All language subtitles for True.Believers.S01E02.720p.WEBRip.x264-BAE[eztv.re].en

-We're wired like pack animals.

You know, we enjoy
the company of other people.

We never do well alone
and we never do well alone

in addiction recovery,
that's absolutely true.

-I would almost guarantee
historically that

at least one of those clients
that you can see is dead.

- Feel it.
- At least one or two.

-You get used to it.

We don't feel very good
about that. We know better.

-Like, I'm I'm looking at
this girl just thinking,

who's that girl?

And she looks familiar.
Is she alive?

He took everyone's desperation
and everyone's fear and said,

"I'll take care of it.
Trust me."

And then he [bleep]
people's children.

-In this country,
we've been having

this war on drugs
for [bleep] ever.

But we don't know
how to treat anyone for it.

-For the millions
who fight addiction.

A chance at true recovery
feels like an answered prayer.

-In L.A. County, there are
more treatment centers

than anywhere in the world,

not just in the United States,
but in the world.

-But an organization called
Community Recovery, L.A.

or CRLA for short, promises
that their addiction treatment

is the best there is.

-At first it seemed amazing
helping a lot of people,

and that's what it seemed
like it was in the beginning.

-It was about the vision
of what we were doing.

-Its founder asks members

for complete commitment
and total trust.

-I was willing to do pretty much
whatever they asked of us.

-Nobody would talk to outsiders.
You bought it.

-We don't tend
to think of addiction

and cults as going together,

but that's a perfect space
for a successful cult.

-Now members of CRLA are
revealing how a center promising

to pull them
out of their dark hole.

Buried them in it.

-I drank the Kool-Aid.

-It turned people into
believers.

And that's what you need

to have some sort of cult
is true believers.

-I went to rehab to get better,
and I came out...

worse.

♪♪

-Butterflies to me represent
transformation

and becoming your truest,
best, most beautiful self.

They fall off all the time,
though, and I have to

re-apply tape and stick them
down all the day.

My name is Amanda
and I am a survivor and thriver.

I did AA from the age of 26

and I had been on benzos
for three and a half years.

I tried to go out
and drink normally

and I ended up binge drinking.

And so I was like,
I'm an alcoholic.

-Recovery is huge in L.A.

These days,
there is a treatment center

in every corner.

The market is saturated.
Half this town is sober

and we're just waiting
for the other half.

Some of the treatment centers
have 200 plus thread sheets.

You can sit in the Jacuzzi,
you can get your massage.

The problem, though, is that
a lot of the treatment centers

are charging 50, 60, 70, 80,
$90,000 I mean... unbelievable.

-"We want to make it
as simple as possible

by offering a
no-strings-attached

treatment for 90 days.

Yoga Time.
Nightly Meditation.

12-Step Programs.
Eating Habits. Wellness.

This sounds like a place that I
would want to go to. Absolutely.

It was really hard
for a long time to stay sober.

You know, I was able
to put a year

together six months,
nine months.

But after I got my year
and I relapsed, I was like,

I need to go to treatment,
but how do I get in to a place

when I don't have health
insurance or $40,000 in my bank?

How am I going to afford
a 90 day stay

at a Malibu place
with a pool and a chef?

So I ran into a friend of mine,
an ex.

We reconnected,
started dating again.

And he happened to be working
at the time at CRLA.

-So Amanda reached out to me

and I couldn't think
of any other resource

or any other place
that would take her in

without money or insurance
Other than CRLA.

-Shoot enough heroin, and you
too, can have this view.

Smoke crack. Yeah.

Smoke some crack and this can
all be yours.

I admitted into CRLA in,
I believe it was August of 2014.

Prior to that, I'd been in jail

for about three
and a half months.

♪♪

-It's Hollywood.
You know, there's so much

that people are drawn to
on television.

Oh, my goodness. This used to be
an after hours club right here.

Oh, my gosh. This is crazy.
I think we should go back here.

This is all the offices,
so I'll show you.

This is the entire block
that Sierra owned on Melrose,

a prime real estate
in Los Angeles.

-I couldn't really
believe my luck.

I felt like I had fallen
out of a frying pan into,

like, a feather bed,

like I was just living
in the lap of luxury.

-Jodie Sweetin from "Full House"
worked here.

