The 13th Step - Trailer: The 13th Step

Episode Date: May 31, 2023

Reporter Lauren Chooljian starts getting tips about the founder of New Hampshire’s largest addiction treatment network. He is allegedly sexually harassing or assaulting women — employees and former clients at his facilities. The tips send Lauren on a journey deep into the addiction treatment industry, which, as one source says, “needs a #MeToo movement.” The 13th Step is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio’s Document team, coming June 6th. More at 13thsteppodcast.org.

It all started with a tip and then another and another. Everyone looked up to him like even though he was young, you're a great role model, you're this, you know, I just want my kid to be like you, you know, and then no. I said, I don't want to put words in your mouth, but are you saying that certain boundaries had been crossed? And she said, oh yes. Did you want that to happen? No.

But I also didn't know how to tell him no. I was hearing serious allegations about people being harmed in a place that's supposed to be dedicated to healing. I thought like I was the only one. Like if he did this all the time, he wouldn't own a treatment center. If you're a fucking rehab owner, why are you in contact with the clientele after they leave there? You're supposed to have boundaries. My name is Lauren Chuljian and I'm an investigative reporter in New Hampshire. You might know New Hampshire for its mountains, or the first in the nation primary, or because it's been one of the epicenters of America's addiction crisis.

So many people need treatment, a chance at real recovery. And New Hampshire, it seemed to have a success story. I'm about as well known as a success story. I'm about as well-known as a drug addict. What a weird claim to fame. I'm a very well-known drug addict in this state. What he ended up being like was like the supreme commander of recovery. Like God of recovery. This company really focuses and operates on integrity. My sources were

telling me that the leader of New Hampshire's biggest addiction treatment network was sexually harassing and assaulting women. All these tips poured in and they sent me on a journey. I said I received a very serious allegation that has to do with you and he was like this is crazy she's a psycho. It's normal to be essentially harassed in those places it's it's normal to have those guys that are speaking about recovery and what a great life it is to be perpetrators. The reason these people can thrive then is that there's not a lot of fences around them. This journey I was on, it was already dark.

And then it got personal. Where is it say that? Can you say that to me one more time? It says just the beginning under the window? That is so fucked up. That is really fucked up. This is clearly not a random act. This was a targeted event.

Out of everything that happened, that probably scared me the most. It would have been very easy for me to be a target living by myself with nobody else. If they can start picking off the witnesses one by one, pretty soon, their case gets better and better, and your story looks thinner and thinner. Anytime you make big strides, like I think we did with, you know, me too becoming a household phrase, you kind of know that you are making strides when there starts to be backlash. This is a podcast about the addiction treatment industry, an abuse that people don't want

to talk about. It's also a story about the limits of the MeToo movement. And it's about journalism. How far can you go before it gets dangerous? This podcast is called The Thirteen Step. When I found out with the Thirteen Step Man, it all made sense. From the document team at New Hampshire Public Radio,

the 13th step is coming June 6th, wherever you get your podcasts.