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Timberline Knolls Sexual Assault Lawsuit

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Timberline Knolls Residential Treatment Center was supposed to be a safe place. For years, families entrusted Timberline Knolls in Lemont, Illinois, with their daughters, sisters, and loved ones. The facility promised compassionate care and evidence-based treatment for mental health issues like trauma, eating disorders, bipolar disorder, and borderline personality disorder.

Instead, many survivors say they found something else: a dangerous environment, a culture of silence, and employees who exploited residents. As word spread, the Timberline Knolls scandal came into public view, sparking multiple Timberline Knolls lawsuits and eventually leading to Timberline Knolls closing.

Today, survivors and families are stepping forward to share their stories. If you or someone you love was harmed at Timberline Knolls, you have legal options. A Timberline Knolls lawsuit can help you seek accountability and compensation for the harm you suffered.

Why Did Timberline Knolls Close?

The question is not why Timberline Knolls closed. The real question is how it remained open for so long. The closure followed an avalanche of sexual abuse allegations, widespread negligence, and deep-rooted institutional misconduct.

Public records and lawsuits revealed that Timberline Knolls Residential Treatment Center had become a focal point of national concern after multiple women and teenage girls reported being sexually assaulted while in the facility’s care. These were not isolated incidents. They reflected a consistent pattern of abuse involving staff members like Erick Hampton and Mike Jacksa.

As more survivors came forward and lawsuits mounted, Acadia Healthcare, the massive for-profit corporation behind Timberline Knolls that has been accused of sexual assault and abuse claims all over the country, decided to close the facility. The official explanation cited “business reasons.” Please.  The truth was already out: the facility had become a symbol of failure, marked by years of ignored complaints, emergency calls to law enforcement, and repeated lapses in oversight. Timberline Knolls did not shut down by chance. It collapsed under the weight of its own neglect and indifference.

The Erick Hampton Timberline Knolls Lawsuit

One of the most troubling cases linked to Timberline Knolls involves Erick Hampton, a staff member accused of repeatedly raping a 24-year-old patient. According to court filings, the woman entered the Lemont, Illinois, facility in May 2024 while in acute psychological distress.  This is someone who really needed help. She sought treatment for bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, and suicidal thoughts. Instead of receiving care, she was allegedly assaulted three times by Hampton, the very employee charged and trusted with her protection.

When she attempted to report the abuse through her roommate, the response from Timberline Knolls was not protective but punitive. Rather than investigate or remove the threat, staff accused her of engaging in a “secret affair” with her abuser. In doing so, they not only ignored her trauma but also reframed it as misconduct of her own. Isolated, terrified, and unsupported, she left the facility after less than two weeks. Just horrible.

The civil sexual assault lawsuit filed against Acadia Healthcare and Timberline Knolls outlines more than an individual failure. It describes a system that failed to supervise staff, failed to protect patients, and failed to act when serious allegations were raised. This was not a lapse in judgment. It was an institutional pattern of deflection, denial, and abandonment of duty.

In an era when the language of wellness and care is used to sell everything from facilities to philosophies, the facts of this case reveal a darker truth. A facility that claimed to treat trauma became a source of it. Those tasked with healing inflicted harm. The promise of safety became a cover for systemic neglect. And, most tragic of all, those in charge looked away.

The Michael Jacksa Timberline Knolls Scandal

The Timberline Knolls scandal was never the work of one individual. In 2019, Mike Jacksa, also known as Michael Jacksa, was criminally charged with sexually abusing at least six women who had been placed in his care. At the time, Jacksa worked as a counselor at Timberline Knolls Residential Treatment Center in Lemont, Illinois.

The timeline of his continued employment is difficult to comprehend. Even after multiple women reported sexual abuse, facility administrators allowed him to return to work. Internal investigations were launched, but no meaningful safeguards were implemented. According to police reports, when one survivor recorded her abuse in a personal journal, staff members confronted her about it while Jacksa sat across the room. The encounter pushed the young woman into a mental health crisis that required hospitalization.

