Patients of drug rehabilitation and psychiatric facilities across the United States have filed lawsuits claiming they were subjected to abuse, assault and other harsh conditions.
Acadia Healthcare, a behavioral healthcare services provider with hundreds of facilities, has been named as a defendant in some lawsuits.
According to The New York Times, two former residents of the Illinois mental health center Timberline Knolls sued, claiming that an aide raped them at the facility. That aide had been hired despite having both domestic violence and gun charges on their criminal record.
Acadia owned — and eventually closed — the facility, which also saw two unattended patients die by suicide.
CBS News reported that three women filed a similar lawsuit involving an Acadia-owned facility in Detroit last year, claiming that a supervisor sexually abused them when they were teenagers.
That lawsuit also alleges some staff members at the now-closed Detroit Behavioral Institute facility were aware of the abuse and retaliated against the teens who reported it.
According to the lawsuit, after one teen reported the abuse to their mother, a supervisor referred to her as a “rat,” stabbed her with car keys and sent other residents to fight her.
If you or a loved one were subjected to abuse at a drug treatment or psychiatric facility, you could be eligible to file a lawsuit.
Sexual Abuse Reported at Acadia Healthcare Facilities in Multiple States
Reports have emerged over the last few years in other parts of the country as well.
According to FOX 13 in Salt Lake City, police investigated 33 calls to a Utah psychiatric facility owned by Acadia in a three-year span from 2019 to 2021. Five of these incidents were reports of sexual assault at Highland Ridge Hospital. Some involved children.
An Acadia-owned New Mexico youth treatment center closed in 2019 following allegations of abuse. According to the Nashville Post, multiple lawsuits were filed over the conditions at the Desert Hills of New Mexico facility in Albuquerque, claiming that workers subjected patients to both physical and sexual abuse.
Even in the years following the facility’s closure, new cases are still being filed. The Santa Fe New Mexican reported that Acadia was named as a defendant in a 2025 lawsuit alleging that a boy was groomed and sexually abused by a behavioral health technician.
According to Northcentralpa.com, patients at a different Acadia-owned facility were left in a position to harm one another. In 2023, a male patient at the White Deer Run of Allenwood treatment center in Pennsylvania was jailed for allegedly sexually assaulting a female patient.
Acadia is a major healthcare company with facilities across the nation. According to the company’s website, its network includes hundreds of locations across the United States and Puerto Rico.
The company provides care to over 70,000 children, adolescents and adults.
If you or a loved one needs help understanding your legal rights and options, our skilled sexual abuse lawyers are here to help. Fill out our online contact form to schedule a free, confidential call.
