Circle of Hope girls school

ALAYMAN

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Just watched a Dateline expose about this (allegedly abusive) reform home for wayward girls. They are/were located in one of the cradles of IFBism, Springfield Missouri, and affiliated with a KJVONLY IFB Church. Anybody here familiar with the story?
 
Some info about Circle of Hope in Humansville, Missouri - founded in 2006 as an IFB ministry, and apparently complaints started pouring in about them right away:

Girls Tell of Terror and Abuse at Missouri Christian Boarding School Under Investigation | BCNN1 - Black Christian News Network

Seems like support of these abusive private prisons for teens, run by IFBs, has been a test of fellowship in the IFB movement for as long as I can remember. I still have some of Lester Roloff's "Family Altar' magazines from 1979 describing the battle of the Roloff Homes against regulation by the State of Texas. Roloff had the big guns of IFB on his side - Pastor Earl Little of the Miller Road Baptist Church in Garland, Texas, also Jack Hyles, Dr. Bob Jones III and David Gibbs of the Christian Law Association. More recently, Ron Williams of Hephzibah House was a regular speaker at the IFB church where I was a member. On one occasion some of our members made a fuss about Ron condemning anyone who had a TV set in his home, but the pastor brushed off the complaints, and our "missions" dollars continued to flow to Ron. On his most recent visit, maybe 10 years ago, basically all of us gave Ron the cold shoulder - we wouldn't look at his literature table or talk to him after the service, and all he could do was lamely stand there and say "The Lord bless you" as we walked past him and out the door. I expressed my disagreement with the Hephzibah House "ministry" to our pastor, and he politely but firmly stated that our church was going to continue to support him no matter what, and that was that.
 
Some info about Circle of Hope in Humansville, Missouri - founded in 2006 as an IFB ministry, and apparently complaints started pouring in about them right away:

Girls Tell of Terror and Abuse at Missouri Christian Boarding School Under Investigation | BCNN1 - Black Christian News Network

Seems like support of these abusive private prisons for teens, run by IFBs, has been a test of fellowship in the IFB movement for as long as I can remember. I still have some of Lester Roloff's "Family Altar' magazines from 1979 describing the battle of the Roloff Homes against regulation by the State of Texas. Roloff had the big guns of IFB on his side - Pastor Earl Little of the Miller Road Baptist Church in Garland, Texas, also Jack Hyles, Dr. Bob Jones III and David Gibbs of the Christian Law Association. More recently, Ron Williams of Hephzibah House was a regular speaker at the IFB church where I was a member. On one occasion some of our members made a fuss about Ron condemning anyone who had a TV set in his home, but the pastor brushed off the complaints, and our "missions" dollars continued to flow to Ron. On his most recent visit, maybe 10 years ago, basically all of us gave Ron the cold shoulder - we wouldn't look at his literature table or talk to him after the service, and all he could do was lamely stand there and say "The Lord bless you" as we walked past him and out the door. I expressed my disagreement with the Hephzibah House "ministry" to our pastor, and he politely but firmly stated that our church was going to continue to support him no matter what, and that was that.
Not to sound stupid but was your pastor brain dead? I would have left that church in a heart beat.
 
All I can say is that as IFBs, we were all brainwashed over a long period of time to believe that support for IFB private prisons was a vitally important part of our ministry and identity. Complaints against the abuses within those prisons were routinely rejected as being lies that were motivated by a desire to destroy fundamentalist Christianity. Nobody ever asked why it was that, as part of the process of reforming these wayward fundy teens, they were not allowed to have unrestricted contact with their IFB pastors or even their own IFB parents. While I do not envy the situation of inmates in our federal and state prisons, they have one advantage over teen inmates of our IFB private prisons - inmates in government prisons are allowed to communicate their gripes to the outside world, if they rightly or wrongly feel they are being abused and mistreated in prison. From now on, I would be extremely suspicious of any IFB private prison "ministry" that does not allow their captives to have unsupervised communications with their pastors and parents.

I left that IFB church, and the movement, not long after the final visit by Ron Williams of Hephzibah House. One of the many accusations made against me by the new pastor,, just before I left, was that I had advocated cutting off support to missionaries. The new pastor refused to talk to me about his accusations, so I never found out whether or not he was talking about Hephzibah House, but if he was, then I plead guilty to that accusation. Members of IFB churches who question their support of abusive homes for wayward children should be prepared to find another church, if they ask too many impertinent questions.
 
