Shocking child abuse lawsuit filed in KC, Thurs 6/26 @ 1:15 pm
Shocking child abuse lawsuit filed vs. shuttered facility
It’s 1 of 5 recently troubled MO ‘Christian’ boarding schools
SNAP to AG: ‘Where there’s smoke, there’s fire! Do SOMEthing!’
Victims also blast Bailey for ‘ducking & dodging’ on their requests
They again ask for ‘a new, voluntary, unannounced inspection system'
Using chalk, they’ll write criminally charged abusers’ names on sidewalk
WHAT
Holding signs and childhood photos at a sidewalk news conference,
--announce the filing of a shocking new child abuse and cover up lawsuit against a now-shuttered southwest Missouri ‘Christian’ boarding school where several ex-staffers have recently been arrested and face criminal charges, and
The will also try to hand deliver a letter to Missouri’s attorney general
a) urging him to ask school owners to allow voluntary but unannounced inspections of their facilities by independent children’s groups and law enforcement personnel (including the Highway Patrol), and
b) blasting him for ‘repeatedly ignoring’ requests they’ve made of him they believe will ‘help protect the vulnerable and help heal the wounded.’
Afterwards, using chalk, they will write the names of at least ten ex-staffers from Christian boarding schools across Missouri who have been arrested or convicted in recent years (four of whom were charged just this year).
WHEN
Wednesday, June 26 at 1:15 p.m.
WHERE
In Kansas City MO, on the sidewalk outside the Missouri attorney general’s office, 615 E. 13th Street, (between Cherry and Holmes) (816-889-5000)
WHO
Three-four child sex abuse victims including a Missouri man who for 30 years headed a support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org)
WHY
1) A new civil child abuse and cover up lawsuit is being filed today in Kansas City federal court against officials with Agape School. It charges that school staff ‘began 'immediately bullying and abusing’ a then-15-year-old boy, denying him medical attention and subjecting him to 'extreme cruelty' for 'minor infractions' (like making him making him stand 'with a Bible balanced on his head or chest the entire day.')
Staff sometimes made him work or exercise until he threw up and then denied him water, 'adequate food, shelter or rest,’ the suit says, and ‘intentionally inflicted emotional and physical pain’ on the boy.
The Agape defendants 'thwarted' investigations of abuse by the Children’s Division/DFS and 'failed to report, warn or inform family’ or anyone about the abuse, according to the civil case.
Employees also deceived parents to stop them from discovering the abuse, preventing them from visiting and sending private communications, the suit charges. They wouldn’t let kids send mail ‘that included any negative comments' and or get ‘letters or care packages sent to them by their parents, causing the children to believe they had been abandoned.'
The suit says that school staff 'often beat boys up in front of the others,' violently and cruelly restrained them, punched, slapped, pushed and threw kids down, encouraged them to be aggressive toward each other while 'denigrating, physically abusing and punishing them.'
The victim, now 20, is filing as a ‘John Doe’ and lives in Arizona. His suit seeks unspecified damages, including punitive damages.
Last month, a different young man also filed an abuse lawsuit against Agape alleging ‘brainwashing, abuse, peonage, slavery, trafficking’ and other serious wrongdoing.
KC MO attorney Rebecca Randles (816 510 2704, rebecca@rmblawyers.com) represents the victim who is suing today and the one who sued last month.
Last year, Agape closed after having “been under intense scrutiny over abuse allegations,” civil lawsuits and state and local investigations, according to the AP. It was located near Stockton MO.
2) Twice in the last two months, victims have written Attorney General Andrew Bailey urging him to a) investigate these schools b) prod local prosecutors to do likewise, c) publicly warn parents about these facilities and d) hold a Zoom call with them. He’s written back essentially ‘ducking and dodging and feigning powerlessness,’ SNAP says. The group is writing to him again today, this time urging him to ask school owners to allow unannounced inspections of their facilities by independent children’s groups and law enforcement personnel (including the Highway Patrol)
BACKGROUND
Over the past few years, at least five of the roughly 24 Christian boarding schools in Missouri have prompted criminal prosecutions, civil lawsuits and national media stories detailing horrific reports of the abuse of children. The facilities, mostly in remote parts of southern Missouri and essentially unregulated, include Agape, Circle of Hope, Ozark Trails Academy, Lighthouse Academy/ABM Ministries and Kanakuk Kamp.
Here’s a list of most of these controversial largely ‘under the radar’ ‘schools in Missouri:
https://dss.mo.gov/provider-services/children/docs/cd-license-exempt-agencies.pdf
https://dss.mo.gov/provider-services/children/residential-program/license-exempt/index.htm
Here’s SNAP’s first letter to AG Bailey (April 2024):
https://www.davidclohessy.com/blog/snap-to-mo-ag-investigate-boardingnbspschools
Here’s SNAP’s second letter to Bailey (May 2024):
https://www.snapnetwork.org/letter_to_missouri_attorney_general
Here’s SNAP’s letter TODAY to Bailey:
https://www.davidclohessy.com/blog/letter-to-attorney-general-bailey
CONTACT
David Clohessy 314 566 9790, davidgclohessy@gmail.com
Robert Bates 816 868 6351, rbates777@hotmail.com