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The problem is so pervasive in the addiction treatment industry that it has a name: the 13th Step.
Someone joins a recovery community, often built on a 12-step process, looking for help and support. They find themselves facing sexual harassment or even assault from someone much further along in their recovery, preying on more vulnerable newcomers.
This week on Reveal, Lauren Chooljian from New Hampshire Public Radio takes us inside a widespread culture of sexual misconduct in the addiction treatment industry. Chooljian’s investigation focused on Eric Spofford, the founder and former CEO of New Hampshire’s largest addiction treatment network. After exposing allegations that Spofford was harassing clients and employees, Chooljian, her sources and staff at NHPR became the targets of intimidation and, in some cases, vandalism.
Chooljian also chronicled a case in California that illustrates how difficult it is to bring to justice wealthy, powerful people in the industry. We meet two women who were separately investigating allegations that Chris Bathum, owner of a network of treatment centers in California and Colorado, was routinely sexually assaulting clients, offering them drugs and submitting false billing claims to insurance companies. Serendipitously, they learn of each other’s efforts and team up to try to bring Bathum to justice.
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