January 2026
Griffin Purnell, LLC has filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri on behalf of two former residents of a Missouri faith-based residential program, alleging systematic abuse, coercion, and forced unpaid labor while the plaintiffs were minors.
The lawsuit targets Kansas City Girls Academy, a nonprofit facility that marketed itself as providing religious mentorship and therapeutic care for “troubled teens.” According to the complaint, the program instead subjected residents to involuntary servitude, psychological manipulation, and physical and emotional abuse under the guise of faith-based treatment.
Allegations of Forced Labor and Coercive Control
The complaint alleges that shortly after admission, residents were stripped of prescribed psychiatric medications without proper medical oversight and denied medical care when they experienced distress or fainting episodes. Plaintiffs further allege they were told their mental-health struggles were the result of spiritual failure or demonic influence rather than legitimate medical conditions.
Central to the case are allegations that residents were required to perform extensive unpaid labor—at least four hours per weekday and six hours per day on weekends. This labor allegedly included cleaning and maintaining the facility, cooking, landscaping, preparing the property for tours, and traveling to churches to perform cleaning, fundraising, and musical performances for the benefit of the program.
According to the lawsuit, refusal to work or perceived inadequacy resulted in punishment, including food deprivation, forced physical exertion, isolation, humiliation, restricted communication with family, and extensions of time in the program.
Isolation From Families and Long-Term Harm
The complaint further alleges that communication with families was tightly controlled. Letters were screened and edited, phone calls were monitored or terminated if residents spoke critically, and parents were warned that any complaints from their children were manipulative or dishonest. Plaintiffs allege this isolation prevented families from discovering the abuse and prolonged the children’s confinement.
Both plaintiffs report severe and lasting psychological harm, including post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, eating disorders, loss of faith, difficulty forming relationships, delayed education, and long-term psychiatric disability.
Federal Trafficking and Child Protection Claims
The lawsuit asserts claims under multiple federal statutes, including the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, alleging forced labor, involuntary servitude, and labor trafficking of minors. Additional claims include violations of child-abuse victim protections, negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, conspiracy, and related state-law causes of action.
The plaintiffs seek compensatory and punitive damages, restitution, statutory damages, attorney’s fees, and a jury trial. The complaint also argues that equitable tolling applies because the program allegedly used spiritual and psychological manipulation to prevent residents from recognizing that their treatment constituted abuse rather than legitimate discipline.
Standing With Survivors
Griffin Purnell has been at the forefront of litigation exposing abuse within the Troubled Teen Industry and faith-based residential programs nationwide. This lawsuit reflects the firm’s continued commitment to holding institutions accountable when they exploit children under the guise of care, treatment, or religious guidance.
Case Information:
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, Kansas City Division
Case No. 4:25-cv-00989
If you or a loved one experienced abuse or coercion in a residential treatment or faith-based youth program, Griffin Purnell encourages you to reach out. Survivors deserve accountability, truth, and justice.