The Sins of Refuge: Inside the Central Indiana Teen Challenge Lawsuit Part 1
- Johnette Cruz
- 21 hours ago
- 10 min read
Behind The Filter: Unfiltered Weekly
INDIANAPOLIS — An expanded federal lawsuit filed by Indianapolis-based law firm CohenMalad, LLP paints a picture of systemic abuse, human trafficking, and forced labor at a faith-based residential facility in Lebanon, Indiana. The suit details the firsthand experiences of 35 women who were sent to Central Indiana Teen Challenge (CITC)—now operating under the rebranded moniker Refuge Girls Academy—when they were minors.
While the original complaint named nine primary plaintiffs across four legal counts, the expanded litigation exposes a decades-long system of institutional control. It alleges a framework specifically designed to break down and exploit vulnerable teenage girls under the guise of safe, Christian mentorship.
The Illusion of Sanctuary
According to the legal filings, CITC marketed itself to desperate families as a licensed, trauma-informed therapeutic boarding school. Parents paid thousands of dollars in monthly tuition, believing their daughters would receive a structured high school education, professional counseling, and biblical guidance.
The reality inside the walls was starkly different:
Zero Educational Oversight: CITC employed no licensed teachers and offered zero classroom instruction.
The Workbook Trap: "Education" consisted of simplistic, non-accredited faith-based paper workbooks. Upon leaving the facility, victims discovered their completed credits were completely worthless, forcing them into severe post-secondary delays or forcing them to pursue a GED from scratch.
The TTI Trap: Instead of sanctuary, the lawsuit alleges the facility operated as a classic "Troubled Teen Industry" (TTI) trap. Upon arrival, minor residents were stripped of their legal custody, completely isolated from their families, and subjected to a rigid, punitive regime designed to induce total psychological breakdown.
"The reality is that, from the moment they arrived at CITC, Plaintiffs and other residents were abused, neglected, humiliated, physically assaulted, spiritually coerced... and forced to perform a variety of physically hard, dangerous, and even bizarre and cruel unpaid labor." — Federal Court Filing
The Institutional Framework & Leadership
To understand how this system persisted for decades, one must look at the structural power dynamics and the husband-and-wife executive duo running the operation.
The Assemblies of God Connection
CITC was not an isolated rogue operation; it possessed deep structural ties to Adult & Teen Challenge USA and the Assemblies of God U.S. Missions, operating under a vast national network of faith-based missionary frameworks.
The Primary Defendants
Dave Rose (CEO & State Director): Dave Rose serves as the CEO of Indiana Adult & Teen Challenge, Inc., and the State Director of the Indiana Adult and Teen Challenge Centers. An ordained minister within the Assemblies of God organization for over 25 years, Rose transitioned from pastoral ministry in 2003 to direct the CITC facility in Lebanon, Indiana. By 2006, he was promoted to oversee all four residential treatment facilities in the state and has served as a regional representative to the national board of directors for Adult & Teen Challenge USA.
Dawn Rose (Facility Director): Married to Dave Rose, Dawn served as the Director of the Central Indiana Teen Challenge facility, overseeing immediate, day-to-day operations, rule enforcement, and staff behaviors inside the Lebanon facility.
The federal complaint directly links their marital relationship to the shared operational and economic leadership of the facility:
Private Enrichment: The lawsuit alleges that both Dave and Dawn Rose personally and financially benefited from the forced labor of minor residents, routinely using the girls to maintain their private marital residence and personal property.
Shared Legal Defense: Because they are sued together alongside the corporate entity, the couple shares the same legal counsel and is jointly fighting federal trafficking and conspiracy charges.
Basic Human Rights Re-Classified as 'Privileges'
The structural framework of CITC relied on breaking down the girls' psychological defenses by treating fundamental human needs as items that had to be earned. According to the complaint, normal bodily functions and basic human rights were systematically re-classified:
Stripped of Fundamental Rights: Using the restroom, showering, eating, sleeping, speaking, and even making eye contact were categorized as "Level 1 privileges" that staff could arbitrarily revoke at any moment.
Humiliating Intakes: Every minor girl, whether brought by family or taken by force, was subjected to an invasive, naked strip search. Residents were forced to bend and squat under the direct observation of staff and older student "mentors."
The "Bathroom Choir": Girls were forced to eat every bite of their food, which was frequently undercooked, moldy, stale, or expired. If a resident vomited from distress or the quality of the food, they were forced to keep eating. To prevent girls from purging, staff monitored them inside the restrooms, forcing them to sing continuously while using the facilities to prove they were not throwing up.
Enforced Silence ("Talking Fast"): Minor infractions resulted in a disciplinary status called "Talking Fast." On this restriction, girls were strictly forbidden from speaking a single word to anyone except their assigned handlers. They were forced to wear whiteboards around their necks to communicate via writing.
