Missouri boarding school under investigation for abuse allegations to close

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A Christian boarding school in Missouri that is under intense scrutiny over allegations of abuse announced Wednesday that it will close later this month due to financial difficulties.

The Agape boarding school in Stockton has been the subject of national and local investigations and several lawsuits from former students. It will stop providing services from January 20, according to a statement from the boys’ school.

Agape’s attendance plummeted after allegations of abuse surfaced. Agape had 132 students 13 months ago, its lawyer, John Schultz, said. He now has 12.

The school’s goal now is “to ensure the safe transition of boys who remain in the program to their parents or to foster care, other group homes or residential programs,” said its former manager, Bryan Clemensen, in a statement.

Agape Boarding School, Stockton, Cedar County, Missouri. (Jill Toyoshiba/The Kansas City Star/Tribune News Service via Getty Images) Kansas City Star

Clemensen said the decision to close “is voluntary and solely due to the lack of financial resources to continue caring for the boys.”

Agape’s troubles began in 2020 when former students came forward with allegations of abuse. A former student has said he was raped at Agape and called a “convulsive boy” because of his epilepsy. Others said they suffered permanent injuries after being disciplined or forced to work long hours of manual labor.

Allegations of physical and sexual abuse at Agape and the Circle of Hope Girls’ Ranch prompted state law in 2021 requiring stricter oversight of these facilities. Missouri previously had virtually no oversight of religious boarding schools.

In 2021, longtime Agape doctor David Smock was charged with child sex crimes and five employees were charged with minor abuse. Then-Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s office argued that 22 workers should have been charged, and with more serious crimes. But in Missouri, only the local prosecutor can file charges, and Cedar County District Attorney Ty Gaither said no additional employees will be charged.

Meanwhile, husband-and-wife Circle of Hope founders Boyd and Stephanie Householder face a combined 99 charges that include child abuse and neglect, sex crimes and other charges. The school closed in 2020 amid investigations.

Several lawsuits filed on behalf of former students also named Agape and Circle of Hope. A former Agape student who sued, Robert Bucklin, said the closure means justice “has finally prevailed”.

“Today, the many victims who have come forward can be assured that there will be no more injured children at Agape boarding school,” Bucklin said in a text. “The healing process can begin for so many people.”

Among other things, the new state law allows state or local authorities to petition the court to close a facility if the safety or health of children is deemed to be in immediate danger.

Schmitt asked a Cedar County judge last year to shut down Agape, but the judge had yet to issue a ruling. Schmitt was elected to the US Senate last year and was sworn in this month. Newly appointed Attorney General Andrew Bailey had said he planned to continue with the shutdown.

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