Sequel Youth & Family Services: Judge Denies Motion to Dismiss Human Trafficking Lawsuit

October 20, 2025

A federal judge denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that Sequel Youth and Family Services and its co-founder John Ripley benefited from forced labor and human trafficking at their residential facilities for at-risk youth. In the court document, plaintiffs Anna Claire Bates and Jane Doe claim they were forced to clean, landscape, and perform manual labor without pay at Auldern Academy in Alabama, a Sequel-run facility, under threat of punishment such as isolation, sleep deprivation, and extreme physical exertion.

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