Skip to main content.
Related sites:
Religion News Blog is a non-profit service providing academics, religion professionals and other researchers with religion & cult news
ReligionNewsBlog

Religion news articles about religious cults, sects, world religions, and related issues

Navigation:
Web religionnewsblog.com
Home | Site Menu | About RNB | RNB Store | Cult FAQ | Cult Experts | Apologetics Index | Cult Information Search Engine
AA, Midtown AA:

Woman Describes Teen Life As Member Of Midtown AA

NBC4.com, USA
May 21, 2008
www.nbc4.com
  • Article Tools  • Share This Story

ReligionNewsBlog.com • Item 18333 • Posted: Tuesday May 22, 2007  

Click here... More articles on this topic: AA, Midtown AA

WASHINGTON — A woman has come forward saying she was close to some of the alleged leaders of a D.C. Alcoholics Anonymous group called Midtown.

Controversy mounted around the group after some former members said it was cult-like and its leaders encouraged sexual exploits in a Newsweek magazine article.

On Monday, more allegations about Midtown surfaced.

A woman, who will be referred to as Michelle, said she joined the group when she was 15-years-old and was a member of the group for seven years.

“I would say overall, it was like a seven-year stomachache that I walked around with,” she said.

Michelle said that at 16, she had sex with a leader of the group who was much older than herself.

“I was a target of the month, I guess, and I wasn’t in any way forced to sleep with him, but it was a choice that if I were to engage, my life would be a lot easier, and if I didn’t, my life was to be much more difficult. That’s based off what I had seen with other girls,” she said.

Like others who have accused Midtown of controlling them, Michelle said, “I really don’t think there was an aspect of my life that was not controlled.”

Michelle told News4 that sexually transmitted diseases are not all that uncommon in Midtown.

“It was almost your rite of passage. I would say that it would be uncommon to not have something once you’ve been there a couple months,” said Michelle.

News4’s Pat Collins said he attempted to contact one of the alleged leaders of Midtown but has received no response.

A number of local churches in the District and Montgomery County recently barred Midtown from using their facilities after the allegations surfaced.

Michelle said Midtown’s problem is with its leaders not its followers.

Montgomery County police said they are aware of allegations of misconduct in Midtown, but said so far they cannot find concrete evidence of any wrongdoing. Authorities said if there are any victims who have not come forward, they would like to hear from them.

Technorati Tags: ,

Religion News Blog RSS feed Subscribe: Religion News Blog RSS feed  |  Religion News Blog RSS feed Subscribe by topic: AA, Midtown AA
more cult news articlemore religion news More articles about AA, Midtown AA

Like this story?

Today's Most Popular Articles

Doctor Says...

Share this

To share this page simply copy and paste one of these URL's:




Article and Site Tools

» PermaLink to: Woman Describes Teen Life As Member Of Midtown AA
   Need a shorter link? You can remove everything after the final /
» More news articles + news archive on AA, Midtown AA
» More religion and cult news

Subscribe (RSS / Email) [What is RSS?]
» RSS News Feed - All Topics: Religion News Blog RSS Feed
» RSS News Feed - Single Topic: AA, Midtown AA
» Headlines by Email: Daily Religion News Blog Headlines

More Article Tools
• Bookmark / Tag: Del.icio.us
• Bookmark / Tag: Furl
Save this article
Email this article
Print this article [Temporarily out of order]

More Information
Books about AA
Relevant books (and other goodies)

About Religion News Blog
Religion News Blog (RNB), published by Apologetics Index, highlights news items and other resources on world religions, cults, religious sects, alternative religions and related issues. RNB's non-profit news clipping service is used by - among others - Christian apologists, countercult professionals, anticult organizations, cult experts, teachers, religion professionals, reporters and other researchers.