Former members of Midtown AA describe a rigidly insular world of group homes and socializing, in which older men had sex with teenage girls, ties to family and friends were severed or strained, and the most vulnerable of alcoholics, some suffering from emotional problems, were encouraged to stop taking prescribed medications.

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

A mother claims that members of the Midtown Alcoholics Anonymous group coerced her daughter into having sex and took away the girl’s prescribed psychiatric medicine.

Officials of a prominent church in Northwest Washington said the church has barred an Alcoholics Anonymous group from meeting on its property pending the outcome of an investigation.

Recovering alcoholics say a Washington, D.C., group has hijacked the 12-step program’s name.