>>School document appears to contradict Agape Boarding School’s claims they did not restrain a student

On March 28, 2010, Agape Boarding School employees in Stockton restrained then-student Robert Bucklin in response to “belligerent” behavior and “holding a threatening posture.”

According to the incident report, staff member Brent Jackson initiated the restraint after Bucklin was “pushing backwards” into him. Jackson reported that after the restraint began, Bucklin grabbed onto him and that he believed Bucklin was trying to hurt him.

Today, Bucklin says he was restrained for responding to a question in a way the staff did not like.

Bucklin, a former student, has been an outspoken advocate in the call for Missouri to close Agape Boarding School, which is still open and accepting students.

The staff eventually ended up restraining Bucklin for 45 minutes, and then another half hour after he calmed down. The incident report was filed as part of discovery in Bucklin’s lawsuit against the boarding school.

However, previous statements by Agape directly contradict the report, saying that physical restraints are not used, “other than for a few minutes in situations where the child may be an imminent threat to himself or others.”

The parent handbook states, “Agape has a strict ‘hands off’ policy regarding the students. This includes unruly students.”

“(This is) damning evidence that contradicts every public statement from Agape. It’s a damning indictment of what the standard restraint there was,” Bucklin said in a statement

A request for comment had not been returned by the lawyers representing Agape Baptist Church, Inc., by time of publication.

In a March 7, 2022, response to a bar complaint, Cedar County Prosecuting Attorney Ty Gaither stated: “The Highway Patrol recommended child abuse charges based upon the restraint of the students of Agape Boarding School. After a thorough review of the interviews and evidence obtained pursuant to the Missouri Highway Patrol investigation there was insufficient facts under the law and evidence to charge these counts. The office of the Cedar County Prosecuting Attorney declined to file these charges.”

Bucklin alleges it wasn’t just restraint: It was a beatdown.

“They beat me down for two hours and I was screaming and crying for help,” Bucklin said.

Among other documents that have surfaced during discovery are letters Bucklin wrote home where he expresses the desire to die, with sticky notes on them from staff members noting that Bucklin was instructed to rewrite the letters before they could be delivered.

“I was crying for help but there was no way to tell my family,” Bucklin said.

Starting in 2018, Missouri school districts had an obligation to adopt a policy for youth suicide awareness and education. The model policy written up by Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education includes a flow chart outlining the steps to be taken when an educator believes a student is at risk for suicide: Whether the student can be located or not, the immediate next step is to notify the parent or guardian.

In a log of the letters written by Bucklin, it lists that he was referred to the medical staff or the student dean for certain letters. Bucklin says that neither the medical staff nor dean of students offered him assistance: “It was just a referral to have them to tell me to rewrite (the letter) and I can’t send that out.”

Bucklin is among several former students who are represented by Ryan Frazier, an attorney with Monsees and Mayer P.C.

Susan Szuch is the health and public policy reporter for the Springfield News-Leader. Follow her on Twitter @szuchsm. Story idea? Email her at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Agape Boarding School restrained student for over an hour, report says