Just when you think that corporate hypocrisy and reprehensible conduct have reached an all-time low, we discover an even deeper level of hell.
The Timberline Knolls Sexual Abuse Trauma Treatment Center for Women and Girls … It leaves one nearly speechless. Nonetheless, let’s review.
In August 2024, a lawsuit was filed against Timberline Knolls alleging staff member Erick Hampton sexually assaulted a 24-year-old patient, Jane Doe, three times in May 2024.
Doe, who has bipolar and borderline personality disorders, was seeking treatment at the facility for suicidal thoughts. Despite reporting the assaults to a staff member via her roommate, no prompt action was taken, which resulted in Jane Doe being raped a third time.
The lawsuit also alleges Timberline Knolls falsely accused Doe of having a secret affair with a staff member and out of fear, she left the facility after less than two weeks. The lawsuit claims the assaults worsened her mental health condition, yet Hampton faces no criminal charges.
And remember, Timberline Knolls’ issues with sexually abusing patients goes back a number of years.
On August 21, 2018, Michael Jacksa, then a counselor at Timberline Knolls was arrested and charged with assaulting a 29-year-old patient at Timberline Knolls during two counseling sessions between May and June of 2018.
Jacksa was accused by patients of digitally penetrating their vaginas and buttocks, putting his hands beneath their clothing, fondling their breasts and forcing them to give him oral sex. During his first bond hearing, Jacksa reportedly admitted to police that he “probably went too far.”
This “probably went too far” conduct manifested itself by him being indicted for his reprehensible conduct directed toward a second victim. According to those charges, between Dec. 1, 2017 and Jan. 10, 2018, Jacksa was “treating” an out-of-state woman for eating disorders, anxiety and past sexual abuse. The patient alleges that Jacksa sexually assaulted her during four therapy sessions at Timberline Knolls. The prosecutor said the second woman came forward after seeing media reports.
According to the prosecutor, at least six other former patients from across the country contacted the Lemont Police Department stating that Jacksa engaged in “inappropriate sexual behavior” during their respective therapy sessions.
But the problems are more widespread.
According to media sources, 546 calls were made to authorities from Timberline Knolls from 2023 – 2024.
Dozens of 911 calls related to criminal sexual abuse or sexual assault at Timberline Knolls were made to authorities since 2018.
These facts are set forth in a CBS news report from the greater Chicago area:
With all of the numerous issues involving rape, sexual abuse, sexual assault, inappropriate behavior and lack of oversight, one would rightly believe that an organization with a systemic problem of horrific patient care, would at least temporarily close the facility and bring in an independent third party to study and review Timberline Knolls’ policies and procedures.
Acadia and Timberline Knolls did not do this.
Instead, Timberline Knolls has the audacity to hold itself out as having, “A Timberline Knolls Sexual Abuse Trauma Treatment Center for Women and Girls.” That can be found here:
Negligent referral is a cause of action in Texas (and in many states) which assesses liability against a person who refers another to the care and treatment of an incompetent third party and that third party causes harm to the person referred. Ordinarily, the referral itself is not enough. You must have know, or should have known, of incompetency or some other triggering factor which causes the negligence to manifest itself.
Knew or should have known of damning information.
In short, if you know, or in the exercise of reasonable care, you should have known of some damning information or evidence perpetrated by an entity, and you refer someone to that entity without disclosing that information, you could be liable should that person be harmed.
The shortest version? “It could be yo’ ass.”
Which brings us once again to Timberline Knolls.
Timberline Knolls and Acadia use marketers throughout the United States. In my time in the community, I have had the privilege of getting to know several of their marketers. Most all are personable and very likeable.
But being upbeat, likeable and personable must always take a backseat to being responsible, transparent and placing the needs of the population you serve first and foremost.
And so, arises duty. The duty of honesty. The duty to disclose. The duty to investigate. The duty to place the needs of families suffering from eating disorders above your own wants or perceived needs.
As a marketer, families have the right to know, and (in my legal opinion) you have the duty to disclose:
A patient of Timberline Knolls claims to have been raped in May and that when first reported, the staff at Timberline Knolls did nothing.
That patient has filed a lawsuit against Timberline Knolls.