I think a famous basketball
or something player.

Celebrity Rehab, luxury.

Malibu, Melrose.
That was very alluring.

-We were doing
a creative writing class

with the guy
who wrote "Cool Runnings"

while he was strung out
on methadone in the '90s.

And because I had spent
so much time in jail

prior to going there, I was just
so grateful to be there at all.

-In 2012, Community Recovery

is one of the nation's
fastest growing rehabs,

with multiple locations
across California

plying a simple,
but compelling, innovation.

-The method of CRLA
was pretty genius.

A lot of rehabs out here
are 30 days.

90 days increases your chances
to stay sober.

-Although the longer stay comes
with a higher price tag,

CRLA has a novel program
for that too...

A scholarship for clients who
can't afford

treatment on their own.

I just thought that the
"scholarship" part of CRLA

was more of a we want
to help more people.

-But CRLA's most
revolutionary idea

is its long term care program,

designed to set addicts up
for life beyond recovery.

-After 90 days of being there,
you could apply to be an intern,

either in, like, operations

or clinical
or the insurance department.

-That was the allure of CRLA
is come do 90 days,

go to our sober living,
become an intern

and then end up
working for CRLA.

So it was like an at extreme.

I'm going to get a job
out of this at the end?

-Compared to any other
treatment center I'd been to,

it seemed like the most
innovative approach to treatment

at the time.

-CRLA's innovative approach
is all about communal healing

as the key to recovery.

♪♪

It's the vision of founder
Chris Badham,

a practicing therapist
and rehab veteran

who previously owned two centers
in California,

and with CRLA is disrupting
the rehab paradigm.

-It's a very much a community
environment that we hope then

is porous to the rest
of the larger communities.

You don't need to have in that
model a lot of professionals.

You need to have some.

But more and more,
we have the client base

that's creating
the whole community effort.

And I love that idea.

It's almost like the whole thing
is organizing itself.

-It's like too good to be true.

There are so many
different opportunities,

like you could work
in the art department,

you could work for
the restaurant he was opening,

you could work
at the recording studio he had.

You could work
at the coffee shop.

And then within like a month
or so, you're on payroll.

-Hiring recently treated clients
to run the business,

keeps them under his wing

while also welcoming new clients
into a rehab environment

that feels more like a family
than a facility.

-The opposite of addiction
is connection.

The reason that CRLA seemed
so effective at the time

was because people
did find community there.

But looking back on it
was really kind of a genius

but sinister way
to keep people dependent.

-You walk into this environment
and it's a little different

than if you've been in treatment
before that lifts you.

And it's like,
Oh, there's the connection.

And literally,
neuro-biologically

you're changing,
and you're more valuable.

And that's a huge, huge thing.

-You need to be a part
of this community

because this community
is going to keep you sober.

You need this community.

-Let me show you this.
It's a clip of Bathum in action.

Doing his magic.
- My name is Jimmy Doyle.

I'm a certified addictions
treatment counselor.

I moved up the ranks
really fast to the point

where I became a counselor
in a year, maybe?

As I moved up the ladder,

I started interacting
with Chris more and more.

-I think one of the things that
makes us amazingly different

is how committed our folks are

and how much they just are here
for you and making that happen.

And it's easy to say that.

It's 29 seconds in
and I'm drinking the Kool-Aid.

-We've created
a treatment community.

We've created a place
where people

can both live and get better.

-What he's referencing
is therapeutic communities.

So a therapeutic community was
this very out there, 24/7.

It was influenced by communes.

That's why it felt
revolutionary.

It doesn't sound revolutionary
to somebody

to oh, their community
they all live there.

It was unheard of.

-CRLA's commune style
approach takes off.

By 2015,
just a few years after opening,

Bathum expands to Colorado

and opens dozens more facilities
in the greater L.A. area.

Including multiple businesses

launched
by the community itself.

-It was like a commune meets
a kibbutz.

It was like, oh, my God.

Like they would open
a barbershop

because one kid was a barber

and so they'd open
a barber shop.

They opened a music studio.

-It was pretty much
your entire life

would become CRLA
once you started working there.

When I got there, they were just
beginning construction

on a recording studio
and that really interested me.

I came up with this idea

that I would be
the creative music director.

I read my proposal aloud
in front of the whole community

and it was approved.

