Agape Boarding School in Stockton has been the topic of state and site investigations and a number of other lawsuits from former students. It can stop providing service effective Jan. 20, in accordance with a press release from the varsity for boys.
Attendance at Agape plummeted after abuse allegations surfaced. Agape had 132 students 13 months ago, its lawyer, John Schultz said. It now has 12.
The varsity’s focus now’s “on getting the boys who remain in this system safely transitioned to their parents or to foster care, other group homes or residential programs,” its former director, Bryan Clemensen, said in a press release.
Clemensen said the choice to shut “is voluntary and solely as a result of the shortage of monetary resources to proceed caring for the boys.”
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Agape’s trouble began in 2020 when former students got here forward with abuse allegations. One former student said he was raped at Agape and called “seizure boy” due to his epilepsy. Others said they suffered everlasting injuries from being disciplined or forced to work long hours of manual labor.
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. Missouri previously had virtually no oversight for religious boarding schools.
In 2021, Agape’s longtime doctor, David Smock, was charged with child sex crimes and five employees were charged with low-level abuse counts. Then-Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s office contended that 22 staff must have been charged, and with more serious crimes. But in Missouri, only the local prosecutor can file charges, and Cedar County Prosecuting Attorney Ty Gaither has said no additional employees can be charged.
Meanwhile, the husband-and-wife founders of Circle of Hope, Boyd and Stephanie Householder, face a combined 99 charges that include child abuse and neglect, sex crimes and other counts. The varsity closed in 2020 amid investigations.
Several lawsuits filed on behalf of former students even have named Agape and Circle of Hope. One former Agape student who sued, Robert Bucklin, said the closure means justice “has finally prevailed.”
“Today, the a whole bunch of victims who’ve come forth can rest assured that no more children will likely be hurt at Agape Boarding School,” Bucklin said in a text. “The healing process can start for therefore many.”
Amongst other things, the brand new state law allows state or local authorities to petition the court for closure of a facility if kid’s safety or health are believed to be in immediate danger.
Schmitt last yr asked a Cedar County judge to shut Agape, however the judge had not yet issued a choice. Schmitt was elected to the U.S. Senate last yr and sworn on this month. The newly appointed attorney general, Andrew Bailey, had said he planned to proceed pursuing closure.
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