Two Former Agape Boarding School Students File Federal Suits Alleging Abuse, Torture

March 23, 2023

Two former Agape Boarding School students are have filed federal lawsuits against the now-shuttered Stockton boarding school in the Western District of Missouri.

Darian Shelton, of Florida, and David Gawargious, of New York, said in separate filings that they were "physically abused, restrained, and physically/psychologically tortured" by staff members and fellow students while attending the boarding school.

Shelton was at the school from mid-2013 to early 2014, and Gawargious was at the school from 2012 to 2014.

Agape Boarding School closed its doors on Jan. 20.

In the March 7 filings, Shelton and Gawargious requested trials by jury, damages "in such fair and reasonable amounts to be determined at trial" and other things the court "deems just and proper."

According to the filing, Shelton was 17 when he was forcefully taken from his aunt's residence in California by unknown men and transported to Stockton. Gawargious' filing outlines a similar experience when he was 16 and forcibly removed from his home in New York.

When at Agape Boarding School, both men allege their heads were shaved and that they experienced mistreatment and abuse, including being denied food, being forced to perform "military push-ups until the point of physical exhaustion" and being verbally abused.

Gawargious alleges that Agape Boarding School monitored his phone calls, and he relayed accounts of abuse to his parents in Arabic. When his parents brought up the abuse, the filing said, Agape employees "emphatically stated" Gawargrious was lying.

The filings also note that someone known only as "Sandoval" physically restrained both of them.

It is unclear if the Sandoval noted in the complaint is the same person as former Agape Boarding School dean Julio Sandoval. Julio Sandoval was arrested at the end of August for violating a protective order, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California. That complaint alleges that in 2020 Julio Sandoval took a student against his will from Fresno, California, to Stockton.

Jarett Johnson of McGonagle Spencer Gahagan, who is representing Shelton and Gawargious, declined to comment but said the case "is one of several cases we have pending against Agape Baptist Church or Circle of Hope (the former being accused of abusing boys, while girls are the alleged victims at the latter)."

There are currently at least four other cases against Agape Boarding School in federal court.

John Schultz, who has represented Agape Baptist Church, Inc., in the past, declined to comment on the case.

Ongoing investigation, lawsuits involving Agape Boarding School

For more than a year, the Stockton-based Christian reform school has been under investigation for abuse allegations. The school closed on Jan. 20, "solely due to the lack of financial resources to continue caring for the boys," said former director of Agape Boarding School Bryan Clemensen in a press release.

More than 19 lawsuits have been filed against Agape Boarding School by former students, including graphic accounts of the alleged abuse. According to reporting by the Kansas City Star, 16 of the civil lawsuits have been settled for undisclosed amounts as of March 7 and dismissed with prejudice, meaning they cannot be tried again.

In June, the school lost its accreditation from the National Council of Private School Accreditation and the Association of Christian Teachers and Schools.

In August, Sandoval, the former dean at Agape Boarding School, was accused of transporting a teen against his will from California to Stockton.

In September 2021, Cedar County Prosecutor Ty Gaither filed 13 low-level "Class E" felony assault charges against five people linked to Agape Boarding School. As of December 2022, the majority of the charges were dismissed or reduced to misdemeanors.

Source: Susan Szuch, “Two former Agape students are suing the boarding school in federal court,” Springfield News-Leader, Mar. 8, 2023, URL: https://www.news-leader.com/story/news/local/ozarks/2023/03/08/former-students-sue-agape-boarding-school-for-alleged-abuse-torture/69981669007/