- 7/15/2025
Welcome to the story of those who sought help, only to face mistreatment and harm in addiction treatment centers. Discover the shocking truth behind what should have been a safe haven for healing.
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00:00Hey, this is Al, and before we start the show, I wanted to talk to you directly, just you
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01:10And thank you.
01:13From the Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, this is Reveal.
01:18I'm Al Letton.
01:19In March 2022, New Hampshire Public Radio broke a big story.
01:26It was about the founder and then CEO of New Hampshire's largest addiction treatment network.
01:31I'm about as well-known as a drug addict.
01:33What a weird claim to fame.
01:35I'm a very well-known drug addict in this state.
01:38Eric Spofford built his business on his own story of substance use disorder and recovery.
01:43New Hampshire was hit hard by the opioid epidemic, and he'd become an influential figure in the state's response to the crisis.
01:52Former Governor Chris Zanunu considered Spofford one of his go-to guys, and Spofford testified before Congress.
01:59But then, reporter Lauren Chulgin had uncovered that Spofford was accused of multiple acts of sexual misconduct by employees and former clients.
02:08All these allegations raise serious questions about Spofford's leadership, the company that made him wealthy, and New Hampshire's reliance on Spofford to help address the addiction crisis.
02:19For her story, Lauren spoke to victims at one of Spofford's facilities called Green Mountain Treatment Center, including a woman named Elizabeth.
02:29The day after she left Green Mountain, she says she started receiving messages on Snapchat from Eric Spofford.
02:36He was already planning to come to see me, wanted to take me out, wanted to do explicit things.
02:45She also spoke with people on his staff.
02:47I went into this knowing fully well that he had liabilities.
02:53I certainly didn't know that he was going to turn out to be like Harvey Weinstein.
02:59After the story airs, Lauren gets a call from a woman we're calling Andrea.
03:05We're not using her real name because other people who've spoken out have faced threats.
03:10Andrea's in recovery.
03:11She tells Lauren she met Spofford at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and that he'd taken advantage of her too.
03:18I fell right into it.
03:19Right into it.
03:20You know, it's like it's just, you're so vulnerable.
03:24But then she says, this kind of behavior, it's much bigger than just one man.
03:30It's so common, there's even a name for it.
03:33It's because it's so notorious and it's so bad.
03:35And what they, you know, there's like this thing called the 12 steps.
03:38Yeah.
03:39Well, what they do, they made a joke about being a 13-stepper.
03:42And the 13-stepper is like when you take advantage of a newcomer, like they joke, like don't be a 13-stepper or something.
03:54So it's like, it's very prevalent, but he really had it down to a science.
03:59So Lauren sets out to do more reporting, but then.
04:07Police are searching for that suspect right there who they say targeted a reporter.
04:12Bricks through windows and other forms of vandalism at the homes of Lauren, her boss, and her parents.
04:19Still, Lauren keeps working on the story.
04:22She and her team in New Hampshire Public Radio release a podcast called The 13th Step.
04:26It goes deep on this long-standing culture of sexual misconduct in recovery communities
04:32and details the impact the vandalism had on Lauren and her sources.
04:37When the podcast came out in 2023, it wasn't clear who was responsible.
04:41But now, federal prosecutors say it is.
04:44So, we decided to bring back part of the 13th step we aired last year
04:48and also invite Lauren to talk about the latest developments.
04:52And a heads up before we get started.
04:54Parts of today's story may be difficult for some listeners to hear.
05:00Lauren, thanks for joining me.
05:02So, tell me, who was behind the vandalism at your home and the others?
05:06Well, Al, this is kind of wild for me to say, but it was, according to the feds, it was Eric Spofford,
05:12the guy I investigated for sexual misconduct and addiction treatment.
05:16FBI agents arrested Spofford the last week in May.
05:19They brought him in.
05:20He was in custody over the weekend.
05:22And then I saw him in court the following Monday for his arraignment.
05:26That must have been surreal after investigating this guy for so long
05:29and finally seeing him have to pay for his crimes, specifically his crimes against you.
05:36There aren't enough words, I can tell you.
05:38I mean, it's, it was the first time I'd seen him in person and I've been investigating him,
05:43looking into him for the past five years.
05:45And this is a guy who's built, you know, quite the reputation around here, Al, and online.
05:50I mean, he has a million followers.
05:51He has built this big reputation as a powerful business owner who's found his way through sobriety
05:56and now is giving back.
05:58He's friends with the former governor.
05:59He's friends with our current governor.
06:00And to see him in this federal courtroom, I mean, it was, it was quite, quite the scene.
06:06So what exactly do the feds say he did?
06:09The feds are saying that Eric Spofford paid his close friend, Eric LaVarge, $20,000 to
06:14commit these acts.
06:15They're saying that Eric Spofford was the one who gave him our addresses, that Eric Spofford
06:20is the one who said, use red spray paint, throw bricks through these windows and specific
06:25instructions about how he wanted Eric LaVarge to terrorize us.
06:29Now, we know Eric LaVarge was part of the scheme because he's already pled guilty and
06:33was convicted of his own role, which was paying three other men to do these acts.
06:38And so we knew that part.
06:40But what we didn't know for the past three years was that behind it all, Eric Spofford
06:44was the one pulling the strings.
06:46And I should say, this is also all the while that Eric Spofford was suing us for defamation,
06:51which we won.
06:52But these two parallel tracks of this violent vandalism and also this defamation lawsuit
06:57were quite intimidating for my sources.
07:00Yeah, that's intense.
07:01So he's doing all of this to stop the reporting.
07:05Yeah.
07:06Did it work?
07:06I mean, did the vandalism and the lawsuit, did it have the effect that he was looking
07:10for?
07:11Unfortunately, yes.
07:12I mean, there's no way around it.
07:13I had sources come forward that saw what was happening and one of them said, you cannot
07:17protect me from this, Lauren.
07:18And what am I supposed to say to that?
07:20Of course I can't.
07:20I mean, I only have so much control in this world.
