NHPR podcast expands probe into sexual misconduct at addiction treatment centers
On the advice of a security consultant, Lauren Chooljian temporarily moved out of her house in Melrose. If that sounds ominous, it is, especially since Chooljian is a journalist — a senior reporter and producer at New Hampshire Public Radio — and the concern for her safety is related to her work.
Specifically, Chooljian and her husband were encouraged to relocate after the release of “The 13th Step,” a new podcast investigating allegations of sexual misconduct by Eric Spofford, the founder and former owner of Granite Recovery Centers, a network of addiction rehabilitation centers in New Hampshire.
The seven-episode podcast hosted by Chooljian expands on her bombshell 2022 story about Spofford. In the weeks after that piece aired, someone threw a brick through a window of Chooljian’s house in Melrose, and also vandalized the homes of her parents and her boss, NHPR news director Dan Barrick. (The words “Just the beginning!” were spray-painted on Chooljian’s house.) Last week, federal authorities charged three New Hampshire men in connection with those acts. Spofford was not charged, but he’s identified in the criminal complaint as “Subject 1.” The complaint says an “associate” of “Subject 1 conspired with the three men to target the journalists.
“Once the vandalism happened, there was the initial shock and horror,” Chooljian said in an interview before the arrests were announced. “But then there’s this kind of like,
‘Oh, this isn’t just an attack on me, this is an attack on the First Amendment.’”
Spofford, who has said that he sold Granite Recovery Centers for $115 million in 2021, denied the allegations of sexual misconduct, and insisted he had nothing to do with the vandalism. After Chooljian’s 2022 story, Spofford sued her and NHPR for libel, but a judge dismissed the suit in April. (Spofford’s lawyers have since filed a motion to get access to Chooljian’s notes and recordings to determine if she and NHPR acted with “actual malice,” which is the basis of a finding of libel.)
The podcast is about more than the allegations against Spofford made by former employees and clients of Granite Recovery Centers. It zooms out as well, revealing a culture of misconduct — both sexual and financial — that is pervasive in the largely unregulated world of addiction treatment. The podcast’s title, for example, refers to the phenomenon of more experienced members of a 12step group pursuing romantic relationships with new group members.
“I had no idea that 13th-stepping was a very commonly used phrase,” Chooljian said. “The allegations against Eric are serious, yes, but the fact that he’s faced little to no accountability, that I’ve seen, speaks to the lack of oversight in the industry, but also this behavior is just so prevalent.”
One episode of the podcast tells the story of Christopher Bathum, the founder and CEO of a network of Los Angeles-area drug and alcohol treatment facilities. In 2020, thanks to the efforts of two women, Bathum was convicted of multiple sexual assaults of female patients, and he pleaded no contest to insurance fraud. He was sentenced to more than 50 years in prison.
“I think when you do a podcast,” Chooljian said, “it’s a chance to expand on the fact that this isn’t just a New Hampshire story, this is an everybody story.”
Chooljian said it was frightening when her house was vandalized last year, but she never seriously considered dropping the story.
“Our station has a lawyer and we have an insurance company that pays the lawyer,” she said. “I just kept feeling like my sources don’t have that, so
I have to keep doing my job. I’m not going to say it was easy — it was a lot, it’s still a lot — but no, I didn’t think about stopping.”
Asked if the podcast could lead to changes in the addiction treatment industry, Chooljian said her goals are more modest.
“I’m not Pollyanna enough to think that lawmakers are going to say, ‘Oh [expletive], let’s do something!’ ” she said. “I had a conversation recently with someone whose sibling died from an overdose, and she was so thankful that there was an open conversation about the fragility of early recovery. The base level for me is just a broader understanding of this disease.”