This was not a misunderstanding or an isolated misstep. These actions, and the inaction that followed, outline an institution more concerned with preserving its reputation than with protecting the lives of the people it claimed to help. The Timberline Knolls leadership had opportunities to prevent further harm. Instead, it chose to look inward, to minimize risk, and to return a known danger to a position of power. In doing so, the facility betrayed not only the women it failed to protect, but also the fundamental principle that no one seeking help should leave more broken than when they arrived.

Timberline Knolls News and National Attention

In June 2024, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee released a sweeping investigation into abuse and neglect at residential treatment centers across the country. Timberline Knolls in Lemont, Illinois, was a central focus of the report, which also examined a broader pattern of misconduct at other Acadia Healthcare facilities.

The Senate report documented a range of failures at mental health facilities. These included unsafe living conditions, a refusal to investigate abuse allegations, and efforts to prolong inpatient stays that lacked medical justification. The most disturbing findings involved the concealment of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. These were not occasional oversights. They reflected structural dysfunction at every level.

Local law enforcement records add weight to the federal findings. Over the years, police received dozens of 911 calls from Timberline Knolls. Many of those calls involved reports of sexual assault or rape committed by staff members. These incidents were not isolated or accidental. They were signs of an institution that lost control of its mission and chose silence over accountability.

The cumulative impact of this negligence is difficult to overstate. Women and teenage girls, many already in psychological crisis, were placed in an environment where the people assigned to care for them became the source of their deepest harm. For years, the warning signs were visible. The consequences are now plain.

Who Can File a Timberline Knolls Lawsuit?

If you were sexually assaulted, exploited, or emotionally abused at Timberline Knolls Residential Treatment Center, you may be able to file a lawsuit. Survivors include:

  • Women or girls sexually abused by employees like Erick Hampton or Michael Jacksa

  • Residents whose complaints were ignored or retaliated against

  • Patients forced to recount abuse in front of their abuser

  • Families of minors harmed while in the facility’s care

Even if you did not report the abuse when it happened, or if your abuser was never charged, you still have the right to file a civil lawsuit.

Damages in a Timberline Knolls Lawsuit

A Timberline Knolls lawsuit can help survivors recover financial compensation for:

  • Emotional trauma and psychological distress

  • Medical bills for physical injuries

  • Long-term therapy or psychiatric care

  • Loss of educational or work opportunities

  • Pain and suffering

These damages are meant to acknowledge what happened and help you rebuild.

How Long Do You Have to File a Claim?

Illinois law allows childhood sexual abuse survivors to file until their 38th birthday or within 20 years of discovering the abuse. Adult survivors usually have two years from the date of the assault. But there are exceptions, especially when mental illness or threats delay reporting.

Do not assume too much time has passed, and do not assume you have more time because you might not.  This is something you want to be 100% certain about because there is a lot of money potentially at stake. If you have questions about the statute of limitations for a Timberline Knolls lawsuit, speak to an attorney right away.

How a Timberline Knolls Sexual Assault Lawyer Can Help

An attorney experienced in Timberline Knolls cases can help by:

  • Listening to your experience without judgment

  • Collecting medical records, internal reports, and other evidence

  • Identifying every liable party, including Acadia Healthcare

  • Handling all legal filings and negotiations

  • Taking the case to trial if needed

  • Keeping you informed every step of the way

Our firm handles these cases on a contingency fee basis. You pay nothing unless we win compensation.

Next Steps for Survivors

If you were sexually abused at Timberline Knolls Residential Treatment Center—whether your time there was recent or decades ago—you may still have a valid legal claim. The trauma you experienced matters, and the law may still allow you to seek justice.

We represent survivors with the compassion they deserve and the resolve it takes to confront powerful institutions. Our goal is to hold Timberline Knolls and Acadia Healthcare accountable for the harm they allowed to happen, and to do so in a way that protects your dignity every step of the way.

You do not have to carry this alone. You deserve to be heard. We are here to help.

Call us at 888-322-3010 or contact us online to schedule a free, confidential consultation. There is no cost to speak with us, and no obligation to move forward unless you choose to.