07:22And yet, at the same time, while those sources backed out, and I understood it, like, you
07:27know, I wasn't going to be the person who was like, but you have to.
07:29No way.
07:30Like, it's up to everybody.
07:31If they're in it, they're in it.
07:32And if they're not, that's on them.
07:33And I totally respect that.
07:35At the same time, I just felt like this reporting was too important to stop.
07:41Yeah.
07:41So how are the sources feeling now seeing that Spofford has been arrested by the FBI?
07:46Yeah.
07:46I mean, it's wild.
07:47I've been hearing from probably hundreds of people, and the reactions are really mixed.
07:53I mean, there's a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of, oh, my God, I can't believe this happened.
07:56I wish I could have been there.
07:58And on the flip side, though, Al, I have sources also saying to me that there's an unfairness
08:02here, that Eric is facing accountability for what he did to my house, and yet not for the
08:07alleged harms he committed, you know, sexual misconduct against former clients, former
08:12employees of his treatment centers.
08:14They just feel like, where's the justice for them?
08:16So this is a little bit of a philosophical question.
08:20On the 13th Step podcast, you went looking for answers about how to hold people accountable
08:25for unethical behavior.
08:27What did you find?
08:28That it's hard?
08:30I mean, honest to God.
08:31I mean, that's simple.
08:33It basically, Al, it really depends on the person doing the harm, the facility that that
08:37person works at, the state that the facility is in.
08:40But, you know, overall, there's just not enough oversight in general.
08:43And we're putting the onus, in most cases, on people who are in an extremely vulnerable
08:47position.
08:48We're talking about people who, if it, you know, if the harm is being done at a residential
08:51treatment center, that's a person who's in early sobriety, who's maybe, you know, stopped
08:56using drugs or alcohol for what, like a couple weeks?
08:59And so the idea that that person can see what needs to be done and can figure out, okay, this
09:03is the person I need to call.
09:05And what if they need to call the police?
09:06I mean, these are not people that are often going to police.
09:08Their addiction is considered illegal.
09:10And say they get past all these obstacles.
09:12Well, if the person doing the harm is in a position of power at the place where they're
09:16getting sober, I mean, what's the likelihood they're really going to go toe to toe with
09:19that person?
09:20And so that brings us to the story we're going to hear today.
09:23It's about another case.
09:24But this one is in California, where the CEO of a network of treatment facilities was accused
09:30of sexual assault and massive insurance fraud.
09:33And you tell the story of two women who go after this guy.
09:38So what did you learn from Rose and Debbie?
09:40I think what I learned is how relentless you have to be to uncover wrongdoing in this
09:44industry.
09:45I just could not believe the lengths that Rose and Debbie had to go to to be just heard.
09:50So all this to say, if you want to catch a predator in this industry, you basically need
09:54to clear your calendar because it is going to be years and years and years of your time.
09:58And I should say, Debbie, one of the women in the story, she's a former federal prosecutor.
10:01So the fact that she couldn't even get law enforcement's attention the first time is
10:06just a great anecdote for how difficult it is to find accountability in this field.
10:11Thanks, Lauren.
10:11Thank you so much.
10:14Lauren Children is an investigative reporter at New Hampshire Public Radio and the host
10:19of The 13th Step.
10:21When we come back, a worker at a recovery center hears rumors about her boss offering drugs
10:27to patients.
10:28And at that point, it was like, what?
10:32It was so, I mean, I really had kind of a little mini nervous breakdown.
10:37You're listening to Reveal.
10:38Hi, y'all.
10:50My name is Nadia Hamdan, and I'm a producer here at Reveal.
10:55Reveal is a nonprofit news organization, and we depend on support from our listeners.
11:01Donate today at revealnews.org slash donate.
11:06And thanks.
11:08From the Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, this is Reveal.
11:14I'm Al Edson.
11:16Today, we're bringing back part of a series from New Hampshire Public Radio called The
11:2013th Step.
11:22It's about a culture of sexual misconduct in the addiction treatment industry.
11:27Most of the series is about how hard it is to root out that misconduct.
11:31But this story is about two women who team up to do just that.
11:36Their names are Debbie Herzog and Rose Stahl.
11:39Here's reporter Lauren Chilgen.
11:41In 2013, Rose was living in Los Angeles, and she was talking to a friend about how she was
11:50thinking about drinking again.
11:52Rose had been in recovery for a while at that point, and this friend was like, oh, you should
11:57meet this guy, Chris Bathum.
11:59He's a therapist, this friend said.
12:01He specializes in addiction, and he might take you for free.
12:05Free sounded especially great.
12:07So Rose started seeing Bathum for weekly therapy sessions.
12:11What was he like?
12:15It's funny.
12:16It's hard for me to answer that question straight out without saying I am fully aware that many,
12:20many other people saw right through him right away.
12:23But for me, he was just really brilliant, and I always walked away every session just
12:33feeling this sense of ease that, okay, okay, everything's okay.
12:38I met Rose at her home in Austin, Texas.
12:41That's where she lives now.
12:43I was immediately struck by how vibrant and expressive Rose is.
12:47She beams this happy, chaotic energy.
12:50I was barely out of the car when she hugged me.
12:53But like so many of us, Rose also knows the depths of depression.
12:58She was in a real tough spot when she met Bathum.
13:02Rose was separating from her husband, trying to find her way through the world as a single
13:06mom, without any family close by, no job, and there were all those swirling questions
13:11about her sobriety.
13:13But she says her sessions with Bathum felt powerful and thoughtful.
13:18She bonded with him quickly.
13:20So for over a year, she'd drive to his office for an hour or 90-minute session and walk out
13:25feeling relieved.
13:28Although sometimes, sometimes he did say things that Rose thought, whoa, what?
13:34He did offer, eventually, to drink with me in a bar as a therapeutic tool to assess am I
13:43an alcoholic or not.
13:44A therapeutic tool.
13:47Drinking with her therapist.
13:49Rose says it instantly made her feel nauseous.