I even compared Chris to like
the Steve Jobs

of the treatment industry,

and I thought
that what he was building

would become
the industry standard.

♪♪

-Bathum works nonstop
in the community.

Finding jobs
for those in treatment.

Overseeing
the women's-only facilities.

And running therapy sessions.

-They referred to him
as the wizard.

He was wacky.
He was unconventional.

But I just thought
he was a character.

-Chris had a lot of, like,
interesting hobbies.

He would often be seen
throwing knives with clients,

flying drones around,

letting people
drive his electric car.

And I think that he wanted
to seem interesting

and just be seen
as this outlier.

♪♪

-I was in some trainings
in indigenous medicine

that were
very community organized.

I was with the shaman in the
Four Corners area of Mexico

and he said diseases
were becoming more complex

and we're going to need
a bigger medicine.

And that that's what I think we
got when we're talking about

community as a treatment model
is we got a bigger medicine.

-Chris wanted to offer
a more holistic treatment.

He would do the sweat lodges
which required us

in our bathing suits
to sit in a dark,

small space
with him in his underwear.

-I wanted to learn from him,

and I wanted him to take me
under his wing, basically.

-Bathum is free to shape
his treatment program

away from the prying eyes
of regulators.

Because like a lot of drug rehab
centers in California,

CRLA does not
have state certification.

-The culture when it comes
to medicine, treatment,

rehabilitation in California
in general tends

to be quite accommodating
of metaphysics,

sort of woo-woo wellness.

There is a reason
why so many cultish groups

were founded in California.

-The organization brought
sobriety

and successful withdrawal
from heroin

and other drugs
to hundreds of followers.

-Traditional institutions
in general are thought

to be trying to control you
in a dark and sinister way,

and thus the alternative path
is the best one to take.

-One early group offering an
alternative path through rehab

was Synanon, formed
in Santa Monica in 1958.

-When you think about the power
that a single person

or a small group of people
can have over 500 residents

in Synanon, it just seems
to scare our community.

-Much like Bathum,
Synanon leader Chuck Dietrich

felt his calling was to build

utopian communities
to save young addicts.

But over its 30-year history,

its utopia in California
descended into cult rule.

-He ordered that all male
members undergo vasectomies,

that women and men
shave their heads,

that members change partners
swap them for new mates.

-The segment of society
that has done more to hold

Synanon back has been the media.

-There are definitely parallels
between Chuck Dietrich

and Christopher Bathum
in the addiction space.

That's a perfect space
for a charismatic leader

to take advantage because
there's so little oversight

and people are
so hungry for help.

-Inside the CRLA family,
Bathum is more

than just a charismatic guru.

He knows their struggles
firsthand.

-The one thing that kind of
attracted me to him

is he's just a drug addict.
Like at the end of the day,

like he'd been down
all these paths.

He was doing the real work

better than anyone else
could do it.

-If it was easy,
we'd call it stopping.

You know, addiction isn't easy
and it's trickier

than we want it to be,
and it's incredibly clever.

And it's, you know,
part of who we are.

So it's not that easy to stop it

when we're not
in the right space.

-Bathum being a former addict
just gave him more credibility

that only another addict

can understand
what you're going through.

-He was smart. He knew all
the information about addiction,

about recovery.

-And I definitely want
to make sure you're okay.

And if there's anything
we can do to make it work better

for you now, we'll do it.
You know, it sounds like

if you're in a stable place,
great.

You know, stability
is a good thing to keep.

♪♪

-I was very out of it when I
came into community recovery.

They knew I needed help
and I was just scared.

I was prescribed Xanax
in my late teens.

I was a zombie.

I felt like, okay, this guy,
he knows what he's doing.

-I been the kids being loaded
a lot, you know?

I'm okay with it.
I have very red eyes, too.

I mean, my eyes don't water
very well, you know?

And so since high school,
I've been, you know,

I've been told I've been loaded
most of the time.

I can't... I'm having fun,
but I'm not

chemically altered except
caffeine this morning.

-I definitely thought
he is totally out there

because he wouldn't
look me in the eye.

But the comfort of Chris
and him doing therapy with me

and getting to know my past,
he felt like I could trust him.

-We're the perfect people to be
brainwashed

because we were told
that our brain was messed up

and that we didn't know
our right thinking from wrong

because we're addicts.

