A southwest Missouri prosecutor said the attorney general wanted him to file dozens more charges against Agape Boarding School employees, but he didn’t believe restraining students violated the law.
Cedar County Prosecuting Attorney Ty Gaither said parents have the right and discretion – according to Missouri law – to discipline their kids. And when students are at the school, staff are acting in place of their parents.
“If the Missouri legislature wishes to change that, they have the power to do so,” Gaither told The Star on Thursday. “Our job is to follow the law. The facts presented to me … would not justify a conviction for disciplining the children out there.”
Since the fall of 2020, as local and state authorities investigated two boarding schools in his county, Gaither has publicly said little more than “no comment.” He repeatedly has insisted that Missouri’s rules of professional conduct for lawyers prohibited him from speaking about cases.
But he changed course this week af...
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