The article I posted from the Kansas City Star on Saturday, about Circle of Hope Girls Ranch, also mentions a nearby private prison for boys called Agape Boarding School in Stockton, Missouri. Their web site describes it as nondenominational and King James Only. Looks like Agape has also had some bad press and dissatisfied customers over the years. And I thought maybe Hephzibah House was the last of these abusive IFB private prisons for teens - how silly of me to believe that.

Suit says former student with disabilities abused at Agape | The Kansas City Star
 
More on Agape Boarding School in Stockton, Missouri, operated by Agape Baptist Church (IFB). Former Agape inmate Brett Harper is alleging that he was stomped on and otherwise abused there. "Clemenson's family" is identified as operator of the school. "It is clear that Agape Boarding School and the Clemenson's family that runs the school found a safe haven in Missouri after being shutdown in both Washington and California for child abuse. There should be state records. I ask you that they be reviewed. . . . My name is Brett Harper. I'm 33. My neurologists I've spoken with, surgeon, and spine care team all agree that my sciatica, spinal stenosis, bulging and herniated discs that required me to have a lamenectomy discectomy on my L5 done was because of child abuse and neglect. During my stay at Agape numerous times I complained of my back pain but they did nothing. In fact work crews where we carried large boulders, logs, cleared whole fields were frequent. Several staff members stomped on my back while I was doing push-ups or would apply weight there and tell me to straighten my back."

Petition · Agape Boarding School: Shutdown Agape Boarding School For Documented Child Abuse In 3 States · Change.org

This article states that James Clemensen moved his boarding school from Washington State to Stockton, Missouri after complaints about the school in Missouri. "Another boarding school that used to operate in Othello [Washington], about 60 miles north of Tri-Cities, also relocated to Missouri. The Agape Boarding School was in Othello from 1992-96. A Tri-City Herald story from 1996 said that Franklin County officials ordered the facility to close for code violations over removing and burying asbestos-containing material on school grounds. The school permanently closed in 1998. Agape’s owner James Clemenson told the Herald in a letter in 1996 that he was working on buying property for another boarding school, and that his family, staff and 63 students had relocated to Stockton, Mo., where they were living in a complex of small buildings." (The story also reports on complaints about other Baptist boarding schools in Washington).

Christian boarding school near Tri-Cities ordered closed | Tri-City Herald (tri-cityherald.com)

This article by Allan Domelle on his IFB "Old Paths Journal" web site, dated February 17, 2021, commends Jim Clemensen: "One of the greatest builders whom I have been acquainted with is Bro. Jim Clemensen. Bro. Clemensen is the founder of a boy’s boarding school that takes troubled boys and helps them to turn their life around. Anyone who has ever been around him knows how he takes rundown places and have the vision to rebuild them into great complexes. If you were to go to the home at the writing of this devotional, you would see a great, up-to-date complex; however, it didn’t start this way. It started as an old camp in a wooded area that needed a lot of work done. Bro. Clemensen took those few buildings and has built a great complex for the LORD’s work."

The Builder’s Mindset – Old Paths Journal

In spite of all the massive complaints and bad publicity about abusive IFB private prisons, support for such "ministries" continues to be upheld and promoted in some segments of the IFB movement. It almost appears that child abuse is considered by some to be one of the venerable "Old Paths."

[Note: In various articles about Agape Boarding School on the Internet, the operator's name is variously spelled as Clemenson and Clemensen. It appears that Clemensen is the correct spelling].
 
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Lots of updates on Agape Boarding School in the Missouri press, from around March 24. Former inmate alleges massive physical abuse: "One former student, Colton Schrag, claims he was beat up and slammed into walls during his four years at Agape. He says staff would restrain boys on the ground and use pressure points to the point of bruising. He remembers verbal abuse, such as being told, 'the world didn’t 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. Staff members would jump on you, said Schrag. 'If you resisted any, they would start kneeing you, hitting you, just mashing your face into the tile or concrete, wherever it was.' He says he and others suffered frequent physical abuse, at the hands of at least a dozen staff members, and others didn’t stop it." [From this web site]: State of Missouri investigating Agape Ranch and Boarding School near Stockton (ky3.com)

Looks like the story is being closely followed by national NBC News also: Christian boys school in Missouri under investigation as abuse claims mount (nbcnews.com)

