Calvin Hayden says Kansas City suburb is a great place to live, and about 10,000 people move there each year. “But they’re bringing some of their politics from the crummy place they live to my...

Federal prosecutors say the Independence man was part of a mob that terrorized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s staff during the Capitol insurrection.

The charges were made public Tuesday, after three charges were filed against David E. Smock in Greene County last week. Smock, a longtime doctor for Agape Boarding School, remained at large Tuesday.

Whether criminal charges will follow is uncertain, however. Statute of limitations issues and lack of evidence in some cases may make prosecution difficult.

The allegations, which some say are the most damning to surface yet about the well-known charismatic ministry leader and come after four decades of silence, are the first claims that involve sexual...

“I’m ashamed of much of what I did that day, and I’m ashamed of what my daughters have seen me do,” Olathe Proud Boy William Chrestman told the court at his sentencing.

A southwest Missouri fugitive apprehension team is working with the U.S. Marshals to locate David Smock.

William “Billy” Chrestman will be transported from Kansas to Washington, D.C., by the U.S. Marshal’s Service, where he will be held without bond until his trial in the case, a federal judge in D.C....

“When are we going to start putting the welfare of children above the good ole boys club in these small communities?” one legislator asked.

“We’re calling them out, and we’re not going to stop until we have accountability and we shut Agape down,” said Spencer Toder, a candidate for U.S. Senate.

Scott Dumar, a former Agape Boarding School student who worked there from the time it opened in Stockton in 1996 until it closed in January, also was one of five employees charged in 2021, accused of...

Northwest Kansas man asks for prayers for his hometown under siege by COVID-19.

“There was a sighting in that town (Harrison, Ark.), and deputy marshals and local law enforcement went to that area and took him into custody,” deputy U.S. Marshal Mike Stokes told The Star late...

The Missouri attorney general’s office says it will not allow Agape to “continue to present an immediate health and safety concern to children through corporate shell games.”

The FBI was tipped off by a confidential informant who claimed the 32-year-old Blue Springs man had discussed storming the Capitol while visiting a Lee’s Summit bar.

The latest action is an indication of how strongly prosecutors believe Olathe Proud Boy Billy Chrestman was a key player in the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.

“He has video of him telling this story brazenly over and over ... And it was so compelling and so unbelievable, the gasp factor would happen every time he would tell the story.”

A study by the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights shows “how deeply the far-right has penetrated state politics,” including in Missouri.

Kasey Von Owen Hopkins of Kansas City, Kansas, is accused of roaming through the U.S. Capitol, entering a senator’s office and taking a selfie in front of a bust of Winston Churchill.

This is an attempt to “create new coalitions on university campuses and in and around the Trump orbit,” the report’s co-author said.

The man pushed his way through the crowd “until he is face to face with the officer,” court documents say. “He appears to push the officer backwards several feet.”

A federal judge said in one court hearing that “Mr. Chrestman was much more — much, much more — than someone who merely cheered on the violence or who entered the Capitol after others cleared the...

Students at the southwest Missouri boarding school approached child welfare workers “and reported physical abuse by current Agape employees,” according to a new court filing.

Attorney General Eric Schmitt will hold a news conference at noon Wednesday to “give an update on his office’s investigation into Circle of Hope Girls Ranch and Boarding School.”

Prosecutors showed videos of Nicholas Kennedy’s steady march to the Capitol, past two lines of barricades, up the scaffolding put in place to construct the stage for the inauguration and into the...

John George Todd III twice declined offers to plead guilty to a single misdemeanor. Instead, he opted to take his case to trial. Now, he faces decades in prison.

“As Missouri’s top law enforcement official, Andrew Bailey must be proactive and show courage and leadership if these horrors are to be stopped.”

A number of politicians, former students and Paris Hilton are calling for Agape Boarding School to be shut down.

“It feels like you are missing the forest for the trees. It’s charged out there and I don’t think this is what anyone wants to hear from anyone with the last name Bickle.”

Judge releases KC-area Proud Boy pending trial but says “his ultimate conviction is highly probable, with a significant prison sentence to follow.”

The document was released as Ryan Keith Ashlock of Gardner pleaded guilty to his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection.

“I am becoming the person who did not rescue me as a child, by holding those who abused my peers and myself accountable,” Amanda Householder says in the lawsuit.

