Children were abused. Facilities looked away.
Arizona’s youth residential treatment centers were meant to be rehabilitative sanctuaries. For a significant number of former residents, they were not. Reports of sexual abuse by staff, youth-on-youth assaults, and cover-ups have emerged from facilities and operators across the state — not as isolated incidents, but as a consistent pattern spanning years.
In June 2024, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee released a report documenting systemic abuse at residential treatment facilities run by some of the country’s largest behavioral healthcare companies. The report named Universal Health Services, Acadia Healthcare, Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health, and Vivant Behavioral Healthcare — all of which have operated facilities in Arizona. Investigators found sexual abuse, physical mistreatment, unsafe conditions, and inhumane confinement practices across their programs.
Arizona’s Department of Health Services (ADHS) has received hundreds of complaints about these facilities. In documented cases, abusive staff were retained, mandatory reporting requirements were ignored, and investigations were compromised or never completed.
Youth residential treatment facilities across Arizona have been identified in lawsuits, inspection reports, regulatory actions, and sexual abuse investigations.
What happened, and where.
Levy Konigsberg AZ is investigating allegations of sexual abuse at several residential treatment facilities, including:
Mingus Mountain Academy
In 2016, Mingus Mountain Academy logged four incidents of staff sexual abuse against residents. None were reported to the Administrative Office of the Courts as required by law.
In 2012, it was reported a staff member admitted to an inappropriate relationship with a resident.
In 2020, a former resident described abusive conditions at the facility — including excessive physical force and abusive language by staff.
Read the Mingus Mountain investigation →Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health
In May 2019, Rodrigo Omar Flores was arrested after three patients at Devereux’s Phoenix facility accused him of sexual abuse. Investigators documented 12 incidents of abuse between October 2018 and March 2019. He was charged with sexual abuse, aggravated assault, and sexual conduct with a minor.
A 2013 investigation found that Devereux accounted for 84% of all peer-on-peer sexual incident reports among Arizona’s Level 1 Residential Treatment Centers, and approximately 83% of all staff physical abuse complaints submitted to ADHS. Thirty-one youth-on-youth incidents were reported at the facility over a three-year period.
Casa Grande Academy
In May 2024, a lawsuit alleged that Casa Grande Academy allowed a staff member, Daisa Sigarroba, to engage in a sexual relationship with a teenage male patient. Sigarroba admitted to sexual misconduct and drug use with the minor throughout her employment.
Read the Casa Grande investigation →Oasis Behavioral Health Hospital
In February 2019, investigative reporting revealed 373 pages of ADHS records documenting recurring investigations into Oasis Behavioral Health. Between January 2014 and September 2018, the facility was investigated repeatedly for physical and sexual assaults, document falsification, staffing shortages, and inadequate suicide prevention measures.
Sonora Behavioral Health Hospital
In November 2019, an investigation found that Sonora Behavioral Health Hospital had received more ADHS citations than any other psychiatric hospital in Arizona over the previous three years.
Documented incidents included an unlicensed nurse working at the facility, a technician assaulting a minor patient, and a nurse drunk while on duty. Whistleblowers and internal records confirmed chronic understaffing.
Facilities under investigation include:
- Aurora Behavioral Health
- Canyon State Academy
- Casa Grande Academy
- Desert Lily Academy
- Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health AZ
- Mingus Mountain Academy
- Oasis Behavioral Health Hospital
- Palo Verde Behavioral Health
- Quail Run Behavioral Health
- Sonora Behavioral Health Hospital