-When you get people
in their most desperate

time of their life

and you give them a reason
to live, like,

of course everybody's
going to jump on board.

-It was the perfect place
for there to be a leader

and a following.

♪♪

-"Using the larger medicine
of community treatment,

CRLA exists to heal
your trauma and addiction

and provide you with the tools
to transform your life."

Naturally, you want to be
a part of a community

but a healthy one.

-Within weeks of being
introduced to CRLA's program,

Amanda is a client fully
immersed in treatment,

which includes multiple
group sessions a week

on family dynamics
led by Bathum.

-Everyone's kind of looking
at you

and you know what it feels like
if you're the person in there

as a problem
in the middle of the family.

Anybody ever feel that before?

And when you feel that,
how does it feel?

It doesn't feel very good,
does it?

-It was deep.

You know, you're getting
to the core of your issues.

And the program was great.
- Connection.

And what you see in a community
like this

is all those opportunities
for this kind of stuff,

talking and being heard.

-You tend to bond with people
that you're in treatment with.

People found like family

there that they just
probably never had.

-When I first got to
Community Recovery,

I couldn't stay sober
and my life

was completely unmanageable.
I had nothing. I had no family.

They brought me
into their family, you know,

and I got told
that it was free treatment.

And I think in the beginning
they absolutely cared.

-Like Amanda, Jill is also
offered a scholarship at CRLA

and fast-tracked into a job
in the billing department.

-The guy who was doing
their insurance billing relapsed

and ended up leaving.

I ended up taking over
on the insurance.

-Many of the addicts
who come to CRLA

don't have health coverage.
But curiously,

Jill sees a flood of insurance
reimbursements come in.

I'm getting checks in the mail
for the insurance department

that are like
multimillion dollars.

-I think when you look
at big businesses,

you don't really question
where the money's coming from.

There was all these scholarship
clients and what we found out

is that they all got
signed up for policies.

-Bathum, he was telling me

to just make up
the insurance information.

This is a application form.

We would sign them up
for a policy.

But the clients
had nothing to do with it.

-Signing patients up for
insurance without their consent

is identity fraud.
But once clients have policies,

Bathum can bill
the insurance companies

for as much treatment
as he sees fit.

-We did things that were
not legal, that were not right.

But at the time, it it seemed
like the right thing to do.

You know, all the money

I was pulling in
was letting him expand.

-You know why? Why?
Why are we even thinking

about dictating having health
insurance companies

dictating the length
of treatment?

What do they know about it?

-These are actual notes
that me...

I have my initials
on these notes,

their medical records,
all their therapy notes,

everything.

Someone coming in to CRLA
without any insurance or money.

Was a gold mine to Bathum

because we could sign them up
for an insurance policy

and get paid up
to $100,000 or more.

-Yes. Is insurance fraud wrong?
Absolutely.

Is that against the law?
100%.

Do they deserve it?
Probably.

No one's [bleep] cryin'
themselves to sleep

over insurance companies
getting ripped off.

-Fueled by the fraudulent cash
flowing in,

CRLA is quickly growing
into an empire

with more and more clients
going through treatment

and then getting promoted
into staff roles

to run the program, regardless
of their qualifications.

-He sent someone out to
Colorado.

It was like 20 years old
to go open up a bunch of houses.

-Like some people weren't even
[bleep] qualified

to make a sack lunch

and they were like
director positions there.

-You know, let's be real.
They're not like

the best workers in the world.
They're fresh in recovery,

and they often have
poor work habits, if any.

And they need a lot
of either supervision

or a lower expectation.

We get enough that they that
they're you know,

it's good it's a good exchange.

-Lowered expectations
can be dangerous in rehab,

especially on security sweeps.

-You know, in other places,
they searched the clients rooms.

They weren't doing those sort of
containment things at CRLA.

-Yes. Occasionally people
do sneak drugs in,

but it doesn't happen as often
as it happens at CRLA.

-Almost 90% of CRLA staff
are recent clients,

but despite the uptick
of drug use at the facility,

Bathum doesn't change course.

Instead, he creates even more
jobs for his recovering addicts,

including some
in his inner circle.