The Star had written about Billy Chrestman’s possible involvement after watchdogs and former classmates identified him from social media posts.

“After the beating and gang rape, Jason was allowed to shower,” the lawsuit alleges. “He was allowed warm water and a long shower. Usually, the showers were cool at best and limited to five minutes.”

Attorney General Eric Schmitt said details of the alleged abuse were “not for the faint of heart.”

The sun had long set when the two men trudged up to the justice center in Shawnee and peered inside. They pulled open the door and entered the modern brick building that houses the police department...

Agape Boarding School near Stockton has faced years of abuse allegations. The Missouri attorney general and child welfare officials have been fighting for months to get it closed.

“The Executive Committee has received new information to now confirm a level of inappropriate behavior on the part of Mike Bickle that requires IHOPKC to immediately, formally and permanently...

“We’re a group of Christian men and women that go out and will stand against unrighteousness,” said a leader of the Salt and Light Brigade in Missouri. “This will be an intensive study about self...

“He stands out because of his aggressiveness, his hostility and his actions.”

Three people who attended Agape Boarding School said the Alabama man worked there more than 15 years ago. An online records site shows he once lived in Stockton, listing the same address as Agape.

Master’s Ranch still operates two other Christian boarding schools. As of last year, the location for older boys had 10 substantiated reports of neglect from the Missouri Department of Social...

Responding to increased calls for greater transparency in Topeka, the Kansas House speaker has ordered all committee chairs to stop allowing bills that do not identify the sponsors.

Julio Sandoval, a former dean at Agape, was indicted along with the boy’s mother. Sandoval runs a transport company that was used to take the teen against his will, according to an indictment.

The nine civil suits were filed by former students from California to Massachusetts who attended Agape Boarding School in southwest Missouri from March 2015 through June 2019.

Videos taken during the Capitol invasion show a bearded man in tactical gear and wearing a cap emblazoned with the name of a Kansas City-based hot rod club.

“I think we do have a duty to the children of this state to shut facilities like that down,” a Missouri lawmaker said.

“At 2:39 p.m., (Angelo) Pacheco entered the Capitol building,” court records said. “Pacheco turned around and exited the building through the same door approximately six seconds later.”

“It has become apparent that this problem is more far-reaching and contains more deeply-rooted corruption than we are able to address solely at the state level.”

It is not clear whether Bryan Clemensen’s name was ever placed on the registry or if his request for a temporary restraining order was to keep it from going on.

A Pennsylvania trucker who reported abuse said he was at the school in March and made a secret recording. Later, he said, he also saw the owner smear a girl’s face in her own vomit.

Odalis Sharp was accused of physical and emotional abuse of her children

Candice Dixon told the judge she wanted to represent herself during her preliminary hearing.

“It’s like whack-a-mole,” the retired Alabama police captain said of the boarding schools. “They’ll pack up and run before anybody can do anything, because they know they can’t withstand an investi...

“There’s no easy way to do this,” the pastor said Sunday morning. “And so I appreciate your grace and your patience and your sensitivity during this time.”

A lawyer for the embattled school suggested the Missouri Attorney General’s office was just seeking publicity. The AG’s chief of staff shot back: “The AG is here for the kids, not the press.”

A well-known physician in the Ozarks, David Earl Smock runs the Stockton Lake Walk-in Clinic in Cedar County and has numerous connections to Agape.

A Cedar County judge approved Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s request, but Thursday morning sent the sheriff to the southwest Missouri school to ask more questions before the order is executed.

“Missouri shouldn’t be a haven for child abuse. ... We wouldn’t be taking this action if we didn’t think the kids are in danger,” a Missouri Department of Social Services official said.

“As a group of MPD police officers tried to push through the crowd, they were taunted and met physical resistance from individuals in the crowd.”

“It was just morally reprehensible to me,” said former IHOPKC Associate Director Allen Hood. “I voted for the removal of Brad (Tebbutt) from staff. I protested their keeping of him on staff at every...

“People are realizing that these schools shouldn’t be open and that more people are speaking out,” said a former student of a Missouri Christian boarding school.

The woman killed in the Interstate 44 wreck was on her way home with her husband after a dinner out to celebrate their anniversary. Victoria Wilson worked with people with disabilities, including...

A man in Kansas City, Kan., who was preparing to go outside at midnight and fire his gun in the air to celebrate the new year ended up accidentally shooting himself in the stomach.