13:52She didn't take him up on it, but she heard him out.
13:55Because Bathum wasn't only a therapist.
13:58He was the founder of a growing substance use disorder treatment company called Community
14:03Recovery Los Angeles.
14:05He ran facilities in many of the fanciest corners of L.A., like Malibu and Calabasas, home
14:10of at least one Kardashian.
14:12Bathum would eventually own more than 20 sober homes and outpatient clinics in Colorado and
14:17California.
14:19So surely he must know what he's talking about.
14:21But it was also, in a way, Bathum was great for Los Angeles because Los Angeles is full
14:28of those moments.
14:30You're all the time.
14:31You're like, whoa, what?
14:32Who did what?
14:34That moment could have been a bright red flag.
14:37She could have walked away, found a new therapist.
14:40But of course, that is so hard to do.
14:43Instead, Rose would end up working at Community Recovery, Bathum's treatment company.
14:50They call it CRLA, and most people refer to Chris Bathum as Bathum, so I will too.
14:57Bathum offered Rose a job at CRLA during one of their therapy sessions.
15:02Rose definitely knew that was weird, but Bathum convinced her they'd keep their distance from
15:07each other and stop doing therapy together.
15:09Plus, CRLA was growing rapidly.
15:13It seemed on the outside like a place you wanted to be a part of if you cared about addiction.
15:18Bathum was seen as a visionary, a guy who was always talking about systems and theories.
15:24It felt like he was thinking differently about this seemingly unsolvable problem of addiction.
15:29So you really think that rehab's fraud?
15:31For the most part, I'd say that's the case.
15:34I wouldn't say that's always the case.
15:35But I think that most of the work that's being done and the money that's being spent is wasted.
15:41This is an old radio interview Bathum did before opening CRLA, where he's calling out
15:46other treatment providers.
15:47They very much are focusing on the next client and the next client's cash, and how the next
15:52client's cash is going to make the thing better.
15:54And it's very much like a person who's selling something and addicted in that selling process
15:58or a person who's gambling.
16:00And anything goes as long as the client comes in.
16:03And I think that's pretty sick.
16:06CRLA was all built around Bathum's big idea that the best way to solve substance use disorder
16:12is with more affordable, longer-term treatment.
16:15He was also known for his holistic approach to treatment, like using sound baths or meditation
16:20sessions in sweat lodges.
16:22And there are still people who say that CRLA was the thing that finally helped them stop
16:28using.
16:28Bathum felt like the usual 30 days of rehab weren't enough, so he'd keep clients for 90
16:35days of inpatient treatment.
16:37He didn't invent that, by the way.
16:39Longer residential treatment is an idea that's been around for a long time.
16:43Bathum even found ways to keep clients after their 90 days.
16:48He would offer clients paid internships, quote-unquote, where they do odd jobs and chores at CRLA.
16:54And then, after only six months of interning, clients could be hired as CRLA staff.
17:01Bathum hired Rose to help open a new community center, which would be the main hub of CRLA.
17:07And given how tumultuous her life had been lately, this new job felt like a fresh start.
17:13I was making decent money, you know?
17:15It was enough for me to support myself and my daughter with the help of, like, a little
17:19bit of child support, so it was awesome, actually.
17:23It was self-sufficient.
17:24I didn't have, you know, any worries.
17:27Rose could tell pretty quickly that CRLA was expanding.
17:31One minute, she's working on the new community center, and then the next, she's talking with
17:36a contractor about a new medical clinic.
17:38At the time, Rose had no idea how CRLA was funded.
17:42She didn't think much about it.
17:45But in a small office, 35 miles away, a woman named Debbie Herzog was starting to get an
17:51idea.
17:52So is it better if we sit next to each other?
17:56We can do that.
17:57Do that?
17:57It's just fine.
17:58Okay.
17:59Debbie was a federal prosecutor for nearly two decades.
18:02It's a key part of who she is, despite many of the other prestigious jobs on her resume.
18:09For example, she also investigated fraud for some federal agencies like NASA and the Postal
18:14Service.
18:16So, suffice it to say, not much gets by Debbie Herzog.
18:21In 2013, as Rose was in therapy with Bathum, Debbie left government work and started a job
18:27as an insurance investigator at Anthem.
18:29It was a lot of bill collecting, way more than she had hoped.
18:33But then one day, she ran out of assigned work to do.
18:36And when that happens, we're supposed to try to come up with our own.
18:40And the best way to do that is to pick a certain procedure, a certain billing code, and run it
18:46through the computer and ask the computer to find the providers that billed that code the
18:53most and see what pops up.
18:56So Debbie thought, why don't I try the code for preventative medicine?
19:00That covers things like a primary care doctor sharing information on how to prevent a heart
19:05attack.
19:06Or things to avoid so you don't get cancer.
19:09So I stuck preventative medicine in and community recovery popped up at the top of the list and
19:16had hundreds and hundreds and hundreds more billings than any other provider on the list.
19:23And it's a drug and rehab center.
19:27Why are they billing for preventative medicine?
19:30Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of billings.
19:34At CRLA, Chris Bathum's place.
19:38Debbie realizes she might be on to something here.
19:42So I started looking at the patients that Anthem Blue Cross had at community recovery.
19:52And I could pull up the patients and see the different things that they were billed for.
19:58And it was just all kinds of stuff.
20:01Smoking cessation, group therapy, individual therapy, all kinds of services that actually
20:08should have been covered under the umbrella of drug treatment.
20:16So if you check into a treatment center, they tell you it's going to cost $30,000 a month.
20:22And that $30,000 is going to cover all services at that facility.
20:28So if those services are being billed individually as well, that's double billing.
20:35And that's fraud.
20:36Fraud.
20:39Basically, patients were being billed once for all their treatment and then billed again
20:44and again and again and again for each individual service, which they'd already paid for.
20:50Debbie starts digging hard.
20:53She tries to drill down to see just how deep this problem goes.
20:57Turns out there was much more than just the double billing scheme.