-My first inkling that something
was sort of different

was when I noticed
that all of his assistants

and drivers were young women.
Those women didn't have a curfew

and often didn't need
to be drug tested.

-I became his
personal assistant.

Little tasks,
whatever he would ask me.

-The sheer volume of clients
that we had.

You wouldn't notice
that one of them

wasn't where
they were supposed to be.

-I brought drugs
into the treatment center,

and I got high
and passed out in the bathroom.

In the shower.

-By 2016,
the number of overdoses

within the community is growing,

along with the doubts
about the program's efficacy.

And not every relapsing client

gets a second chance
at sobriety.

-This is Mo.
He was incredibly charismatic.

-You got sweat
between your rolls?

-Yeah.

-He was kind.
He was raised well.

He was a good guy.

I remember that he had relapsed.

He, unbeknownst to staff,
got another client's car keys

and he overdosed in that car.

This kid had no more life.

And...

We didn't help him.

-Felt like every couple of weeks
I was getting news that someone

that we knew who'd been
through the program had died.

I've probably worked at 30
different treatment centers

in the last 10 years
and I've never seen

that many clients die.

♪♪

-Questions begin to swirl
around CRLA

about the increase of relapses

and why authorities weren't
being notified of overdoses.

♪♪

-They should have called
the cops

if he was holding drugs
in a treatment facility,

why the [bleep] didn't
they call the cops?

Because maybe he would have
gotten another charge,

but he might be alive today.
At the same time,

the rumors were flying
about what Bathum was doing.

So Bathum was working
behind the scenes,

saying what to do
and what not to do.

-Rumors began to go around.

Rumors about
Chris's own drug use.

Look, if there's smoke,
there's probably fire.

-We're getting the sense
that something weird

was was happening,

and we didn't know
exactly what it was.

But something's
not [bleep] right.

-So many people,
so many people got hurt.

And I hate that
I didn't see it sooner.

I still feel guilty that
I didn't notice this sooner.

I'm sorry.

Can you give me a minute?
- Yeah.

-I hate that I did this.
Take me off camera. [ Sniffles ]

[ Crying ]

So many people got hurt
and I didn't know.

-You know,
we've had enough deaths.

I think we've had
people... seven... die.

Those motivate me a lot.
Those feel like loss,

like losing all those
feel like we didn't do it.

-Inside CRLA,
the addiction recovery center

that's built a cult
of community healing,

a spike of overdose deaths
is raising doubts

about Chris Bathum's methods.

But he has an idea
to help them keep the faith.

-He knew how to muster
the troops, you know.

And, and he knew exactly
what the [bleep] he was doing.

-Chris started doing
an experiential program.

They sent us on adventures
like to Colorado,

where we went on
a 12-day camping trip.

But upon landing in Colorado,
I still had like $600

in my bank account from the work
that I was doing for Bathum.

I went and bought drugs
off the street in Denver,

a city I'd never been to
before in my life.

And I, um, I smoked some crack.

I was very vulnerable when
it came to these sort of things.

I hadn't developed
any of the tools.

-When staff relapsed at CRLA,

Bathum returns them to
treatment.

This endless cycle of client
to staff back to client again

stretches a rehab visit
well past 90 days

and sometimes indefinitely.

♪♪

-Bathum created this sort of
closed system

where even if you achieved
your recovery,

well, then you were going
to get a job that he controlled.

You're going to relapse.

It's one way that a cult
can establish

these people are going nowhere,
they are locked in.

-While Bathum's field trips
may feel like freedom.

They're all part of the cycle.

Introducing opportunities
for the addict to use,

sometimes encouraged
by Bathum himself.

-I only had like four
interactions with Bathum

before he asked a staff member

to take me off the grounds
to Costco.

He told the staff that he was
going to buy me new glasses.

When I got to Costco,
he was being very erratic

and he was like,
"Alright, walk with me."

We're driving. And I'm like,
"Where are we going?"

Still didn't know.

"Oh, I got us a room
at the Four Seasons."

I just kind of like,

"Okay, this guy is taking me
to the Four Seasons?" like.

-Everyone kind of knew
that there was something

not right with Chris
with what was going on.

But no one ever really
had anything concrete.

-Chris really had the pretense
that he was a therapist

and he told everyone
he was a therapist,

but he has, like,
no degree on anything.