Specific Victim Accounts
The depth of the institutional cruelty inside the facility is laid bare through the specific, harrowing accounts of individual plaintiffs.
General Traumas Applied to All Plaintiffs
Gynecological Abuse: Upon arrival, girls as young as 13 were subjected to invasive, medically unnecessary internal pelvic exams and PAP smears under the guise of ruling out pregnancy or STDs.
Communications Censorship: All incoming and outgoing mail was screened and explicitly rewritten if it contained negative remarks. Staff actively listened to phone calls, terminating them instantly if any abuse or negative conditions were mentioned. Parents were gaslit in advance to believe their daughters were simply "lying and manipulative" if they begged to come home.
The 12 Specific Victim Accounts
Sukanya Harbin: Placed on a mandatory "Talking Fast" restriction and explicitly forbidden from speaking a single word to anyone for nine consecutive months.
Makayla Launius: Abducted from her bedroom in Missouri in the middle of the night by strangers hired to transport her. Throughout the multi-state transit to CITC, she was forced to wear weighted shoes and a physical leash.
Chelsie Turlich (March 21, 2012 – December 23, 2012): Locked in total isolation inside the facility's "safe room" or "prayer room" alone for three solid weeks with no human contact, no bed, no blanket, and no reading material.
Christine Hong (April 17, 2017 – January 2018): Complained for months about a worsening ear infection while CITC cut off communication with her mother. Director Dawn Rose ignored her agonizing pleas for medical care until her eardrum completely ruptured.
E.A. (Anonymous Minor): At just 12 or 13 years old, she was taken in the middle of the night to a church where a priest performed a forced exorcism. She was forced to kneel and had her head repeatedly dunked into buckets of water until she choked and vomited, leaving visible finger bruises on her neck from where she was held down.
Emily DuPuis (March 2013 – September 2013): Heavily exploited for unpaid manual and emotional labor; subjected to severe hypervigilance, surveillance, and long-term isolation.
Eliana Greenfield (September 13, 2012 – September 18, 2014): One of the longest-residing named plaintiffs (spending two full years in the facility), she was systematically broken down by the punitive level system and entirely isolated from her family.
Autumn Mays (March 2014 – October 18, 2015): Subjected to long-term economic exploitation and forced labor under the constant threat of serious psychological harm and physical deprivation.
Haven Murdock (June 2011 – June 2014): Trapped at the facility for three years and forced to perform heavy maintenance on both the commercial facility and the private, personal properties of the leadership.
Kirah Oswald (Spring 2014 – Fall 2014): Forced into heavy manual labor environments under the constant threat of losing access to basic hygiene products, food, and water.
Hannah Scragg (July 22, 2013 – July 2014): Subjected to the mandatory level system, forced public testimonials, and trapped in a hypervigilant peer-retaliation environment.
Kristin Williams (April 2012 – July 2012): Experienced a rapid breakdown of her civil rights immediately upon arrival, restricted completely from family contact, and coerced into manual service.
Pervasive Forced Labor & Economic Exploitation
The core of the federal lawsuit centers on allegations of a commercial labor trafficking venture. CITC effectively ran its operations with zero labor costs by exploiting minor residents.
1. Institutional Upkeep and Private Enrichment
Girls were forced to work at least 4 hours every weekday and 6 hours on weekends performing industrial kitchen work, heavy facility cleaning, and deep scrubbing to make the facility "tour ready" for potential donors.
Private Servant Labor: The labor routinely extended beyond the facility. Girls were forced to perform heavy landscaping, weed trimming on their hands and knees, hauling logs, and operating dangerous gas mowers and heavy log splitters with zero safety gear or training. This work was performed not just at CITC, but at the private residences of Dave and Dawn Rose and their personal friends.
2. University Labor & The Trafficking Venture
In one of the most glaring commercial allegations, CITC allegedly transported minor girls to prominent local universities—specifically Butler University and Purdue University.
The Commercial Venture: The girls were forced into grueling 12-hour workdays performing heavy labor: building, moving, and tearing down heavy student bunk beds, and acting as moving crews during student transitions.
The Payout: The universities paid CITC directly for this labor. The minor girls were paid absolutely nothing, effectively converting a faith-based non-profit into an illicit commercial labor trafficking enterprise.
3. The "Stay Sharp" Emotional Trafficking
According to paragraphs 42 and 43 of the federal complaint, the "Stay Sharp" program represents one of the starkest gaps between public marketing and operational reality.
The Pitch: Officially marketed by the Assemblies of God and CITC as a "hard-hitting, straight talk, drug preventing presentation through a relationship with Christ."
The Reality: Minor girls were packed into vans and driven to churches across Indiana. They were forced to give highly intimate public "testimonials" detailing and exaggerating past "sins" and behavioral flaws to emotionally manipulate congregants into donating money directly to CITC. If their testimonies weren't deemed "heartfelt" or dramatic enough by staff, they were severely punished upon returning. During these tours, they were strictly forbidden from making eye contact or speaking to any men or boys in the audience.
