Nine more lawsuits filed against SW Missouri boarding school

STOCKTON, Mo. — Nine more former students of a southwest Missouri boarding school allege in lawsuits they were abused while attending the school.

With the nine new lawsuits filed Friday, Agape Boarding School in Stockton and Agape Baptist Church, which oversees the school, are now facing lawsuits from 14 former students accusing staff and other students of abuse, The Kansas City Star reported.

Five staff members at the school are facing criminal charges for assaulting students.

The new lawsuits also allege Agape violated the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act by misrepresenting or concealing information given to the students and their families.

Agape officials have not responded to repeated requests from The Star for comment on any of the stories it has published about the school in an ongoing investigation into Missouri's faith-based reform schools.

Five similar lawsuits against the now-closed Circle of Hope Girls Ranch, another Cedar County boarding school, were settled last year for an undisclosed amount. Two new lawsuits against that school were filed in recent weeks.

The allegations helped prompt a new Missouri law aimed at overseeing religious boarding schools that for decades were not regulated by the state.