Protesters gathered outside Refuge Girls Academy in Lebanon, Indiana, to demand the facility’s closure due to allegations of abuse and forced labor. The protest was organized by survivors of the facility, now operating under the name Refuge Girls Academy, and Purdue Students for a Democratic Society.

Allegations of Abuse and Neglect

According to court filings and survivor testimonies, residents at the facility were subjected to forced unpaid labor, severe psychological coercion, conversion therapy tactics, and bizarre humiliation rituals. The facility, which is part of Adult & Teen Challenge USA, an umbrella network of over 200 residential programs operating under the Assemblies of God religious group, promised a peaceful sanctuary with professional therapy and academic support for struggling youth.

However, survivors describe an environment stripped of evidence-based medical care or credentialed staff. Residents were allegedly trafficked out to local businesses and institutions to perform manual labor without compensation. Medical emergencies were also routinely ignored or mocked.

Survivor Testimonies

Mandi MacDonald, a survivor who entered the facility 20 years ago at age 15, recounted how an act of honesty transformed into months of psychological torture. She was given impossible expectations, ordered to handwrite a thirty-page manual twenty times, and was locked alone in an isolation room for two months with nothing but a Bible and her writing assignment.

Brittany Lake, another survivor, attended the facility between 2009 and 2010. She recalled receiving a meaningless education consisting of unaccredited, grade-school level workbooks and was manipulated by the facility director into staying longer than necessary.

Emelia Neel, a resident from 2009 to 2010, described physical exertion tactics disguised as treatment, including running up and down local hills while staff chased them in vans, limiting their hydration to a single Dixie cup of water.

Demand for Closure and Reform

Organizers with Purdue Students for a Democratic Society and survivor groups are demanding the immediate, permanent closure of Refuge Girls Academy and an immediate ban on conversion therapy practices. They are also calling for state and federal regulatory oversight of the unaccredited ‘troubled teen industry’.

Original reporting: 93.1 WIBC (Indianapolis) — read the source article.