LEBANON, Ind. — In June, an expanded federal civil lawsuit was filed against Central Indiana Teen Challenge, now operating as the Refuge Girls Academy, bringing severe accusations of forced labor, human trafficking, and institutional abuse to light. Originally initiated with nine plaintiffs, the amended complaint now represents 35 young women who say they were exploited and mistreated as minors at the faith-based facility.
Attorney Andrea Simmons of the Indianapolis-based law firm CohenMalad, LLP, which is leading the litigation alongside Boston’s Justice Law Collective, detailed the patterns uncovered during extensive client interviews in a podcast episode with WIBC’s Johnette Cruz.
Uncovering Suppressed Memories: The Scope of the Accusations
According to Simmons, the legal team conducted deep investigations into the conditions at the facility, which is structurally a residential home despite being marketed as a sprawling rehabilitation program.
“We have interviewed every single one of them for at least an hour, sometimes much longer than that,” Simmons stated. “We kind of let them decide how much they need to share. And sometimes they can’t even share the whole story in one sitting. Many of them have suppressed these memories.”…