-No one knew
he wasn't credentialed.

Because, I mean,
what are you going to do?

Go up and ask your boss
for his CV?

-Bathum didn't have a degree
in psychology.

He wasn't a therapist.

He didn't even have
my level of certification.

So it was completely made up.

-But at the time no one knows
Chris Bathum's secret

including Amanda.

-I remember being very,
very, very nervous

and having a sick
feeling in my stomach.

But I went anyways.

When we get to the Four Seasons,

and he was like shuffling around
looking for the key.

And a big straw
comes out of his pocket.

And I look at it and I was like,
"What is that?"

And he goes,
"Ha ha it's paraphernalia."

And like,
right then it was just like,

"Oh, my God. This guy is high."

♪♪

Everyone asks,
"Oh, why didn't you run?"

But they weren't in the position
I was in.

So I was like,
"Are you on meth?"

He said, "Yes."

And I was like,
"Oh my gosh, well,

I'm crazy enough about drugs."

That stuff scared me
and gave me...

The thought of it
gave me anxiety.

He lays down on the bed.

And I sit at the end of the bed.

Everything's processing.

And then, you know.

He stuck his fingers
inside of me.

♪♪

He... I mean, I just...
I don't know.

I don't really want to...
This is not my favorite subject.

I just looked at him.
I said, "Are you a sociopath?"

And he laughed.
He said,

"Sometimes I think that myself,
but answer me this.

Would a sociopath
want to help so many people?"

♪♪

-Rumors began to go around.

Rumors that maybe Chris is high.

You know, that someone had found
meth in his Tesla.

Maybe that he was hooking up
with some of the girls.

And when I first heard
these rumors,

I was just kind of like,
that's impossible.

-Early on, I thought,
"Well, see, that's why

he shouldn't have
these girls as his drivers,

because the optics are bad

and those kind of rumors
are going to go around."

-You know, like,
look at the amazing work

that's being done here.
There's no way that that

this guy could be
doing any of that stuff.

♪♪

-I knew that I had
to get out of there.

I got my stuff and I left.
My mom picked me up.

I was very manic in the car.
She knew something was up.

And then I just... I tell
my mom everything.

You know, the one reason
why I was there is to clean up.

And instead I end up
way worse than when I got there.

-Amanda isn't alone.

Unbeknownst to the community,

Bathum's abuse
has been going on for years.

♪♪

-There were people that knew
and was turning the other way.

-Some time before Amanda's
hotel encounter,

Bathum asked Hayley along
to view a prospective property.

-My anxiety was very bad
at the time

and I didn't know
how to manage anything.

So he said,

"Hey, why don't you take
the Xanax?" And,

"I've used before, but don't
worry, this isn't you using."

This isn't a relapse for you.

You actually need this,
and I can prescribe that to you.

And he handed me Xanax.

I remember him walking me
around the property and saying,

Isn't this beautiful?

And...

We went up to a room and he
kinda demanded me

to take my clothes off.

♪♪

And he ended up raping me.

♪♪

-I just. I never thought.

I thought that was stuff
you saw in movies.

I didn't think that a real man
who called himself a clinician

would do something like that to
a young woman that vulnerable.

-So I told my case manager
finally,

and my case manager
brought me into Chris' office.

He just made a joke out of it
pretty much and out of me.

And I didn't know
how to respond to it.

I just felt
completely demolished.

My heart felt broken
and I was crumbling.

♪♪

-Soon, word of Bathum's behavior

starts to leak out of CRLA
and appear online.

The stories catch the eye of

LA Weekly journalist
Hillel Aron.

- it was certainly a yarn that I kept tugging at and tugging at.
- LA Weekly journalist

Chris Bathum had no training
to work in recovery.

A scammer, convicted felon,
abused women,

not to mention
the insurance companies

were investigating him.

So someone gave me
Chris Bathum's phone number

and I remember he was very open

and was looking forward
to being interviewed.

So I went over
to his coffee shop.

I turned my recorder on.

-After interviewing dozens
of former CRLA members,

Hillel's exposé is published.

♪♪

-I mean, I wrote the article
alleging sexual misconduct,

sexual harassment,
sexual assault,

sleeping with
some of his patients

and giving them drugs,
everything.

-Yet Bathum remains unfazed.

