Lawsuit alleges former student with autism suffered abuse at Missouri boarding school
A former student has filed a lawsuit against Agape Boarding School in southwest Missouri for what he describes as physical, emotional and sexual abuse.
The man, who has autism, was a student at the school in 2015 and 2016. The suit says the abuse by residents — including sexual — occurred when he was left unsupervised with other students. Agape made no hotline calls to report any of the abuse, it alleges.
“John Doe I was physically and emotionally abused by several staff members and was physically, emotionally and sexually abused by other residents of Agape,” the suit says.
The civil suit, filed Tuesday in Cedar County Circuit Court, names as defendants Agape Boarding School in Stockton, Agape Baptist Church, founder James Clemensen and four church board members, one who has been a pastor at the school for years.
Another board member named in the suit is Robert Graves, a deputy with the Cedar County Sheriff’s office. Graves, himself a former Agape student, is married to Clemensen’s daughter and has been a long-time employee at the school.
The plaintiff, now in his early 20s, is a Missouri resident. The action is being brought by his legal guardian, referred to in documents as J.W. The lawsuit requests a jury trial, damages “in a fair and reasonable amount,” as well as punitive damages.
Neither Clemensen nor the board members immediately responded Thursday morning to a request for comment.
Agape is among the numerous facilities The Star has examined in an ongoing investigation into Missouri’s faith-based reform schools, which are exempt from state oversight. Clemensen’s school came to the Show-Me State in 1996 after drawing scrutiny in Washington and California.
Former students have told The Star that Clemensen wanted to come to Missouri because of its lack of regulation and oversight. A 1982 law allows religious organizations to claim an exemption from Missouri’s licensing requirement.
Reporters have interviewed dozens of former Agape students in recent months, their time at the school spanning nearly a quarter of a century. The men have shared emotional stories of beatings, sexual abuse, physical restraints, long days of manual labor, and food and water withheld as punishment. Some said they reported the abuse but nothing happened.
On Wednesday, two former Agape students testified before a legislative committee in the Missouri House in favor of a measure that would, for the first time, give the state oversight over unlicensed boarding schools.
Colton Schrag, of New Mexico, and Allen Knoll, of Seattle, told lawmakers of abuse they said they and others endured at Agape. They said the law is desperately needed to protect children who reside in such boarding schools.
This new lawsuit is the first to be filed in recent years that alleges abuse at the Christian reform school, one of four that has operated in Cedar County.
“John Doe I was diagnosed with disabilities, including autism and Asperger’s, that required specialized care that Agape represented to the parents of John Doe I that it was qualified and experienced to provide,” the lawsuit says.
“Agape’s administration and staff in fact did not have such qualifications and experience.”
The suit alleges that for many years before John Doe I arrived at Agape, staff and/or residents had committed multiple acts of physical, emotional and sexual abuse. Those included acts that resulted in criminal sexual abuse charges and conviction, the lawsuit says.
“Despite this knowledge, defendants failed to implement safety measures designed to reduce or eliminate such abuses.”
By the time John Doe I arrived at Agape, the lawsuit alleges, “a culture of pervasive physical, emotional and sexual abuse existed” and was not disclosed to the boy’s parents.
One student, the suit says, had been the victim of multiple sexual assaults that led to charges of felony child molestation against a former resident who became a staff member.
The new lawsuit alleges that Agape employees and administration were aware of the abuse but did not adequately investigate or report it and took no steps to protect the boy from future assaults.
“In fact, as opposed to prevention,” the lawsuit says, “defendant practiced a pattern of punishment designed to conceal and prevent the reporting of such incidents to the appropriate authorities and to prevent knowledge of such assaults being known by the public and Agape’s financial supporters in the community.”
As a direct result of the defendants’ negligence, the lawsuit says, John Doe I “suffered permanent and ongoing emotional and psychological trauma that was and is both medically significant and diagnosable.”
