Missouri Gov. Mike Parson directed the state attorney general to look into another religious boarding school shortly after the owners of a girls’ school were hit with over 100 abuse charges.
This marks the second time in four months that the governor has directed Attorney General Eric Schmitt to assist local authorities with the investigation of Agape Boarding School in Cedar County in the southwestern region of the state.
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Parson directed Schmitt’s assistance after it was requested by Cedar County Prosecutor Ty Gaither, who said he made the request after talking with prosecutors in the attorney general’s office while investigating the abuse allegations made by women who attended the Circle of Hope reform school. Gaither added that while the investigation into Agape is still open, he understands that it will take significant resources to go through potential evidence and seized materials due to the experience he faced with the Circle of Hope case.
“I don’t know what all is going to happen on Agape. I don’t know if there will be charges filed at this point. We haven’t made that decision. But the investigative part of it is quite lengthy and involved,” Gaither told the Kansas City Star.
The investigation into Agape comes on the heels of the Circle of Hope case, which resulted in the owners being charged with a number of violations, including child molestation, sodomy, sexual contact with a student, and neglect of a child. An investigation into the school followed after former students’ stories about abuse at the boarding school were posted on TikTok.
Agape arrived in Missouri in 1996 after leaving two states where it was scrutinized or investigated. Former students, some of whom have alleged stories regarding physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, claim the owners of the school were attracted to Missouri because it had loose state oversight and regulations.
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Agape includes more than a dozen reform schools in the state, where there is no state oversight due to a 40-year-old law that exempts faith-based facilities.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Gaither and to the Agape Boarding School.