This article states that Agape is one of "more than a dozen" reform schools of this type in Missouri. Agape is IFB - no information is given about the affiliation of the other private prisons in Missouri. Missouri reform school investigation grows: Parson directs AG to investigate another Christian boarding school | Law and order | stltoday.com
 
Lots of updates on Agape Boarding School in the Missouri press, from around March 24. Former inmate alleges massive physical abuse: "One former student, Colton Schrag, claims he was beat up and slammed into walls during his four years at Agape. He says staff would restrain boys on the ground and use pressure points to the point of bruising. He remembers verbal abuse, such as being told, 'the world didn’t 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. Staff members would jump on you, said Schrag. 'If you resisted any, they would start kneeing you, hitting you, just mashing your face into the tile or concrete, wherever it was.' He says he and others suffered frequent physical abuse, at the hands of at least a dozen staff members, and others didn’t stop it." [From this web site]: State of Missouri investigating Agape Ranch and Boarding School near Stockton (ky3.com)

Looks like the story is being closely followed by national NBC News also: Christian boys school in Missouri under investigation as abuse claims mount (nbcnews.com)

This article states that Agape is one of "more than a dozen" reform schools of this type in Missouri. Agape is IFB - no information is given about the affiliation of the other private prisons in Missouri. Missouri reform school investigation grows: Parson directs AG to investigate another Christian boarding school | Law and order | stltoday.com
Thank God you got out of there. I wish you well.
 
Fund-raising for the directors of the Circle of Hope private prison for girls (they are currently in the slammer, charged with a total of 101 felonies including rape, sodomy and abuse or neglect of a child):

Missouri pastor seeks money to help reform school owners | State News | columbiamissourian.com

Kansas City Star article says Circle of Hope was a legacy of Lester Roloff: "Like numerous other Christian boarding schools across the country, Circle of Hope was inspired by Lester Roloff, the late independent fundamental Baptist pastor seen by many as a pioneer in the effort to deliver wayward teens to Jesus. Roloff’s reform schools have been the subjects of serious abuse allegations over the years that include whippings and extended periods of isolation, and some that have been shut down have packed up and reopened in other states." The church that is raising money for the Circle of Hope directors, Bible Baptist Church of Nevada/Vernon County, Missouri, does not appear to have a web site or Facebook page. It is characterized in this manner: "Bible Baptist Church is an independent fundamental Baptist church. IFB churches teach followers to separate themselves from worldly influence. Some IFB churches have supported Circle of Hope financially over the years, and their pastors have recommended the boarding school to parents of troubled girls."

Missouri pastor wants money to help Circle of Hope owners | The Kansas City Star
 
Another lawsuit filed against the Agape Ranch, alleging "negligence, infliction of emotional distress, battery by staff and other students . . . [the client] suffered physical and mental abuse including being beaten and, in effect, tortured.” This all happened recently, from Feb. 2020 to March 2021, so apparently the "good folks" at Agape Ranch have not changed their ways in spite of all the bad publicity from previous lawsuits and the news media.

Minor with autism and bipolar disorder sues Agape for abuse | The Kansas City Star
 
Another lawsuit filed against the Agape Ranch, alleging "negligence, infliction of emotional distress, battery by staff and other students . . . [the client] suffered physical and mental abuse including being beaten and, in effect, tortured.” This all happened recently, from Feb. 2020 to March 2021, so apparently the "good folks" at Agape Ranch have not changed their ways in spite of all the bad publicity from previous lawsuits and the news media.

Minor with autism and bipolar disorder sues Agape for abuse | The Kansas City Star
If they filed...good for them!
 
Here's the latest on Agape Ranch - 5 staff members criminally charged with "Third Degree Assault" and arrest warrants issued.

Which staff members at Agape were charged with assault? | The Kansas City Star

"Among those charged are at least two former students who later became staffers. One of those is Agape’s medical director, Scott L. Dumar, who was charged with four counts of third-degree assault. The other is Seth Duncan, son-in-law of David Smock, a Stockton doctor who for years has provided medical care for Agape students. Duncan was charged with five counts of third-degree assault. . . .
"Former students told The Star that Dumar not only was abusive himself but covered up abuse by others at Agape. When they required medical attention, including stitches, they said, he would tell the medical personnel that they were injured while playing sports. In his newsletter profile, Dumar said he was a student at Agape from age 17 until he graduated at 18. The parts he enjoys about his job, he said, were 'Helping young men find a new path. Rekindling their relationship with the Lord or leading them to get saved. I love teaching them and watching them grow in the Lord.' He said Agape founder Jim Clemensen made a big difference in his life. 'He became my counselor as a teenager, and he has been one to me ever since...I love his consistency, compassion and leadership. For so many years, he has been the rod to help lead this school in the right direction and keep it going the right way.'”