21:02Chris Bathom, the guy who owned Community Recovery, had opened up places in Colorado pretty recently.
21:09And I discovered looking at these individual patient billings that some of them were being
21:14billed for services rendered in Southern California and Colorado on the same day.
21:22That's not possible.
21:23Right?
21:24So there was triple billing.
21:28And then I started running these patients through social media to see what I could find out about them.
21:35And on Facebook and on LinkedIn, they listed their jobs as jobs at Community Recovery.
21:43So he was billing for interns, billing for full-time employees, billing for part-time employees, as if they were all patients.
21:56Chris Bathom was taking out insurance policies in the names of his employees, as in creating accounts for them,
22:03and then billing those fraudulent accounts for addiction treatment services that no one was actually receiving.
22:11And to add another layer, it was sometimes former clients hired to work in the CRLA billing department who did that paperwork.
22:19What did it feel like to see that?
22:21Wow.
22:24I found not just paper fraud, you know, it's kind of a dull case paper fraud, but really interesting fraud.
22:34I mean, fraud that might get somebody's attention.
22:37Or so she hoped.
22:40What did you know about the recovery world at that point?
22:44Unfortunately, more than one might expect.
22:49I had a son who was in recovery at the time.
22:53I had just sent him away for the first time for treatment and was well aware of the expense, the billing, what services were provided.
23:07And the longer he was in and out of recovery, the more I got to know.
23:12So in 2014, while she sat in her new office, clicking through fraudulent billing after fraudulent billing by CRLA, an addiction treatment provider, all she could think of was David.
23:25I mean, I'm thinking this could be, this could be, this could be my kid who's supposed to be getting services that he's not getting.
23:39Yeah, it was completely on my mind.
23:41And I think that's why I was so rabid about the whole case and still am about the whole industry.
23:48Rose didn't stumble on a gold mine of data like Debbie did.
24:03She was on a different journey.
24:05She was close with Bathum.
24:07She was working for him.
24:09But then she started to hear some rumors.
24:11This is the part of the story where we will start to talk about things that are especially hard to hear.
24:19The rumor was that Bathum was having sex with female clients and that he was using drugs with those clients.
24:27There was also word going around of some fraud that Bathum had defrauded a former investor.
24:33And at that point, it was like, what?
24:36It was so, I mean, I really had kind of a little mini nervous breakdown.
24:43There are a lot of choices you can make when you hear such a wild rumor.
24:47You could dismiss it, shrug it off.
24:49You might spread it around, see what other people say.
24:52Or you could be like Rose and think, I need to confront Chris Bathum about this right now.
24:59Oh, it wasn't an option not to.
25:03That, like, that's just kind of me.
25:05I mean, there was no freaking way I could not investigate and find out.
25:11Rose told me she's always been like this.
25:13She has to intervene.
25:15She's a rule follower to the extreme.
25:18Her mom once told her, you've always been a little whistleblower.
25:21There was one story she told me that I'm potentially obsessed with.
25:25Rose was six, maybe seven.
25:27And she has a vivid memory of being deeply disturbed by other kids littering.
25:32I remember being like the litter police, you know, like some kids were littering and we had this commercial.
25:42It was like, don't mess with Texas.
25:44And I just remember being like, don't mess with Texas.
25:47Rose was not the kid that pretends they don't see the ice cream wrappers on the ground.
25:52Rose was the kid that yelled out, hey, you can't do that.
25:55And I think they, like, kicked me or something, you know, like, shut up, you twerp.
26:00The litter police thing never left her.
26:06So, when rumors were spreading that Chris Batham was having sex with clients and using drugs with them,
26:13the biggest question for Rose was, what's the best way to confront him?
26:18Rose had a friend named Jane who was living with her at the time.
26:21So they processed all this together.
26:23I can imagine Rose pacing in their small apartment in Hollywood.
26:27Her friend Jane is sitting on the couch, totally blown away.
26:31I was telling Jane, you know, this is just crazy.
26:33I don't know, but I have to confront him.
26:35And so Jane was like, well, my ex-wife worked in the field and maybe we can talk to her about it.
26:41And she, because Jane had told me years before and even she had, I remember when I met her,
26:46she was going through it with this place and she was like, the owner is smoking crack with clients,
26:52sleeping with clients, trying to give the staff drugs.
26:54It was really insane.
26:56So Jane, she figures, might as well shoot my ex-wife a text.
27:00Who was that old boss you had who slept with clients?
27:04Meanwhile, Rose gets up the courage to send a text to Batham.
27:08She thought back to their therapy sessions and realized she had the perfect way to lure him to meet immediately.
27:15Rose started typing.
27:17I was panicking and I was just like, I'm feeling like drinking.
27:21Like, can we meet?
27:22And he said, actually, I think a drink is a good idea.
27:26Batham and Rose make plans to meet at a restaurant.
27:29Jane offers to drive Rose there.
27:31Jane and I get in her car and we're driving there and it's kind of a long drive.
27:35And she's really uneasy about me confronting my boss.
27:40And I'm just like, I don't care.
27:42I got to do it.
27:42Because she's like, what if it's true?
27:44Like, what then?
27:45And I must have really held out hope that it wasn't true.
27:51Well, no, I did.
27:53Because right as we're pulling in to the restaurant and I see him standing in these shorts, which was weird.
28:03I'd never seen him in shorts.
28:04It's just kind of waiting for me outside.
28:08The ex-wife text, Chris Batham.
28:12As in, oh, that former boss I had that slept with clients?
28:17Chris Batham.
28:21No.
28:22Yeah.
28:23Yeah.
28:24So, what did you do?
28:27Well, unfortunately, I end up believing him.
28:42Rose sits down at the restaurant bar with Batham.
28:45They order drinks.
28:47Rose said he looked mildly nervous.
28:49But when Rose confronts Batham about everything she's heard, he denies it all.
28:55And he's got an explanation for everything.
28:58The person who passed along the rumor?
29:00She's unstable.
