clips

Screenshot 2019-01-29 at 10.11.07 AM.png

The Secret Of Miles City: How A Friend Request Shattered A Small Town’s Innocence

A high school athletic trainer claimed his unorthodox treatments would change players’ lives. Dozens of victims say school officials, including one who’s now a state lawmaker, kept “Doc’s” secrets.

Days after we published the story, the US Attorney for Montana indicted the man at the center of the case. He later pleaded guilty.


A profitable 'death trap': Sequel youth facilities raked in millions while accused of abusing children

An NBC News investigation — based on more than 10,000 pages of records from 14 states and interviews with former Sequel residents, their parents and attorneys, probation officers and watchdog groups — reveals how Sequel became one of the biggest behavioral health youth facility operators in the country, despite children being sexually and physically assaulted by staff members, and one was killed.

In the months following this reporting, several states stopped doing business with the company, the company continued closing facilities, and US Senators opened an investigation into abuse at youth facilities nationwide.

Screenshot 2019-01-29 at 10.12.20 AM.png

Women Say A School For Troubled Teens Punished Girls For Being Gay

Former students and employees of the River View Christian Academy told BuzzFeed News that girls were disciplined if they even discussed the idea of being gay. "I didn't come out as queer for 10 years because of it."

The story caused the California government to launch its own investigation, which corroborated many details of my story, and later raid the campus. The state attorney general asked a judge to order the school shut down a few months later.


Teens were sent to Wyoming ranches for therapy. They say they found a nightmare of hard labor and humiliation.

A six-month investigation into claims of human trafficking, forced labor and abuse at two ranches for troubled teens, and why the state officials overseeing the ranches allowed them to continue operating despite years of complaints and violations.

Three weeks after this story published, one of the ranches shut down, and the other only had one child remaining at the ranch.


Screenshot 2019-01-29 at 10.13.33 AM.png

The Comics Giant Behind Wonder Woman Is Accused Of Promoting An Editor After Women Accused Him Of Sexual Harassment

At least two female employees at the publishing giant DC Comics accused a top editor of trying to forcibly kiss or grope them. He was promoted anyway. Two years later, he was accused of doing it again.

Our story resulted in the editor’s firing; a follow up feature story ran shortly after.



bethesda home for girls stolen babies

A Christian boarding home took teens' babies. Women are still searching decades later.

Former residents said girls were beaten and called “whores” and “harlots”; Staff members censored the girls’ communication with outsiders, including their parents; And for those who were pregnant, another trauma awaited: the removal of their babies.

 

cornelius

The Brief Life of Cornelius Frederick: Warning Signs Missed Before Teen's Fatal Restraint

A Michigan youth facility had an extensive pattern of violations, raising questions about why the state didn't act before a 16-year-old died. An investigation into Michigan’s oversight of child welfare, and the company running the facility where a child died: Sequel Youth & Family Services.


black lives matter burlington

How One Teacher's Black Lives Matter Lesson Divided a Small Wisconsin Town

She wanted her fourth grade class to understand systemic racism. Parents said she was indoctrinating their children and wanted her fired.


The False Alarms That Get Kids Arrested

Teens are paying the price for school-shooting threats—whether they’re real or not.


Girls alleged abuse at Circle of Hope Girls' Ranch for years. It stayed open until they got on TikTok.

More than a dozen people reported abuse at a religious boarding school in rural Missouri before the owners' daughter launched a campaign that got action.


Critical race theory battle invades school boards — with help from conservative groups

An examination of the rise of at least 165 local and national groups that aim to disrupt lessons on race and gender, reinforced by conservative think tanks, law firms and activist parents, These groups have found allies in families frustrated over Covid-19 restrictions in schools and have weaponized the right’s opposition to critical race theory, turning it into a political rallying point.


A Man Sent 1,000 Men Expecting Sex And Drugs To His Ex-Boyfriend Using Grindr

“It was like an episode of Black Mirror,” said Matthew Herrick, whose high-profile lawsuit alleges that Grindr looked the other way while his ex-boyfriend tormented him.


Schools Keep Punishing Girls — Especially Students of Color — Who Report Sexual Assaults

Documents in these cases reveal a similar pattern: The assault allegations never reached the Title IX coordinator and were instead investigated by untrained administrators. That systemic failure repeatedly resulted in districts punishing sexual assault victims, who often happen to be girls of color, who are already disciplined at higher rates than white students.


How Rolling Stone’s UVA Story Sparked A Controversial Frat Lobbying Effort

Internal documents reveal the inside story of the fraternity lobbying effort.


see more of my work by following these links below