[Jim Clemensen was fulsomely praised as a great man of God by Allan Domelle in "Old Paths Journal" -see post #7 above]
 
Update on Agape Ranch - Dr. Smock, who was in charge of medical care for the inmates, has been busted. It appears that this IFB private prison is still open for business.

Missouri doctor arrested on multiple charges of child sex abuse (nbcnews.com)

Most of the Kansas City Star coverage on this ongoing saga is hidden behind their paywall, but this article is available without charge:

Agape doctor planned to turn himself in, his lawyer says | The Kansas City Star

"The Star has reported extensively on Agape and other unlicensed Missouri boarding schools over the past year and investigated Smock’s close ties to the school. In October, The Star reported that two of five Agape Boarding School staff members charged in September with assaulting students listed Smock’s Cedar County mansion as their address. Many former Agape students said some boys injured by staff or other schoolmates during physical and sexual assaults would be taken to Smock’s clinic, where Agape officials claimed they had been hurt while playing sports. No questions were asked, they said. As a doctor, Smock is required by law to report suspicions of abuse or neglect."

Read more at: https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article256914712.html#storylink=cpy
 
Agape Boarding School, an IFB private prison, is still open for business and generating bad publicity. This article covers an angle I had not heard of before - transport firms that forcibly detain children and trundle them off to "re-education camp."

‘Literally kidnapping’: Teens taken against their will to boarding schools across US (yahoo.com)

"Parents can pay hundreds and up to thousands of dollars to have their children picked up by transport companies and delivered to boarding schools. Ingle said several former students shared with her their transport company stories and how the experiences still affect them today. She questions the legality of such methods. 'That opens things up to trafficking, false imprisonment, kidnapping, all of those things,' Ingle said. 'It’s horrifying. And if these are kids with alleged behavioral problems or histories of trauma, this is just going to exacerbate that.'. . .

“'I don’t know that there’s anybody that hasn’t heard about Agape,' she said. 'I believe that it is a national embarrassment to the state of Missouri. There is no reason that it should be open. It is a demonstration of corrupt politics and clearly shows a disregard for the well-being of children. The evidence couldn’t be more clear.'”
 
Agape Boarding School, an IFB private prison, is still open for business and generating bad publicity. This article covers an angle I had not heard of before - transport firms that forcibly detain children and trundle them off to "re-education camp."

Meanwhile, in the sanity-based world, we tell our kids not to take rides from strangers.

Perhaps when a sudden outbreak of groin injuries results in a driver shortage, they'll rethink their business model.
 
I would NEVER recommend anyone send a child/teen to a place like this. Christians and Christian institutions like this are breeding grounds for perverts/sexual deviants, and it's not something I endorse, no matter how many pastors believe it's a "good thing." I'd send them to a secular institution with some standards.
 
Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I would be a bit leery of any church movement that feels the need to operate a gulag of abusive private prisons for their wayward adherents. Such groups as Scientology and Word of Faith Fellowship (Spindale, NC) have their own private prisons, but theirs are for adults, not children. I suppose many IFB pastors would say they do not support, approve of or even know about the IFB private prisons like Agape, Circle of Hope, Hephzibah House, etc., but have any IFB pastors or leaders spoken out against them or expressed any concern? Not that I am aware of, but I hope that some IFBs have done so.
 
My neighbor sent his then 15 year old to one of these. It ruined, in my opinion, the kids attitude toward God. He wrote to my kids while there and he hated it, despised his parents for sending him there and never listened once. He just couldn't wait to find a way to get high.
I can't remember the guy's name...I think it was Lester Roloff, but I could be mistaken, who ran one of those "homes" in Texas. A kid I went to high school with who tried to kill me and my little brother, and then a few weeks later shot his mother in the face with a rifle (she lived), and his mom and dad tried to get him into that home. But, I saw firsthand how those kids were treated and how many of them turned out, against God, against the societal norms, and how it was so counterproductive to anything going on in these kids' lives. I was in college, and my then-fiance and I heard the news report about Roloff being killed in a plane crash in November of 82. We both hoped that this would end his home/homes and would tend to help get these kids some true counselling.
 
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