29:01The person who started the rumors?
29:04It's that former investor.
29:05Batham says he's been trashing him, making all sorts of accusations online.
29:10Rose had actually seen the investors' posts on social media.
29:13And then, over the next few days, Batham had the company's CFO tell Rose how absurd the whole thing was.
29:22I mean, I just felt so bad and so crying.
29:25How are you ever going to trust me?
29:27Scared that I changed our wonderful dynamic.
29:30You know, all of it.
29:31Wondering if my job is at risk now.
29:33You have to understand.
29:35Batham had an incredible power over Rose.
29:39She felt he knew her inside and out.
29:41He gave her free therapy.
29:43He gave her a job when she was in crisis.
29:45No rumor or coincidental text message could change all that.
29:50Plus, now he was forgiving her.
29:53He even moved her into a new role at CRLA.
29:57Batham asked her to be an investigator.
29:59Gather information about this investor who he said was harassing him.
30:03She would be saving the company so they could help more clients.
30:07That was the idea.
30:08What I was being told was that the investor was even, like, hiring people to come work at CRLA, hiring people to pose as clients and things like that.
30:20And so I really was passionate about stopping this guy from putting out these rumors.
30:27They're sick and hurting people.
30:29And the rumors kept on coming.
30:32As Rose is doing her investigating, she comes across a video on social media with a big allegation.
30:38There are two people in this video.
30:40One of them is the former investor.
30:43He's standing beside a young woman.
30:45The video is only 14 seconds long.
30:47And it's alarming.
30:49But it's also really weird.
30:52Haley.
30:52Hello.
30:53Now, Haley was a client over at Chris Batham's place.
30:58And would you mind saying on camera that you were drugged and raped?
31:02I was drugged and raped by Chris Batham.
31:06That's it.
31:07That's the whole video.
31:09Rose watches it.
31:10And she still doesn't believe it.
31:12Because she's focused on the investor.
31:14He seems to be prompting this client to speak.
31:18And Rose thinks, wow, what insane length this guy is going to.
31:23Making up a rumor about sexual assault?
31:25He's going to stop.
31:28I had the fear that other clients or other staff would have the same just wildly bad reaction to hearing the rumors and relapse.
31:40Batham has redirected the litter police.
31:43He's convinced Rose, he's not a bad guy.
31:46He's the good guy.
31:57As Chris Batham deflects accusations against him about sexual misconduct, Debbie continues to build her fraud case against him.
32:06But authorities, they don't seem interested.
32:09And I was going bonkers.
32:12I mean bonkers, like literally banging my head against the wall.
32:15Like, how can nobody be paying attention to this?
32:18Why doesn't anybody care?
32:20That's next on Reveal.
32:22Hey, this is Missa from Reveal.
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33:28From the Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, this is Reveal.
33:42I'm Al Edson.
33:43Today, we're partnering with New Hampshire Public Radio
33:46to bring you part of their podcast series, The 13th Step.
33:50It's about two women, Roe Stahl and Debbie Herzog,
33:53who, independent of each other,
33:55are investigating the founder and owner of a chain of addiction treatment centers,
34:01including one in Los Angeles called CRLA.
34:04Debbie's an insurance investigator,
34:06and she's uncovered hundreds of fraudulent billings by the company.
34:11But when she writes up a report and sends it to state authorities,
34:14they refuse to investigate.
34:17Reporter Lauren Chulgin takes it from here.
34:19Debbie Herzog was not off to a great start.
34:26Debbie used to be a federal prosecutor.
34:28So she thinks, all right, maybe I'll have better luck with the feds.
34:32So she takes the case over to them,
34:34tells them how deep it seems to go.
34:36And that doesn't work either.
34:38In L.A., they're really picky about the cases they take,
34:43and they're only looking at really, really large dollar cases.
34:48And it wasn't a large dollar case yet.
34:51And when I say large dollar case,
34:53I mean they're looking at a million dollars or above,
34:57and I was probably in the thousands at the time.
35:00So then I went to other insurance companies
35:02and said, hey, you know, look at this.
35:07Check out your billings.
35:08And started getting the other insurance companies on board.
35:12The dollar amounts obviously started getting higher
35:14as we got more community recovery clients
35:17from other insurance companies,
35:19but it still wasn't reaching the threshold
35:21for federal investigation or prosecution.
35:26So I was kind of stalling,
35:28and her call came at the right time.
35:38One day in February of 2015,
35:41Rose Stahl was with her boss, Chris Bathum, in his Tesla.
35:44She was a few months into her new job
35:46as a sort of investigator for the company,
35:49keeping an eye on that investor who had turned on Bathum.
35:52I don't remember what the investor was doing at the time,
35:55but it was something that was really upsetting to Bathum.
35:58And so we were driving in his car,
35:59and he told me that he had basically in a roundabout
36:05hired someone to murder the investor.
36:11What?
36:12Yeah.
36:13Yeah.
36:15He's like, you know, wouldn't it be better if he were just gone?
36:19Well, yeah, it would, of course.
36:22Well, wouldn't it be, you know,
36:25what about him having a car wreck?
36:27What if he had a car wreck in two weeks?
36:28I'm like, what?
36:29What the fuck?
36:31Rose's mind starts moving fast.
36:33Is he joking?
36:34What is he saying?
36:35A car wreck?
36:36Is this some weird therapy thing?
36:38It was like he was trying to literally coax me
36:41into buying into and agreeing
36:45with having the investor murdered.
36:50And so I said directly, I said,
36:53are we talking about murder?
36:54And I looked at him in the car,
36:58and then I saw it for the first time.
37:02I was like, he's high.
37:03Rose could see it in Bathum's face.
37:08Beads of sweat, eyes wild, twitching,
37:11things that before she just wanted to see
37:13as Bathum's mannerisms.
37:15Now it was obvious.
37:18Rose was scared.
37:20But she's also Rose, the rule follower,
37:23the litter police.
37:24She was determined to find out if she was right.