A former employee of Timberline Knolls, Michael Jacksa was indicted for sexually abusing six (6) former patients at Timberline Knolls in 2019.
CBS News Chicago Investigators stated that a record of 911 calls for service to Timberline Knolls showed dozens of calls related to criminal sexual abuse or sexual assault since 2018.
The Lemont Police Department stated that it had received 546 calls for service from Timberline Knolls from 2023 – 2024.
Since 2020, [after Jacksa] the Lemont Police Department claims to have received reports from patients saying they had been sexually assaulted or abused, many of whom were juveniles.
The New York Times published a report indicating that Acadia Healthcare allegedly held patients longer than was necessary and often against their will at certain facilities. The report also claims Acadia trumped up patient symptoms in reports to payers to extract more reimbursement.
The United States Senate Committee on Finance conducted a two-year study of four major companies, including Acadia, providing mental health services to children and adolescents and found numerous alarming issues.
These issues are material and relevant to a family vetting a place of healing with whom they entrust their beloved family member.
As a marketer, you can probably get away with not disclosing that the CEO of Acadia looks upon a family’s loved one as part of a “difficult population,” and that Acadia intends to simply let “the people that deal with this population” handle the many troubling issues. Notwithstanding that those are the people contributing to the very problems.
But as of now, as marketers, and whether you market to families, primary care physicians, or any third parties, you are on notice of the many problems at Timberline Knolls. You cannot claim nor feign ignorance.
You have a strong, undelegable duty.
If you choose to continue to conduct business as usual and one of the souls you are responsible for referring is harmed by substandard care or by predators, you could be liable.
Dante’s seminal work, “The Divine Comedy,” is regarded as one of greatest writings in Western Literature. It is divided into three parts: Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso.
This literary masterpiece discusses “the state of the soul after death and presents an image of divine justice meted out as due punishment or reward” as it describes Dante’s travels through Hell, Purgatory and Heaven. There are nine circles of the Inferno, or Hell, followed by Lucifer contained at its bottom.
We now know there is a tenth level not addressed by Dante. This level is Timberline Knolls in Lemont, Illinois.
On August 21, 2018, Michael Jacksa, then a counselor at Timberline Knolls was arrested and charged with assaulting a 29 year old patient at Timberline Knolls during two counseling sessions between May and June of 2018.
Jacksa was accused by patients of digitally penetrating their vaginas and buttocks, putting his hands beneath their clothing, fondling their breasts and forcing them to give him oral sex. During his first bond hearing on Aug. 21, Jacksa reportedly admitted to police that he “probably went too far.”
This “probably went too far” conduct manifested itself by him being indicted for his reprehensible conduct directed toward a second victim. According to those charges, between Dec. 1, 2017 and Jan. 10, 2018, Jacksa was treating an out-of-state woman for eating disorders, anxiety and past sexual abuse. The patient alleges that Jacksa sexually assaulted her during four therapy sessions at Timberline Knolls. The prosecutor said the second woman came forward after seeing media reports.
According to the prosecutor, at least six other former patients of Jacksa’s from across the country have contacted the Lemont Police Department stating that Jacksa allegedly engaged in “inappropriate sexual behavior” during their respective therapy sessions.
But that is not the end of Timberline Knolls and Acadia’s problems. Not nearly.
On September 1, 2024, a New York Times report published a scathing article about Acadia Healthcare, the publicly traded company which owns Timberline Knolls. The article and its follow up can be found here:
In short, the New York Times report indicated that Acadia Healthcare allegedly held patients longer than was necessary and often against their will at certain facilities. The report also claims Acadia trumped up patient symptoms in reports to payers to extract more reimbursement. The Report stated: “Acadia has exaggerated patients’ symptoms. It has tweaked medication dosages, then claimed patients needed to stay longer because of the adjustment. And it has argued that patients are not well enough to leave because they did not finish a meal,” the New York Times alleged. “Unless the patients or their families hire lawyers, Acadia often holds them until their insurance runs out.”
This Report allegedly included at least 12 of the 19 states where Acadia operates psychiatric hospitals. Dozens of patients, employees and police officers notified authorities that the company was detaining people in ways that broke the law, the report stated, citing records. It is unknown whether Timberline Knolls is part of that conduct.
Acadia stated the assertions are inaccurate.
