Two former residents of a Missouri faith-based residential program have filed a federal lawsuit alleging they were subjected to systematic abuse, neglect, coercion and forced unpaid labor while they were minors at Kansas City Girls Academy.
The academy is a nonprofit facility that marketed itself as providing religious mentorship and therapeutic care to “troubled teens,” according to a complaint filed last month in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.
The plaintiffs, identified as Jane Doe, K.H. and June Doe, M.H., allege they were recruited and housed by Kansas City Girls Academy and related entities and then held in involuntary servitude in violation of federal anti-trafficking and child-protection laws.
The lawsuit names Kansas City Girls Academy, a Missouri nonprofit with its principal place of business in Kansas City and 10 unidentified “John Doe” entities, described as insurance, management, or related companies that may have benefited from or participated in the alleged conduct.
The complaint alleges the academy is part of the Adult & Teen Challenge USA network, a Christian-centered residential system affiliated with the Assemblies of God denomination and that the religious framework was used to exert control over residents, discourage questioning of staff authority and suppress reports of mistreatment.
The plaintiffs claim they and their families were told the program was safe, trauma-informed and therapeutic, while in reality they were subjected to physical restraint, humiliation, food and hygiene deprivation, isolation and constant coercion designed to enforce obedience and labor compliance.
According to the filing, K.H. attended the program from March 2009 until May 2010 and M.H. attended from March 2010 until June 2011. Both were minors during their stays.
The lawsuit states that within days of admission, the facility allegedly discontinued prescribed psychiatric medications without proper medical oversight, denied medical care when the girls experienced distress or fainting and told them their mental health struggles were demonic or a sign of spiritual failure.
The plaintiffs allege that this approach worsened their psychological conditions rather than treating them.
Central to the complaint are allegations that residents were required to perform at least four hours of unpaid labor each weekday and six hours each weekend day, including cleaning facilities, cooking, landscaping, performing maintenance, preparing the property for tours and traveling to churches to perform cleaning, fundraising and musical performances for the benefit of the program.
The plaintiffs allege that refusal or perceived inadequacy in work led to punishment, including food restrictions, forced physical exercise, isolation, humiliation, loss of communication with family or extensions of their time in the program.
The lawsuit claims the academy economically benefited by replacing paid labor with coerced child labor.
The complaint further alleges that communication with families was tightly controlled, with letters screened and edited to remove negative information, phone calls monitored or terminated if residents spoke critically and parents warned that any complaints from their children should be presumed manipulative or dishonest.
The plaintiffs say this isolation and narrative control prevented families from learning about the alleged abuse and kept children enrolled longer, increasing tuition payments.
The lawsuit asserts claims under multiple federal statutes, including the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act for involuntary servitude, forced labor and labor trafficking, as well as the Child Abuse Victims’ Rights Act, negligence, breach of fiduciary duty and conspiracy.
K.H. alleges long-term psychological harm, including post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, agoraphobia, sleep disturbances, loss of faith, difficulty maintaining relationships and permanent psychiatric disability, while M.H. alleges a worsening and chronic eating disorder, psychological distress, loss of trust in institutions and similar long-term impacts.
Both plaintiffs allege delayed academic progress and economic exploitation from thousands of hours of unpaid labor, the complaint states.
The plaintiffs seek compensatory and punitive damages, statutory damages, restitution, attorney fees and a jury trial. They also argue that equitable tolling should apply because the program allegedly used spiritual and psychological manipulation to prevent them from recognizing that their treatment constituted abuse rather than legitimate religious or therapeutic discipline. The plaintiffs are represented by Simon B. Purnell of Griffin Purnell LLC in Corpus Christi, Texas.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, Kansas City Division case number: 4:25-cv-00989