37:27So the next opportunity she gets
37:29to use Bathum's car by herself,
37:32she takes it.
37:33It's days later.
37:34She hears Bathum asking a client
37:36to go charge the Tesla for him.
37:38Rose intervenes.
37:39Let me charge it for you.
37:40So she gets in Bathum's car alone
37:43and starts driving.
37:44I was just looking around.
37:46I was looking while I was driving,
37:48looking down, and you could see it.
37:49You could see little devices,
37:51like pens that had,
37:53sometimes people would use,
37:54like smoking heroin or meth.
37:57And this handprint on the window
37:59that was in a bizarre position
38:04where it looked like,
38:06it was like a handprint placed in a way
38:08that no natural position,
38:12nobody would ever sit in,
38:13while the car was moving.
38:14And so, of course, I was like,
38:15it looks like a sexual position.
38:17Yeah, it was fucking devastating.
38:21Rose also found drugs in the car,
38:24methamphetamine.
38:25She took a short video
38:26and some pictures.
38:28And then suddenly,
38:29Rose remembers the rumor
38:31about the client.
38:32The client who made a video
38:34where she said,
38:35I was drugged and raped
38:36by Chris Bathum.
38:37Rose calls a manager at CRLA
38:59and tells them what she's found.
39:01And maybe because she's found hard evidence,
39:03this manager takes her really seriously.
39:07Bathum is kicked out of the company.
39:10But that is not where the story ends.
39:13At first, Rose says,
39:15it seemed like all the remaining managers
39:17were a unified front against Bathum.
39:20Everyone agreed what he did was wrong.
39:22And if he tried to come back,
39:23Rose says,
39:24they would go to the police.
39:26That lasted, Rose says,
39:28for maybe three days.
39:30Rose learns Bathum still has access
39:32to the company's systems,
39:34to the clients,
39:35even when he wasn't at his facilities.
39:38He was looking on the video,
39:40the surveillance cameras,
39:41and contacting clients,
39:42texting female clients,
39:44like,
39:44ha, I see you on the camera.
39:46And so when I, you know,
39:47I thought that that would be handled,
39:50I was made aware
39:50that that would not be handled.
39:52And there was nothing
39:53we could do about it.
39:54So Rose becomes an investigator again,
40:03but this time against Bathum.
40:09She confronts other members of Bathum's team,
40:12trying to get someone,
40:13anyone in management,
40:14to take her seriously.
40:16She's pushing a lot of people,
40:18asking a lot of questions,
40:20but it doesn't seem like anyone cares.
40:22They didn't believe her.
40:25You know,
40:25I just knew that the cards
40:26were stacked against me,
40:27so I felt like I was on a mission
40:28to find somebody
40:29who could represent
40:30better than I could.
40:34But you're the litter police.
40:37I'm the litter police.
40:40I'm the litter police,
40:41but, you know,
40:43I have the body of a woman.
40:46Rose starts saving everything
40:48she can get her hands on.
40:50And I mean everything.
40:52When a colleague leaves the company
40:53and takes his laptop with him,
40:55Rose tracks him down
40:56to see what data he has.
40:58And then that former colleague
40:59connects her with another CRLA employee.
41:02And they both claim
41:03Bathum is running an insurance scam.
41:06Rose will believe anything at this point,
41:07so she starts collecting documents.
41:10She's pulling string
41:10wherever she can find it.
41:12She knows she needs to call someone else
41:14outside the company for help.
41:16Someone with power.
41:17But who?
41:18Who do you call
41:19if your boss is threatening
41:20to murder someone
41:22and may be running an insurance scam
41:24and is also using drugs
41:26and is sexually assaulting
41:27the clients of his treatment center?
41:30She tried calling the FBI,
41:32but they didn't get back to her.
41:34So what about the state of California?
41:37Rose thinks,
41:37maybe there's some licensing body
41:39that I could turn to
41:40and file a report about Bathum.
41:41So she starts researching.
41:44And then it was a devastating blow
41:47to realize,
41:48oh, he's not even a therapist.
41:53Chris Bathum was not even a therapist.
41:58In fact,
41:59he wasn't personally licensed
42:01to do anything.
42:02All he had was a certificate
42:04for hypnotherapy, hypnosis.
42:06He didn't need a license
42:08to be a CEO
42:09of a drug and alcohol treatment center
42:11in California.
42:13So there was no licensing board
42:15to report him to.
42:23Rose says
42:24that was one of the most interesting,
42:27infuriating,
42:27and frustrating things
42:29about this case.
42:30Whatever else had transpired
42:32in those couple of weeks,
42:34it had become very evident
42:36that nobody in the company
42:40cared to stop him
42:41from having sex
42:43with all of his clients.
42:44and nobody outside
42:47of the company
42:48could care
42:49in a way that mattered.
42:52Rose was stuck.
42:55She thought hard.
42:56She started flipping through
42:57old paperwork
42:58and documents,
42:59like the evidence
43:00she had compiled
43:01to prove that the investor
43:03was harassing Bathum.
43:04And that's when Rose
43:07stumbled on a screenshot
43:08from the investor's Facebook.
43:10He had posted a phone number
43:12for an Anthem investigator,
43:14a woman named Debbie Herzog.
43:17Where were you
43:18when Rose called?
43:19At my desk
43:20in Thousand Oaks, California.
43:24And Rose talks fast.
43:27So she was kind of
43:28throwing out a lot of stuff.
43:30And she was an insider.
43:33And as a prosecutor,
43:34you know you always
43:35need an insider
43:36to have a successful
43:37prosecution.
43:39You need a talker.
43:40You're always looking
43:41for a talker.
43:42And so I was really anxious
43:44to get in touch with her.
43:47Where'd you meet?
43:48At a Starbucks.
43:50And we sat there for hours.
43:56Rose begins with a story
43:57she heard from her colleague
43:59that there might be
43:59insurance fraud.
44:01She starts handing over
44:02documents, screenshots,
44:04emails that she collected.
