A program manager at an inpatient treatment center in Oregon has been arrested after allegedly threatening to fail a woman on her drug evaluation unless they had sex.
Local NBC affiliate WFLA reports that Luis Rivas, 35, is being charged with coercion and second-degree sexual abuse. He allegedly made the threats to a 22-year-old woman who visited Serenity Lane Treatment Center in Beaverton. The woman, who is unnamed for privacy reasons, was arrested for a DUI and had been sentenced to a diversion program. The terms of her sentence called for her to receive drug or alcohol treatment, as well as an evaluation from Rivas.
The woman went to police earlier this month and claimed that Rivas essentially conducted sexual blackmail by threatening to fail her unless she met his request. Police spokesman Mike Rowe confirmed that the pair had sex within the treatment facility and “the victim provided police with evidence that substantiated her claim,” although he declined to say what evidence it was specifically.
Rivas also runs a business called Essential Evaluations, which works exclusively with teenagers to provide drug and alcohol consulting. Neither Rivas nor Serenity Lane have commented on the case against him.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time a patient has been victimized at a treatment facility. The Orange County Register reported in April 2009 that a state investigative report found Maurice Wilson, COO of New Directions for Women in Costa Mesa, Calif. had sexually harassed patients and violated other codes of professional conduct. The report claimed that Wilson caught patients in various states of undress because he “enters the women’s residential living and sleeping areas unannounced at various times of the night and early morning hours.” Wilson also allegedly walked around the facility in his bathrobe at night, leaving residents feeling “very uncomfortable, frightened and intimidated.”
That same year, a former therapist at New Directions had filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the facility after claiming she was fired for trying to expose Wilson’s inappropriate behavior. Wilson and co-operator Rebecca Flood countered by filing a defamation lawsuit.
And in May 2014, NBC San Diego revealed that a civil lawsuit including six women was filed against a drug and alcohol recovery program associated with Rock Church Ministries in San Diego. The lawsuit claims the women were sexually harassed by program director David Powers, who allegedly made vulgar comments towards them and walked in their rooms while they were changing. Powers denied all of the accusations in a statement, claiming that one of the accusers had “mental health issues” and that his ministry “is a high profile target in our community and has its share of people who dislike us.”