He says one told local police that he had escaped from a Nazi camp.. 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. 60% of the children in our county are being placed outside of our county due to the lack of foster homes in our community. Once in the car, Bindley says, they took him to their home. That meant calling out and even disciplining classmates for infractions like cursing, talking in line, refusing to pledge allegiance to the Christian flag, or talking about their pasts. in solitary confinement, handcuffed them to beds, Alabama Youth Residential Facility Abuse Prevention Act. They promoted me I was the youngest person to go red. Robert Bucklin, 28, who is identified in the motion and lawsuit as R.B. Former students said their communication with parents and local authorities was censored. One killed in officer-involved shooting in Branson, Mo. Interested in learning more about the 2023 Legacy Gala? It was easy to get in trouble for stupid shit, Breshears recalls. 90% of young adults aging-out of the foster care system will become homeless, incarcerated, in prostitution, sex trafficked, or dead within three years. The AG was on board. The site was littered with old barrels, wood piles, abandoned cars, and insulation containing asbestos. 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. Since it claims to be a Christian organization, is not regulated by the state because of a religious exemption. We want to make it about the children's rights rather than taking away religious rights. 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. STOCKTON, Mo. But then, Breshears made friends and began to reconsider his allegiances particularly, he says, after he witnessed classmates getting restrained. 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. There wasnt really any training, said James Clidence, a pastor who worked as a teacher at Agap from 2012 to 2015. That was the last straw; they had him committed. Several lawsuits filed on behalf of former students also have named Agape and Circle of Hope. 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! 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