44:05I had all my papers
44:07and I'm like trying to,
44:09I have no idea
44:09about insurance fraud,
44:10but I'm like,
44:11look at my little case
44:12that I put together
44:12and I'm trying.
44:13And that moment though
44:16of watching her
44:20kind of sift through
44:21the limited amount
44:23of paperwork
44:23that I had
44:24was that,
44:26that fear
44:28and anticipation
44:29and anxiety
44:30of what is she going to say
44:32when she looks up.
44:33I mean,
44:33I was just scribbling,
44:34taking down notes
44:35and listening to her
44:37at the same time.
44:39And she looked up
44:39and she was like,
44:41I think we got,
44:42I think this is something.
44:43I think this is something,
44:44Rose.
44:45And then she told me
44:46about the girls
44:47and the information
44:49she had about
44:50sexual assaults
44:52or possible sexual assaults.
44:54What was it like
44:54to hear that?
44:56Pretty horrifying.
44:57You're talking about
44:58one of the most
44:59vulnerable populations.
45:02You know,
45:03addicted
45:04young women.
45:06And so
45:07it's easier
45:10to take advantage
45:11of them
45:11because the predator
45:13knows
45:14that nobody's
45:15going to believe them.
45:16It's going to be
45:17an addict's word
45:18against theirs.
45:19So that makes them
45:21much more vulnerable
45:22and much easier prey.
45:25It felt like
45:26I had officially
45:27blown that whistle
45:28that I had been
45:29threatening to blow
45:30and that it was now
45:32in the right hands
45:33and that it would be
45:35only a matter of weeks
45:37and
45:38ta-da!
45:40Everybody would be
45:41safe and protected
45:42and he would be gone.
45:43Except?
45:46Except
45:47that was February
45:492015.
45:51And Bathum
45:52wasn't convicted
45:53until February
45:542018.
45:57In the moment,
45:59Rose and Debbie's
46:00Starbucks meeting
46:00felt like such a
46:02breakthrough for both
46:03of them.
46:04And yet,
46:04they still had
46:05years of work ahead.
46:08CRLA fired Rose
46:09around this time.
46:11Rose believes
46:12it was retaliation
46:13for investigating
46:14Bathum.
46:15In part because
46:15Bathum faxed a
46:17three-page letter
46:18of threats to
46:19Debbie's office
46:19at Anthem
46:20entitled,
46:21Please Give
46:22to Rose Stahl.
46:24And yet,
46:25despite all of this,
46:27Rose kept going.
46:29Rose spent months
46:30after the Starbucks
46:31meeting going back
46:32and forth with
46:33the health department.
46:34She'd write reports,
46:35submit documents,
46:36find other CRLA people
46:38to submit documents.
46:39There were like
46:40a hundred emails.
46:42Just the red tape
46:43and the evidence,
46:44it just seemed
46:45never-ending.
46:46Everybody always
46:47had somebody
46:48above them
46:49who needed more.
46:51So you get the
46:52health department,
46:53whoever their
46:53supervisor is,
46:54needs more,
46:55more,
46:55more,
46:55more,
46:55more.
46:55And so you get
46:56more,
46:56more,
46:56more,
46:57more,
46:57more.
46:57And then her
46:58supervisor is like,
46:59oh,
46:59now we need
47:00more,
47:00more,
47:01more.
47:02Debbie,
47:02meanwhile,
47:03focused on law
47:04enforcement.
47:05She hoped because
47:05of her background,
47:06she'd have an in there.
47:07She asked Rose to put
47:09her in touch with
47:10the client who said
47:11in that video that
47:12she was raped by
47:13Bathum.
47:14She and I met for
47:16coffee as well.
47:17And after I finished
47:18getting all the
47:19information from her,
47:20I said,
47:20are you willing to
47:20go to the police?
47:22And she said,
47:23yes.
47:23And I remember this,
47:24we're literally
47:24standing on the
47:25corner outside the
47:27Starbucks that we
47:28met at.
47:28And I started
47:29dialing,
47:30like standing there.
47:32And I dialed and
47:35dialed and dialed for
47:36days and weeks.
47:37and months and
47:39could not get
47:40anybody to work
47:41with me on the
47:42assaults.
47:43Why?
47:46First reason,
47:48drug addict victim,
47:50not reliable.
47:52Second reason,
47:53many of the victims,
47:55after I spoke to
47:55other women,
47:56many of them were
47:58assaulted in
47:59different towns.
48:01Some were L.A.
48:02city,
48:03some were L.A.
48:04county.
48:05There's different,
48:06you know,
48:07counties,
48:07county is the
48:08sheriff's department,
48:09city is L.A.P.D.
48:10If they're out in the
48:11burbs,
48:11it's a local
48:12police department.
48:14And they kept
48:15saying,
48:15well,
48:15we can't do that.
48:16You know,
48:16we can only
48:17investigate what's
48:18in our thing.
48:18I said,
48:19I don't think so.
48:19I mean,
48:20you know,
48:21bank robberies
48:21cross jurisdictions
48:22all the time,
48:23and you guys
48:24investigate those.
48:27Well,
48:27then you're going
48:28to have to call
48:29the first place
48:29that it happened.
48:30So then I called
48:32the first place
48:33that it happened,
48:33and nope,
48:34nope,
48:34nope.
48:35We had a couple
48:36of retired law
48:37enforcement officers
48:38on our investigative
48:40staff at
48:40Blue Cross,
48:41so I went to
48:42one of them.
48:43I said,
48:44I can't be doing
48:44this cold calling.
48:45Nobody's listening
48:46to me.
48:46I need a name.
48:47Can you give me a name
48:48of a sex crimes
48:49detective I can call?
48:51So he gave me a name,
48:52a woman.
48:52I was all excited,
48:53like maybe somebody
48:54will listen.
48:55No.
48:56She gave me the same
48:57run around,
48:58and I was going
48:59bonkers.
49:00I mean bonkers,
49:01like literally banging
49:02my head against the wall,
49:03like how can nobody
49:04be paying attention
49:06to this?
