The state of Missouri launched a criminal investigation into allegations of abuse and neglect at Agapé Boarding College, which were reported by NBC News earlier this month, a spokesman for the state Highway Police confirmed on Friday.
Agapé, a Christian boarding school in rural southwestern Missouri, advertises itself as a facility that “knocks down rebel boys”. More than a dozen alumni and former employees have previously told NBC News that Agapé employees frequently assaulted the boys in their care and that the school censored students’ communication with their parents.
Missouri State Highway Patrol said on Friday that its Drug and Crime Control Division is conducting an Agapé investigation “at the request of the Cedar County Sheriff and the Missouri Department of Social Services Children’s Division.”
A Highway Police spokesman did not say what motivated the criminal investigation or when it was launched. The development comes two weeks after NBC News and “Dateline” published an investigation into the allegations of abuse in Agapé. The Kansas City Star has published similar articles in recent months.
The Missouri Department of Social Services declined to comment on Agapé’s investigation, citing confidentiality rules on child abuse investigations, but said those investigations “are often co-investigated with local authorities”. Cedar County sheriff James McCrary did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did Agapé.
Agapé leaders have yet to respond to requests for comment on allegations of abuse. On its website, the school claims to have hosted more than 4,000 students aged 12 to 17 in the past three decades. Agape also says that the boys “will find any excuse to give their parents why they shouldn’t stay here” and, if the school were closed, the students would end up in prison.
Missouri is one of 17 states that exempt religious boarding schools from the licensing and supervision of state child welfare and education authorities, an NBC News investigation found earlier. At least 23 states, including Missouri, do not even require religious boarding schools to tell their state education department that they exist.
After hearing testimony from alumni at religious boarding schools, including Ágapé, earlier this month, a House of Missouri committee proposed bipartisan legislation to require these schools to register with the state. The legislation would also give the Department of Social Services authority to try to close the facility in the event of suspected abuse.
