The eight plaintiffs in the lawsuit allege the sexual abuse was mostly perpetrated by a former staffer, Emmett Alden Presley. Presley was a licensed counselor and the Ranch’s Director of Social Services.
Family members Bud, Ted and Shirley Suhl lead the facility. The complaint alleges these high-ranking members were told about the abuse and allowed it to continue.
In the complaint, the plaintiffs are only known as “John Doe’s.” John Doe 1 stayed at the facility from 1997 to 2000. He says he was raped by Presley repeatedly during their weekly counseling sessions. He said the abuse happened over three years.
“The several years I spent at the Lord's Ranch were the worst most horrific experiences I can remember,” he said. “He used my trust as a weapon against me,” he said of Presley. The abuse, he said, “has impacted my entire life.”
The descriptions of the abuse listed in the complaint have a similar pattern. Often Presley would force children to perform oral sex and promise them gifts if they complied. Students who refused the abuse were threatened with the removal of privileges like access to phone calls and visits home.