Two more lawsuits allege physical and sexual abuse against Agape Boarding School

Judy L. Thomas, Laura Bauer
·3 min read

Two more former students are suing Agape Boarding School, bringing to four the number of lawsuits filed this year alleging abuse at the southwest Missouri facility.

The lawsuits were filed Friday in Cedar County Circuit Court, according to the state’s online database. They accuse the Christian reform school of negligence that resulted in physical, sexual and emotional abuse.

One plaintiff, identified as R.B., attended Agape from spring 2007 through fall 2012, according to the lawsuit.

“While in the custody of Defendant Agape, Plaintiff was physically and emotionally abused by multiple agents, servants, and employees of Defendant Agape,” the suit alleges. He also “was physically, emotionally and sexually abused by his peers who were also in the custody of Defendant Agape,” it says.

Agape officials have not responded to repeated requests from The Star for comment on any of the stories it has published since last fall.

According to R.B.’s lawsuit, the former student’s memory of the abuse was repressed before he turned 18 and knew that a wrong had occurred. He regained the repressed memories in April, it says.

The suit also alleges that for many years prior to R.B.’s arrival at Agape, there were multiple incidents of physical, emotional and sexual abuse perpetrated against residents by its employees. Those incidents included “acts resulting in criminal sexual abuse charges and convictions, all providing notice to Defendant Agape that its facilities and programs did not provide reasonable protections against such abuses,” the suit says.

Despite that knowledge, the lawsuit alleges, Agape failed to implement safety measures to protect students. Nor did it disclose to R.B.’s parents that “a culture of pervasive physical, emotional, and sexual abuse existed at Agape Boarding School.”

The lawsuit also noted that a previous Agape resident had been the victim of repeated sexual assaults that led to another resident, who then became a staff member, being convicted of multiple charges of felony child molestation.

Agape knew about R.B.’s abuse, the lawsuit alleges, but the incidents were not adequately investigated or reported and nothing was done to protect him from further assaults.

Instead, the lawsuit says, “Agape 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 incidents being known by the public.”

R.B., now a Michigan resident, is requesting a jury trial. His attorneys say he suffered damages in excess of $75,000.

“As a direct and proximate result of Defendant Agape’s negligence, Defendant Agape caused or contributed to cause serious, permanent, and progressive injuries, medically diagnosable and significant emotional distress, mental anguish and injury, and damages to Plaintiff for which he has and will continue to need medical and psychiatric care and treatment,” the lawsuit says.

The second lawsuit was filed by J.M., who is now in his 20s. Details on that lawsuit were not immediately available.

Agape — one of four unlicensed boarding schools that has operated in Cedar County — is currently under investigation by state and local authorities for allegations of abuse. The Missouri Attorney General’s Office has recommended that charges be filed, but the decision is up to Cedar County prosecuting attorney Ty Gaither. He told The Star last week that he is still reviewing the case.

Two other lawsuits were filed against Agape in February in Cedar County District Court but have since been moved to Vernon County.

One, filed Feb. 22 under the name John Doe II, describes alleged physical, emotional and sexual abuse by Agape students and a staff member.

In the other lawsuit, filed Feb. 9, a former student identified as John Doe I alleged that he endured abuse by both students and staff at Agape. The man, who has autism, was a student at the school in 2015 and 2016.

“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 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.

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