But that is not the end of Timberline Knolls and Acadia’s problems. Not nearly.
The United States Committee on Finance conducted a two-year study of four major companies providing mental health services to children and adolescents. One of the four companies? Acadia Healthcare.
The findings of that study were released on June 12, 2024. The study can be found here:
The study’s findings can be summarized as follows:
Children suffer routine harm inside Residential Treatment Facilities (“RTF”). The risk of harm to children in RTFs is endemic to the operating model.
Children inside RTFs often do not get the treatment they need for mental and behavioral health needs, despite RTFs being reimbursed with federal dollars to provide intensive services.
Horrific instances of sexual abuse persist unremediated inside RTFs.
The use of restraint and seclusion in RTFs allows for unchecked abuse. RTF staff have too often ignored federal restraint and seclusion regulations, resulting in daily use of restraint and seclusion in some instances.
RTFs often employ unqualified or inadequately trained staff and that staff routinely fail to discharge their duties. RTF staffing failures have led to tragic incidents, including child fatalities, and childrens’ repeated exposure to risk.
RTFs are often non-homelike environments, exposing children to unsafe and unsanitary conditions.
RTFs often fail to effectively maintain connections between children and their communities and to plan for childrens’ discharge to the community for ongoing care.
RTFs often employ carceral technology to monitor children, creating environments that feel more like detention facilities than therapeutic settings.
State and federal oversight authorities fail to effectively identify and address harm to children in RTFs. When RTFs correct deficiencies, their efforts are remedial rather than company-wide.
Exploiting corporate structures can enable RTF operators to evade oversight.
Surely, this scathing report must have had an immediate and severe impact on Acadia Healthcare with far fewer referrals and a commitment to investigate and improve. Uh … no.
In an August 5, 2024 call with investors, Chris Hunter, CEO of Acadia Healthcare, said the behavioral health provider had not seen any negative effects from the report.
Hunter stated: “Residential treatment centers comprise around 11% of Acadia’s revenue… We believe that the people that deal with this patient population every day, and that certainly includes our referral sources, as well as the various regulatory oversight bodies that are routinely in these facilities, understand that this is just a really difficult population.”
That a boy Chris! Don’t address the damning evidence in the Committee’s Report but do insinuate blame on your patient population. Profits, profits uber alles! Well played, sirrah.
But that is not the end of Timberline Knolls and Acadia’s problems. Not nearly.
In August 2024, a lawsuit was filed against Timberline alleging staff member Erick Hampton sexually assaulted a 24-year-old patient, Jane Doe, three times in May 2024.
Doe, who has bipolar and borderline personality disorder, was seeking treatment at the facility for suicidal thoughts. Despite reporting the assaults to a staff member via her roommate, no prompt action was taken, allowing Jane Doe to be raped a third time.
The lawsuit also alleges that Doe was falsely accused of having a secret affair with a staff member and was forced to leave the facility, after less than two weeks, out of fear. The lawsuit claims the assaults worsened her mental health condition, yet Hampton faces no criminal charges.
Worsened her mental health conditions. Rape will certainly do that.
So, in the past four months, Acadia, the parent company of Timberline Knolls:
Was the subject of a scathing Senate Finance Committee Report on systemic abuse of children and adolescents;
Was the subject of a scathing New York Times Report alleging system abuse of children and adolescents;
Was the subject of a scathing lawsuit alleging one of Timberline Knolls employees raped a patient three times while under their so-called care.
Timberline Knolls should have still been reeling from the Jacksa incidents and implemented wholesale changes and improvements to prevent instances of abuse from happening again. Instead?
It is business as usual. According to Acadia’s CEO, its bottom line has not been impacted and families are still referring their loved ones to Timberline Knolls. Acadia marketers are drumming up business with no thought about the possible harm nor consequences.
So, what can be done? For one, complaints with all of this information can be sent to the Attorney General of Tennessee (where Acadia is based); the Attorney General of Illinois (where Timberline Knolls is based); to the Joint Commission; to the REDC and published widely on social media. Attempted collaboration can be undertaken with the law firms representing the latest victims at Timberline Knolls. Those things can certainly be done. But the question remains …
A DAD'S JOURNEY WITH EATING DISORDERS 