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Southwest Missouri boarding school faces 19 lawsuits alleging abuse
Susan Szuch
Springfield News-Leader
A Springfield law firm filed five more lawsuits Thursday against Agape Boarding School in Stockton.
The most recent suits include students who attended the school as recently as April 2022 alleging that they experienced physical and emotional abuse while at Agape Boarding School.
The suits also allege that Agape violated the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act by misrepresenting or concealing information from parents, such as the quality of education provided, activities at the school, discipline practices, and food and medical treatment available to students.
Each lawsuit requests unspecified damages and a jury trial.
Frazier did not return a request for comment on Tuesday.
Agape Boarding School in Stockton is "a Christian boarding school that turns around rebellious boys," according to its website, and is still open and enrolling students. It is a ministry of Agape Baptist Church, and is a non-profit.
As of publication Tuesday, Agape Boarding School had not returned a request for comment.
In 2021, Cedar County Prosecuting Attorney Ty Gaither charged five former Agape employees with 13 low-level "Class E" felonies, which are punishable by no more than four years in prison, according to previous News-Leader reporting.
Those charges led Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt to ask Gov. Mike Parson permission to leave the case, even though Cedar County had requested his help. The Attorney General's office stated that it wanted 65 criminal counts, including high-level charges of child abuse, against 22 individuals linked to Agape, according to a letter his office sent to Gov. Mike Parson on Sept. 23.
In the letter, Schmitt said that in his view, Gaither "has indicated that he does not intend to seek justice for all of the 36 children who were allegedly victimized by 22 members of the Agape Boarding School staff."
In March 2022, longtime physician for Agape Boarding School, Dr. David Smock, pleaded not guilty to 12 felony child sex crime charges in Cedar County.
Smock also faces three similar charges in a separate case in Greene County.
'He (Pastor's son) asked to marry me when I was 11':
Now three women come forward to accuse SON of pervert Indiana pastor who 'groomed 16-year-old girl for sex' of assaulting them when they were children
Lowe's ex-wife, Abbey Plummer, claims he forced her to have sex with him, choked and beat her
It comes after Lowe's father John Lowe II, 65, was forced to step down from New Life Christian Church in Warsaw in May after admitting he had previously had an affair with a 16-year-old girl to his congregation
The girl - Bobi Gephart, who is now 43 - stormed onto the stage during a service, grabbed a microphone and claimed he groomed her as a teenager, took her virginity, and sexually abused her
By ANDREA BLANCO FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 17:00 EDT, 29 June 2022
Much, much more, including a video of Bobi storming the stage, is found on the Daily Mail.
Disgusting story follows:
Reverend who was caught romping with Henry HOOVER
fined and placed on sex offenders register
Rob Pattinson, Katie Davis
0:39, 15 Jul 2022Updated: 8:11, 15 Jul 2022
A REVEREND has been fined and placed on the sex offenders register - for romping with a Henry Hoover.
John Jeffs, 74, was naked apart from a pair of stockings when he was caught “thrusting” into the vacuum cleaner's nozzle, a court heard.
John Jeffs was caught thrusting into a Henry Hoover by a shocked churchgoer Credit: SWNS
A shocked churchgoer saw him committing the vile act while attending a talk about Asperger’s syndrome at the church.
Jeffs, a retired church leader, noticed the member of the public but carried on and later told police he did it because he felt “naughty”, a court heard
Magistrates heard Jeffs committed the sex act while working as a pastoral manager at Christian faith-based group, Parents Talking Asperger’s.
The court heard he was in his office at The Baptist Centre in Middleton Cheney, Northants., in September 2020 when he was spotted.
A witness walked past his office and said they saw Jeffs almost completely naked, except for a pair of ladies' stockings.
Prosecutor Ellie Hutchinson said: "He accepted in a police interview that he was touching himself in church but claimed he did not know he would be seen."
Alistair Evans, defending, said: "He is still coming to terms with the loss of his wife at a young age and was in a lot of pain because he was ignoring his health and his diabetes was not medicated."
The magistrate said: “Why you thought it best to bring this matter to trial, I have no idea.”
A mum who used the church for baby sessions told The Sun: "People were just gobsmacked when they found out.
"Where the church is was a mother and toddler group and we've all used that hoover. It's just disgusting."
A resident in Middleton said: "Last year we heard he was having it off with a Henry Hoover but we just joked it off. I've locked my Henry Hoover away now.
"The thing that shocks me is that he seems like a really nice guy."
Parents Talking Asperger's posted a statement on Facebook, saying: "No social groups have run at the buildings in Middleton Cheney since February 2020."
Jeffs, of Middleton Cheney, Nothants., was found guilty of indecent exposure after a trial at Northampton Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.
He was given an 18-month community order and ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register.
He was also ordered to pay £845 in court costs and £200 in compensation to the victim who witnessed the sex act.
Following the court case, the church group claimed they ceased involvement with Jeffs seven months prior to the offence taking place.
It would be interesting to know why they did that.
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