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Indiana girls facility closes as 35 former residents allege trafficking, forced labor

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (WOWO) — Refuge Girls Academy, formerly known as Central Indiana Teen Challenge, has officially closed, ending physical operations at the Indiana facility amid a federal civil lawsuit filed by 35 former residents.

The academy closed its doors September 10, and the property has since been placed on the market.

The closure comes as the federal lawsuit alleges human trafficking, forced labor and severe institutional abuse involving former residents of the program.

According to allegations in the lawsuit, former residents were required to perform manual labor without compensation for outside commercial operations. The former residents also allege they were subjected to arbitrary solitary confinement in a windowless room referred to as the “Safe Room.”

The lawsuit further alleges that some residents were forced to stop taking prescribed psychiatric medications and that they experienced medical neglect while in the program.

The allegations involve 35 former residents and concern their treatment while participating in the residential program formerly operated as Central Indiana Teen Challenge.

The closure does not resolve the allegations raised in the federal case. The lawsuit remains a civil proceeding, and the allegations have not been established as facts in court.

Refuge Girls Academy’s shutdown brings an end to the facility’s physical operations as the litigation continues.

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