49:06Why doesn't anybody care?
49:09But Debbie,
49:10ever the prosecutor,
49:11presses right on.
49:13I have all these
49:13spreadsheets
49:14and all this stuff
49:15showing all the fraud
49:16and thinking,
49:18okay,
49:18you know,
49:19if I can get them
49:20at least interested
49:21in the fraud,
49:22get my foot
49:23in the door
49:24in the fraud,
49:24which was really
49:25all I could pitch
49:26to them,
49:26given my job
49:27at the time,
49:28and I literally
49:29walked myself
49:30into the DA's office,
49:33asked to see
49:34the head
49:34of the fraud section,
49:36and sat down
49:37with her
49:38and her deputy
49:39for hours
49:41and laid out
49:42this scheme
49:42and they took it.
49:45And they eventually
49:48got the sex crimes
49:50over to the
49:50sex crimes unit
49:51and they took that.
49:54Finally,
49:55finally,
49:56law enforcement
49:57is listening.
49:58The L.A.
49:59District Attorney's
49:59Office takes the case.
50:02And over the next
50:03few years,
50:04multiple agencies
50:05would get involved.
50:06The FBI,
50:07the California
50:08Department of Insurance,
50:09the L.A.
50:10County Sheriff's
50:10Department.
50:12And what they found,
50:13it's almost beyond
50:14comprehension.
50:16The total amount
50:17of fraud?
50:18A hundred and seventy-five
50:19million dollars.
50:21Bathum and his
50:22chief operating
50:23officer were charged
50:24with leading the scheme.
50:26It was one of the
50:26biggest health care
50:27fraud cases
50:28in California.
50:31And thirteen
50:31women came forward
50:33and said Bathum
50:34sexually assaulted
50:35them.
50:36The trial
50:37was gut-wrenching,
50:39filled with
50:39traumatic,
50:40agonizing testimony
50:41from women
50:42in their twenties
50:43and thirties
50:43who hoped
50:44to finally find
50:45recovery
50:46at CRLA.
50:48Bathum sexually
50:49assaulted one client
50:50during a guided
50:51group meditation
50:52in a sweat lodge.
50:54Many women
50:54said Bathum
50:55gave them drugs,
50:56heroin,
50:57meth,
50:58and cocaine.
51:00In 2020,
51:01five years
51:02after Rose
51:03and Debbie
51:03first met
51:04at Starbucks,
51:05Bathum was
51:06sentenced
51:06to 52 years
51:07in prison.
51:09In the sentencing
51:10memo,
51:11the L.A.
51:11district attorney
51:12wrote,
51:12In order
51:25for someone
51:26to be caught
51:27for sexually
51:28abusing clients
51:28of a treatment
51:29center,
51:30the thing
51:30that client
51:31needs most,
51:32Debbie says,
51:33is someone
51:33to stand up
51:34for them.
51:35People with
51:36substance use
51:36disorder already
51:37face so many
51:38obstacles,
51:39like shame,
51:40stigma,
51:41not being
51:41believed.
51:42And there's
51:43only so many
51:44times you
51:44can get
51:44beaten over
51:45the head
51:45and you
51:46just stop
51:47complaining.
51:49So somebody,
51:50you know,
51:50somebody needs
51:51to be their
51:51advocate.
51:53That's the key,
51:54an advocate.
51:55Yes.
51:56Somebody needs
51:57to be their
51:57advocate.
52:03Thanks to
52:04reporter Lauren
52:05Children for
52:06sharing that
52:06story with us.
52:07You can listen
52:08to the entire
52:08series,
52:09including a
52:09brand new
52:10update wherever
52:11you get
52:11your podcasts
52:12and you'll
52:13find a
52:13link to
52:13it at
52:14revealnews.org.
52:18Taki Tell
52:19Anitas and
52:20Katie Culinary
52:20edited today's
52:21show.
52:22The 13th
52:23Step was
52:23created by
52:23New Hampshire
52:24Public Radio's
52:25document team.
52:26Lauren
52:26Children reported
52:27and produced
52:28the series
52:28with help
52:29from Jason
52:29Moon,
52:30who also
52:30wrote the
52:31original music
52:31for the
52:32series.
52:33It was
52:33edited by
52:34Alison
52:34McAdam
52:35with help
52:35from Katie
52:36Culinary and
52:37Dan Barrick.
52:37The fact
52:38checker was
52:38Dania
52:39Suleman.
52:41Victoria
52:41Baranetsky is
52:42our general
52:42counsel.
52:43Our production
52:43manager is
52:44the great
52:44Zulema Cobb,
52:45mixing and
52:46sound designed
52:46by the
52:47dynamic duo
52:48Jay Breezy,
52:48Mr. Jim
52:49Briggs,
52:49and Fernando
52:50my man
52:51yo Arruda.
52:52This week
52:52they had
52:53help from
52:53Jason Moon.
52:56Our interim
52:56executive
52:57producers are
52:58Brett Myers
52:58and Taki
52:58Tellanitas.
52:59Our theme
53:00music is by
53:00Camerato,
53:01Lightning.
53:02Support for
53:02reveals provided
53:03by the Riva
53:04and David
53:04Logan Foundation,
53:05the John
53:06D.
53:06and Catherine
53:06T.
53:06MacArthur
53:07Foundation,
53:08the Jonathan
53:08Logan Family
53:09Foundation,
53:10the Robert
53:10Wood Johnson
53:11Foundation,
53:12the Park
53:12Foundation,
53:13the Schmidt
53:13Family Foundation,
53:15and the
53:15Hellman Foundation.
53:16Support for
53:17reveal is also
53:17provided by
53:18you, our
53:19listeners.
53:20We are a
53:20co-production of
53:21the Center for
53:21Investigative
53:22Reporting and
53:22PRX.
53:24I'm Al
53:24Ledson,
53:25and remember,
53:25there is always
53:26more to the
53:27story.
53:36From PRX.
53:43From PRX.
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