Washington Post-When Kristen was 17 and drinking out of control, her psychologist referred her to an Alcoholics Anonymous group that specialized in helping the youngest drinkers. In the Midtown Group, members and outsiders agree, young people could find new friends, constant fellowship, daily meetings, summer-long beach parties, and a charismatic leader who would steer them through sobriety.
But according to more than a dozen young people who structured their lives around the group, the unusual adaptation of AA that Michael Quinones created from his home in Bethesda became a confusing blend of comfort and crisis. They described a rigidly insular world of group homes and socializing, in which older men had sex with teenage girls, ties to family and friends were severed or strained, and the most vulnerable of alcoholics, some suffering from emotional problems, were encouraged to stop taking prescribed medications.
Kristen, now 26, said that for eight years, she was “passed along” from one middle-aged male leader of Midtown to another. She said her sponsor urged her to have sex with Quinones — widely known as Mike Q. — as a way to solidify her sobriety and spiritual revival. Kristen, who spoke on the condition that her last name not be used in keeping with AA traditions, also recalled helping to persuade other teenage girls to sleep with older men in the group.
“I pimped my sponsees out to sponsors,” she said, referring to the AA members who agree to watch over a fellow member’s sobriety. “I encouraged them to sleep with their sponsors because I really believed that this would help with their sobriety.”
snip
Rest of article-
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/rawfisher/2007/07/midtown_group_aa_group_leads_m.html
Former Members of Midtown Call it a Coercive, Cultlike Group; Were Cut Off
From Friends, Asked To Do Menial Chores, Date Only Group Members
Current Members Say ‘Midtown’ Saved Their Lives; Say Critics Resent Their
Success, Settling Scores
Newsweek-
Recovering alcoholics say a Washington, D.C., group has hijacked the 12-step program’s name.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2007/05/06/a-struggle-inside-aa.html
I see this issue alive and well at a recovery place near Broad and Washington St in Falls Church VA. Sick behavior!
I had an introduction to a reporter who wants to expose what happens in Rehab and Sober living –the kickbacks, Drugs, Sexual assaults etc . We will be working together on the many stories down the road. We will late tackle AA Members who are counselors telling people not to take their medication. We will address the Doctor , Nurse and Pilot extortion. But we will focus on One at a time. He has written for the Daily Beast and is a journalist who graduated from USC Annenburg School of Journalism. So for now only criminal and Fraudulent Rehab Sober Living Stories. If you need to remain private for safety or your job he can do that…but it better if you can fully speak out…but again not necessary. Thank you . The War is on. reach me at makeaasafer@gmail.com or find me on FACEBOOK Monica Richardson filmmaker of The 13th Step.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN THE D.C. METRO REGION!
A MUST READ WASHINGTON POST STORY ABOUT HOW NOBODY IS IN CHARGE!
On the Katie Couric show about “Why Women Drink,” Monica Richardson spoke about her experience with AA. This experience was not a rare isolated incident as12 step loyalists would like us to believe. They have been covering up this sort of thing for years and doing nothing about it! Just read the Washington Post and Newsweek articles above!
This is the Washington Post article with a link to Newsweek and other related articles about the cult like predatory abuses committed by sponsors and chairpersons running the AA Midtown group!
This story was referred to in the recent news article posted about Karla Brada.
Put all this together with the fact that these groups like to cover up the abuses whenever possible, even when it comes to murder like in this story below and you can appreciate just how dangerous and out of control these groups are!
http://nadaytona.org/2011/09/22/secrets-kept-by-aa-members-in-murder-by-aa-member/
This article is worth reading !
It shows how anything goes in Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. How can the courts just let people out of jail instead of having them do their time by sending them all to organizations which have no safety standards or oversight whatsoever?
mid-town helped me stay clean for 9 years now! i have a great sponsor and sponsor great GUYS. It was a little weird when Q was there.There where a few there to pick up dates we joke that kid must of spilled his dads drink and was sent to aa now this group is not broke! kids get and stay clean if that is what you are there for you must know these are kids from WELL OFF Montgomery county family’s have never had money problems,very few hit bottom yet and if this gives them a glimpse of how to fuck up your life and they take the sober path thats A.A.it jjjjust makes me made all the crazy stuff i here about mid-town.I thank god i found this group every day!
In response to Mike K’s comment; Hi Mike,
First let me say I am truly glad that you are 9 years sober and appreciating things!
It is fascinating to hear from someone who was there through it all. You say it was all a little weird yet kind of funny about Q and the “WELL OFF” Montgomery county teenage girls who got a glimpse about having their lives be F’d up?
What was it really like while all this was going on? I guess those Montgomery County teenage girls were really naïve before they learned how to sober up the AA way!
Can you tell us any more about how you see it?
Well Roel, what happens day in and day out in this country is the FACT that our judicial system, including a percentage of juvenile justice courts and family courts are mandating dangerous felons along with minors, and single Moms to 12 step meetings. Also, without giving them a secular option violates their constitutional rights. Then by mandating single Moms, the courts are also create a situation where Moms and some Dads are bringing their children to AA/NA meetings!
What happens every day is 13 stepping and other forms of sexual harassment to newbies in 12 step meetings. Not to mention pan handling and financial scams, and forced worshipping of pagan gods.
This is really interesting! I don’t think you’ve considered what happens day to day, but I still think you make a lot of sense.
These articles really show what were up against when it comes to the potential for abuse in these anonymous organizations. It also brings attention to a cultlike manner of keeping abuses covered up just to protect the image of their organization at all costs.
There is a Newsweek and a Washington Post article on this story. Just click the links and read all about it!
My recent comment about the murder cover-up will link you to an article that demonstrates what a dangerous sense of entitlement and “feeling above the law” these groups have when it comes to covering up crimes.
Local Holly Hill citizens who have asked the police for help in regard to intimidation and threats from AA/NA groups that meet in our parks have been repeatedly told, “No one has ever had any problems with them before.” We know that many people have long experienced harassment and threats from members of these groups. What does “before” have to do with now anyway? In these articles from Newsweek and the Washington Post you find that a top sponsor for AA turns out to be a major predator. Churches and therapists etc. regularly sent teenagers to this man who had a great reputation within the Alcoholics Anonymous community for having a “special way” with young people. What’s so shocking is how Alcoholics Anonymous headquarters and other longtime members, take no accountability for anything that happens at their meetings and still refuse to put measures in place to prevent these kinds of things from being repeated. This man found the perfect place to get away with being a well protected predator! These vulnerable, female teenagers must have been easy prey in this clandestine, unsupervised anonymous “support group!”
SAFE, RECOVERY SUPPORT GROUPS ARE AVAILABLE ! On the right-hand column of this site’s home page under “12 STEP ALTERNATIVES” you can find links to click on. Let’s look at the facts about recovery options and expect basic accountability from these organizations.
*The GSO in New York (AA Corporate) did nothing about these allegations when people complained to them. This is a classic example how Alcoholics Anonymous takes no accountability for the actions of its groups. They continue to lure unsuspecting teens and young adults to meetings knowing this goes on.Even churches barred AA meetings because of these activities.