-He did not like the article,

but he certainly
liked the title.

He put the title "Rehab Mogul"

ended up putting it
on coffee mugs and T-shirts

and selling it
at his coffee shop Grounded.

-He didn't have anybody
to contend with,

so he just went off the rails.

-Chris just had this, like,
God complex.

And did he have these demons
in him from the very beginning?

I don't know.

-His setup just made you believe
in him and his vision.

He got people to listen to him.

♪♪

Obviously there's strength
in numbers

if it's just me
going up against him?

I just knew that I had
to stick up for other women.

I didn't want this
to happen to other women,

and I was going to do
everything in my power

to do my best to tell my story.

♪♪

-It was all of a sudden,
like with a puzzle

when you see like all the pieces

and, like, like the minute
it all came together,

I couldn't be there.
I left.

-Newly dubbed "The Rehab Mogul,"
Chris Bathum's

standing in the community
he founded plummets

amid revelations of his drug use
and sexual abuse

of the clients who trusted him.

-Malibu rehab owner
is now accused

of sexually assaulting
former patients.

-Bathum refused our requests
for an interview

but sent an e-mail stating
"We are not going anywhere."

-Investigators think there are
even more victims out there.

-Although authorities launch
an investigation,

CRLA's doors remain open.

♪♪

-For two years,
people were saying

that CRLA was, like,
under investigation.

And I was like, "Is anything
ever going to come of this?"

-My mom found the lawyer
and was like,

"Just meet with them."

So I met with them
and then they were like,

"If you know anybody else
that this happened to."

And I'd heard a few stories.
So I contacted those women.

-I probably went through about
20 phone call interviews

with various women.

I think that the LAPD
and sheriff's department

treat addicts and alcoholics

almost as throwaway people
unless you really hit them hard.

They are reticent
to investigate it.

-This case lingered for years,
longer than it needed to do.

I've Shaun Gipson.

I'm a deputy district attorney
and a lead prosecutor

in the fraud investigation
and prosecution

of Christopher Bathum.

I have never seen such a group
of traumatized people.

-With testimonies mounting
and media pressure

at an all time high,
in November of 2016,

the FBI finally close in.

-One day, I got the news
that CRLA had been raided.

I remember feeling finally it
had been brought down.

-That was the day that I went
and testified against Bathum.

-Amanda, Haley, and 11
additional victims

testify against Bathum
at the sexual assault trial.

-Litigation is hard,
especially trying to be sober.

I'm I'm happy that
I went through with it.

That was the goal, to make sure
that he didn't get away with it.

-That was probably the hardest
thing in my life

that I've been through,
was going through a trial.

And seeing him made me
so angry and hurt,

but it also reminded me
that I had to do this

and that it needed to end.

♪♪

-Bathum is found guilty
of 31 counts,

including rape and $175 million
of insurance fraud.

-Haley's testimony was,
in many ways,

the killshot of that trial.

Bathum will most likely spend
the rest of his life in prison,

and I think Hayley
is a big part of that,

and she deserves credit
for that.

-I've seen a wide variety
of cases.

He's by far the worst.
I think Christopher Bathum

is probably
the most diabolical defendant

that I've ever had to look at.

-Bathum is sentenced to
52 years in prison.

And won't be eligible for parole
until he's in his 90's.

But the industry
he leaves behind remains

largely unregulated,
one where charismatic predators

still have access to people
at their most vulnerable.

-Basically, you and I could form
a rehab tomorrow

with our German Shepherd
and call it a rehab.

You know, the regulations
are pretty much a joke in there.

They need to be tightened up.

-The industry as a whole
is still, I think,

vulnerable
to cult of personality.

I think there absolutely
could be another Bathum today.

♪♪

-I'm at Vera's Sanctuary
for Women.

There's about 18 women here.

I just came to try to heal the
trauma of what happened to me.

And if I have anxiety
or any thoughts or PTSD,

I come out here

and the plants, talking to them
even, helps me relax.

-I'm just now I feel

like coming out
of the storm finally, you know?

-I knew that if I didn't try
to stand up for myself

and for other girls,
that he might get away with it.

And that was a really, really
big possibility at the time.

-The fact that he's off
the streets

and can't hurt anybody else
is the goal.

We succeeded in that.
So for that, I'm proud.

♪♪