Teens stabbed, beaten for reporting sexual abuse at treatment center, Michigan suit says
Dozens of former patients of a Michigan youth treatment facility were sexually, physically and psychologically abused by staff, according to a newly filed lawsuit.
“I felt like I was trapped in a jail of horrors,” a former patient said at a March 11 press conference shared by WDIV.
The lawsuit names the now-shuttered Detroit Behavioral Institute, its parent company, Acadia Healthcare Company, Inc., and Michael Flaniken, a former supervisor of the institute’s girls’ residential unit, as defendants.
The lawsuit states the three plaintiffs, who were minors at the time of the allegations, were subjected to grooming and sexual abuse by Flaniken and threatened with retaliation if they reported the misconduct.
It also alleges other staff members knew about the abuse and helped cover up the misconduct.
“The well-being of all patients is of the utmost importance to Acadia Healthcare and its affiliated facilities,” Acadia Healthcare told McClatchy News in a statement. “We take these allegations seriously. While we can’t comment on specific allegations and patient situations due to privacy regulations, the picture being painted of Acadia and the quality of care provided by our facilities is inaccurate. We intend to defend this case vigorously.”
Flaniken could not be reached for comment but denied the allegations to the Detroit Free Press.
Flaniken threatened violence against one of the girls, saying he’d “send somebody to her house,” then recited her home address, according to the lawsuit.
Despite these threats, the girl reported the abuse and was interviewed by Child Protective Services, and Flaniken was moved to a different unit following the investigation, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit accuses staff of instructing other patients to assault the girls for reporting the abuses and, at times, carrying out the retaliatory abuse themselves. A female supervisor stabbed one plaintiff in the arm with car keys, attorneys said.
Another plaintiff accuses Flaniken of ordering two patients to attack her while he watched as she was beaten, according to the lawsuit.
A third plaintiff, 16 and pregnant at the time she was admitted to Detroit Behavioral Institute, accused Flaniken of raping her, choking her and threatening her into silence, according to the lawsuit.
Afraid of retaliation, including being kept at the institute for longer than she was supposed to be there and being forced to give up her baby, she never reported the abuse, according to the lawsuit.
“I don’t play those sexually abused type of games,” Flaniken told the Detroit Free Press in a statement.
Flaniken told the outlet he was investigated by CPS for reports of abuse while he was a supervisor at Detroit Behavioral Institute, but they uncovered no wrongdoing.
No criminal charges relating to the allegations in the lawsuit are on file, according to Wayne County Circuit Court records.
Abuse reported nationwide
In June 2022, the State of Michigan ordered Detroit Behavioral Institute to close, citing “at least 30 different licensing and maltreatment-in-care investigations” opened just within the few months prior.
“State officials were doing daily on-site visits to DBI to monitor the conditions inside the facility, and the Detroit Police Department confirmed it had active investigations connected to DBI and was working with Michigan Children’s Protective Services,” the lawsuit states.
Attorneys said the pattern of systemic abuse extends beyond the Detroit Behavioral Institute.
“There have been numerous, recurring, reports of sexual and physical abuse at Acadia facilities, some of which has been carried out by employees of Acadia,” the lawsuit states.
Acadia Healthcare has 262 treatment facilities in 39 states, according to the company’s website.
The lawsuit was filed by the law firm Stinar Gould Grieco & Hensley, PLLC, in Wayne County Circuit Court and seeks damages and a jury trial.
This story was originally published March 12, 2025 at 3:55 PM with the headline "Teens stabbed, beaten for reporting sexual abuse at treatment center, Michigan suit says."
