‘Rehab Mogul’ Christopher Bathum Convicted Of Sexually Assaulting Addiction Patients, Other Women

A California man who operated more than a dozen rehabilitation centers in the state, was convicted Monday of sexually assaulting seven women.

Christopher Bathum, 56, famously known as the “rehab mogul,” was convicted on 31 counts which included charges such as sexual penetration by a foreign object, forcible oral copulation, sexual exploitation and forcible rape, the New York Daily News reported.

Some of his female victims were patients in their 20s or early 30s, from the very facilities he ran.

According to the Los Angeles District Attorney's office, Bathum “preyed upon female patients between 2014 and 2016 by providing them with drugs as they battled to overcome their addiction.” He then proceeded to sexually assault them "while they were under the influence."

“They were easy targets. They were perfect victims,” Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller said in his closing argument, the Orange County Register reported.

During a counter argument, Bathum’s attorney Carlo A. Spiga questioned the authenticity of the woman who testified on the stand against his client. “She knew what she was doing at all times” Spiga argued. “How many of them were hitting him up for money?”

He also added that none of the evidence in the case show any of the sexual acts between Bathum and the accusers were conducted “forcibly.”

The prosecutor confirmed the fact that Bathum acted like a father figure to the women and eventually lured them into having sex with him by offering them internships, company cars and access to iPhones, in return for sex.

The jury deliberated for a day before they announced their verdict. Bathum was the acquitted on 11 counts of sexual exploitation and one count of offering a controlled substance, methamphetamine.

When the verdict was announced, one of the women sitting in the first row of the courthouse applauded and broke into tears.

Bathum operated 13 “Community Recovery” treatment centers in Los Angeles and Orange counties, California, as well as six in the state of Colorado, before he was arrested in 2016.

He was ordered by the judge to return to court on April 17 to set a date for sentencing. At present, he faces a maximum sentence of 65 years in state prison for the sex conviction and lifetime registration as a sex offender.

Bathum was remanded in police custody as he is scheduled to appear in court for a pretrial hearing on a separate case on Tuesday. In the second case, Bathum faces charges like money laundering, grand theft, identity theft and insurance fraud.

Bathum and his companies are accused of submitting $175 million in fraudulent claims in order to keep patients in a constant cycle of treatment and addiction. He pleaded not guilty to the accusations of the second case.

Harry Nelson, health care attorney and the chair of the American Addiction Treatment Association, said instances of abuse in the addiction and recovery industry was fairly common.

"I do think that the problem of sexual abuse and other violations of resident’s rights is still, unfortunately, a widespread problem," Nelson said, Southern California Public Radio reported. "You have a lot of people who are very vulnerable as they’re trying to recover from a substance use issue. And it’s important that there be standards and training so that people are protected from bad behavior.”