The Legal Battle and Lasting Scars
The Legal Breakdown
The legal team at CohenMalad, LLP has filed for statutory damages under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA), seeking $150,000 per violation for the plaintiffs who were minors at the time. The expanded suit lists four core federal counts against Indiana Teen Challenge, Inc., Dave Rose, and Dawn Rose:
Count One (Involuntary Servitude): Knowingly holding minors in a system of forced labor and retaining 100% of the financial proceeds.
Count Two (Forced Labor through Threats of Harm): Using physical and severe psychological harm (malnutrition, isolation, public shaming) to coerce work compliance. This included physical punishments like forcing girls to run down country roads for miles with a staff van tailing them closely, even after vomiting from heat distress.
Count Three (Labor Trafficking & Harboring): Knowingly recruiting, transporting, and housing minors through deceptive marketing for the purpose of economic exploitation.
Count Four (Conspiracy): The leadership actively conspired together to run an illicit commercial venture.
The Defendants' Response
Following the initial filing, defense attorney Jeffrey Roberts of Carmel-based RMRK Law, representing Dave Rose and Indiana Teen Challenge Inc., issued a formal response aggressively pushing back against the allegations:
"The lawsuit purposefully equates the Lebanon, Indiana, faith-based addiction treatment, chosen for these plaintiffs by their parents and guardians, to human trafficking and criminal 'conspiracy,' all to save claims that would otherwise be summarily dismissible by the court."
Roberts criticized the litigation strategy of CohenMalad, LLP, asserting that the facility's "mission and the dedication to helping individuals recover from addiction and life-controlling behaviors will not be daunted by law firms using the media to scour the country for opportunistic claims."
Following the amended complaint and the influx of 26 additional plaintiffs, the defense issued an updated statement:
"While our clients certainly deny any allegation of wrongdoing, we have not fully reviewed and analyzed the new pleading... the fact that new plaintiffs decided to join the 'cash pursuit' does not make the accusations any more tenable or legally viable. Once the plaintiffs settle on an operative pleading, we expect to continue vigorously defending our clients through the proper channels."
Where is Teen Challenge Now? (The Rebranding Pivot)
A common question among those following the case is how the facility in Lebanon continues to operate in light of such extreme federal allegations. The answer lies in the institutional mechanics of the Troubled Teen Industry.
Central Indiana Teen Challenge did not shut down; it simply executed a calculated corporate rebranding strategy to distance itself from bad press. According to court filings, the underlying corporate structure remains identical. The organization is legally a 501(c)(3) non-profit incorporated under names like Greater Lafayette Adult and Teen Challenge and Indiana Teen Challenge, Inc. However, it now does business as (d/b/a) The Refuge Girls Academy.
This name change effectively washes its digital footprint clean for prospective parents searching the internet, allowing the facility to launch fresh websites featuring identical promises of "equine therapy" and "nurturing care" without immediate visual association with federal human trafficking lawsuits.
Why Are They Still Allowed to Open Their Doors?
There are four primary legal reasons why CITC/Refuge Girls Academy continues to operate during a pending federal trial:
Civil Lawsuits Do Not Equal Criminal Closures: This is a civil lawsuit filed by private citizens for financial damages and restitution, not a criminal prosecution handled by state or federal prosecutors. A civil court's primary power is ordering financial compensation, not sentencing defendants to prison or automatically seizing physical property.
The Absence of a Preliminary Injunction: A business can only be forced to halt operations mid-trial if a judge issues a preliminary injunction based on immediate, ongoing, irreparable harm. Because the named plaintiffs are now adults and the alleged abuse occurred years ago when they were minors, the legal focus remains on securing damages for past trauma rather than a swift operational halt.
The Shield of Religious Exemptions: In Indiana, faith-based residential facilities enjoy significant exemptions from the rigorous licensing, routine state monitoring, and clinical oversight that govern traditional healthcare or psychiatric facilities. Operating under a missionary umbrella significantly limits the legal jurisdiction of state social service agencies to step in and summarily pull an operational license.
Aggressive Legal Defense: The defendants maintain their innocence in the eyes of the law. Because they are actively fighting the charges, they continue to collect tuition, take in new residents, and accept donations under the Refuge Girls Academy name.
The Lifelong Harm
The permanent injuries listed by the 35 women include diagnoses of severe PTSD, debilitating agoraphobia, persistent sleep disturbances, permanent psychological disabilities, and a total fracturing of their connection to family and faith.
Because the facility heavily weaponized religion—telling the girls that their abuse was "God's will" and that they were entirely to blame for their own suffering—many survivors experienced extreme "discovery tolling." It took years, and sometimes decades, for these women to realize that the treatment they received was not divine discipline, but federal crime.
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~J
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