Cedar County prosecutor in Agape Boarding School abuse cases is facing state ethics probe

Cedar County Prosecuting Attorney Ty Gaither is the subject of a state ethics probe into his handling of the allegations of physical, sexual and emotional abuse of students at Agape Boarding School, a 30-year-old independent fundamental Baptist organization based near Stockton in southwest Missouri.

A former student who alleges he was abused at Agape, 27-year-old Michigan resident Robert Bucklin, contacted state authorities in charge of regulating Missouri lawyers to file a complaint in mid-January, Bucklin told the News-Leader at the time.

According to a letter obtained by the News-Leader on Friday, a state disciplinary investigation has been launched into the matter.

According to the text of the complaint that Bucklin said he submitted to state authorities, "Ty Gaither issued a public statement denying knowing the existence of Agape Boarding School and further denied knowing any individual connected with this place."

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Ty Gaither, Cedar County Prosecuting Attorney
Ty Gaither, Cedar County Prosecuting Attorney

But Bucklin contested the truthfulness of that alleged statement by Gaither. Bucklin says Gaither admitted to receiving flu shot treatment from the Agape Boarding School physician, Dr. David Smock.

Smock, owner of a now-defunct walk-in clinic in Stockton, has been charged with 15 felonies related to accusations that Smock sexually abused two underage boys by prosecutors in Greene County and special prosecutors acting on behalf of Cedar County.

Bucklin also alleged that publicly-available evidence shows "not only did (Gaither) know of Agape Boarding School he was personally paying for Agape Boarding School to print its yearbook in the (Cedar County newspaper)."

In a copy of the text of the complaint Bucklin said he sent to state authorities, he stated, "It should be urgently investigated just how long Ty Gaither had this evidence (of potential crimes that took place at Agape) before him and if this was part of the (Attorney General's) investigation that he refused to act on, if an investigation substantiates that he was aware of the allegations and he failed to to do his legal duty to protect children then this is gross negligence of the most exceptionally serious nature!"

Gaither has faced withering criticism from former Agape students who say they were abused, as well as from Missouri's Attorney General, Eric Schmitt, who is running in a hotly contested GOP primary to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, Republican of Springfield.

The former students and Schmitt contend that last fall, Gaither failed to charge defendants linked to Agape abuse allegations with the types of serious felony charges that would reflect the allegations leveled by former students or investigative material accumulated by state authorities.

In September, Schmitt's office sent a letter to Gov. Mike Parson asking for permission to be taken off of the case, in a fierce public spat between Jefferson City and Stockton legal authorities.

Gaither, Schmitt wrote, "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," the letter stated.

Schmitt, who was working the case at the local prosecutor's request, had said he wanted 65 criminal counts against 22 Agape co-defendants, after his team reviewed an investigation conducted by the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

But Gaither, who by state law retained ultimate charging authority as local prosecutor, charged just five Agape defendants with low-level Class-E felony third-degree assault, as the News-Leader reported earlier. Their prosecutions are currently underway in Cedar County.

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"Mr. Gaither's decision to pursue a relatively small number of minor felony offenses reveals that he has no real need of the expertise and resources of the Attorney General's Office," Schmitt wrote in late September.

A spokesperson with Schmitt's office declined to comment on the news of an ethics investigation when contacted by the News-Leader Friday morning.

"We don't want to jeopardize our ongoing case," said Schmitt spokesperson Chris Nuelle, "and I think we've pretty much said all we're going to say about Agape."

Contacted by the News-Leader on Friday morning, Gaither said he had not received any information about the complaint or the investigation from state authorities and had no comment on any allegations against his handling of the case and no comment about past or present conflicts with Schmitt.

The investigation into Gaither's professional conduct is to be conducted by the Missouri Supreme Court's Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel, according to a letter signed by OCDC's deputy chief disciplinary counsel, Sam S. Phillips. The letter was obtained by the News-Leader Friday morning.

OCDC is the state agency responsible for investigating allegations of misconduct by Missouri lawyers. On Wednesday, when news of the Gaither inquiry began leaking out on social media, Alan Pratzel, chief disciplinary counsel at Missouri's Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel, said in a message to the News-Leader, "I am unable to confirm or deny the existence of a complaint or whether we received a complaint regarding any attorney in the state of Missouri."

But the letter obtained by the News-Leader two days later states, "We are accepting jurisdiction of this matter and will begin an investigation."

Asked to comment on the opening of a state inquiry into his conduct on the job, Gaither told the News-Leader Friday, "It's my understanding that whenever a complaint is filed by anyone, regardless of its validity, that the OCDC has to open a complaint or file."

He added, "I assume that anybody can complain about anything. There has to be a file opened. We have not been contacted, so I have no further comment."

Bucklin, in a message sent to the News-Leader Friday morning, said he was "thankful" that OCDC is "taking the complaint seriously."

"I hope Ty Gaither takes this opportunity to recuse himself from all matters pertaining to Agape Boarding School," said Bucklin, who previously has requested that the News-Leader refer to him by only his initials R.B. because he has sued Agape Boarding School in civil court.

Bucklin added, "It is clear he does not intend to seek justice for the victims who were subjected to torture at this home of horrors."

Another man who identifies as a former student, known in civil court papers related to a lawsuit against Agape as "John Doe II," applauded the opening of an investigation early Friday.

"Justice needs to be done," said the 20-year-old California resident, "and Ty Gaither disregarded all of that and basically just spit in our face and only charged five staff, instead of the full count. That's not justice for us."

Reach News-Leader reporter Gregory Holman by emailing gholman@gannett.com. He is also on Twitter at @GregHolmanNL. Please consider subscribing to support vital local journalism.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Agape Boarding School child abuse prosecutor is under investigation