10/23 Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis
Volunteer Missouri director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
We're here today outside a courthouse because this is where you go - if you were physically or sexually or emotionally abused in an institutional setting - this is where you go for justice, healing, closure, accountability and prevention, to the admittedly flawed but time-tested and transparent legal system. You find justice, healing closure, accountability and prevention in secular courts of law, not in the private offices of wrongdoers.
This is especially true when it comes to institutions that are private, independent and secretive and when they posture as religious or educational.
So more than anything, we want to beg victims, witnesses and whistleblowers who saw, suspected or suffered any crimes or potential crimes at the Agape Boarding School to come forward and report the wrongdoing to people you can trust - your family, your friends, the police, a prosecutor, a therapist or a support group like ours.
When victims, witnesses stay silent, innocent kids and wounded adults continue suffering. But when we speak up, at least there's a chance that justice may be achieved and agony be avoided.
And when we speak up, we start to heal. We start to protect others. We start to expose people who commit or conceal heinous crimes against children. And we start to prevent those crimes - and the devastating consequences of those crimes.
There are at least three unusual - maybe even unprecedented - aspects of this lawsuit:
First, it stems from the horrific abuse of a promising young man who was so severely violated at Agape that it led to his tragic, early death. It's about depraved adults committing and concealing physical, emotional and sexual abuse against a child. It's about depraved adults also depriving that child of his very life.
Second, it names as defendants two sheriffs who clearly could and should have done more to investigate properly and respond effectively to complaints of mistreatment at Agape, and do what law enforcement is supposed to do: protect the vulnerable from the predatory, especially vulnerable youngsters.
Third, it names one company that transports, sometimes roughly, these kids from their homes to places like Agape.
All too often, the focus in cases like this is solely on the institution and its predatory or complicit employees. But there are other wrongdoers in the horrific the Agape Boarding School scandal, like this transit company, Safe sound & Secure Youth Ministry. They too must answer for their deliberate, selfish, reckless, irresponsible and criminal acts.
In recent years, officials, like attorneys general, have been increasingly successfully at holding accountable the banks and other institutions that - by actions or inaction - helped Jeffrey Epstein perpetrate heinous crimes against kids. So too must they be more creative and aggressive infighting abuse, and do all that we can to expose and punish the companies that help facilities like Agape mistreat vulnerable kids.
Transit companies like this one exist all over the country and have largely stayed 'under the radar' in boarding abuse and cover up scandals. If kids are to be safer, these companies must be regulated, be overseen, be transparent and be held responsible in court for their role in the cruelty and harm done to youngsters in these settings.
Again, if kids are to be safer, we must remember and pursue other entities that help people who commit and conceal child sex crimes, no matter what they call themselves - schools, religious institutions, 'treatment' facilities, private businesses or governmental agencies.
We grieve for every person - adult, teenager or child - who saw suspected or suffered abuse of any kind at Agape and similar facilities. And we applaud - with all our hearts, every single person who has broken their silence about these crimes, in media interviews, in reports to law enforcement and speaking before the state lawmakers. Every single one of them is a hero.
So again, we call on people with information or suspicions about wrongdoing at Agape to find the courage to come forward.
We call on local and state law enforcement agencies to more aggressively seek out victims and more vigorously investigate abuse reports at such schools and avoid conflicts of interest with them.
We call on the Missouri General Assembly to go much further to regulate places like Agape and to extend or eliminate the archaic, predator-friendly laws - especially the statute of limitations - that prevent suffering victims from exposing predators in court.
Finally, we express our deepest sympathy to Jason's family. His parents did everything right. They sought help for him when he was troubled, by sending him to Agape. They yanked him out of Agape when they suspected their child was being hurt. They steadfastly supported Jason as he struggled with the many deep wounds he suffered at Agape, and with the deep and long-lasting after effects that almost inevitably plague youngsters who are so severely hurt by those who claimed to be their 'helpers.'
Our hearts ache for them and for the hundreds of others who were violated at Agape, especially those who are still trapped in silence, shame and self-blame. If you were abused at Agape, we beg you to please carefully reach out for real help, trustworthy help, so you get the support you need and deserve and you can begin to move past the awful trauma you endured.
Parents, if your child spent any amount of time at Agape, we beg you to not stay silent. Please gently ask your child if he saw or suffered any kind of mistreatment. He may not understand that he was hurt or that the abuse was so hurtful. He may deny that it continues to haunt him even now. But your loving and gentle questioning just might open the door to his healing and to a better relationships in your family.