AUSTIN (MN)
The Minnesota Star Tribune [Minneapolis, MN]
November 10, 2026
By Jessie Van Berkel
Nexus Family Healing, the company that runs the Austin center where the abuse reportedly occurred, had maltreatment reports at a Twin Cities area center.
An employee at a residential mental health treatment center for children in Austin reportedly sexually abused three teenagers multiple times, according to a state maltreatment investigation.
The investigation also found the worker, who is no longer employed there, and another employee provided marijuana and vapes to nine young people at Nexus Gerard Family Healing.
The Nexus campus on a 12-acre estate in Austin serves 9- to 18-year-olds who need intensive emotional, behavioral or mental health care. The organization serves kids with challenging behaviors, including aggression, self-harm and social withdrawal — a service that is in high demand in Minnesota.
The alleged abuse comes as Nexus’ operations at a similar children’s residential treatment center in East Bethel are also under scrutiny from the state.
The Minnesota Department of Human Services temporarily suspended the East Bethel center’s license earlier this year. State investigators found workers there failed to report suspected maltreatment and protect the basic rights of young people in their care, among other issues the state determined put clients at “imminent risk of harm.”
However, the state lifted the suspension in June after Nexus appealed and reached a settlement agreement with the DHS.
The maltreatment investigation at the Austin center did not trigger a license suspension.
“The behavior of this former employee is appalling and intolerable. The care and safety of the young people we serve is paramount and we are deeply dismayed that a former employee could not be trusted,” a spokeswoman at Nexus said in a prepared statement. “Back in April, a young person felt safe enough to speak up and our staff immediately reported the allegations and we began our investigation and fully cooperated with the state.”
The company said they changed leadership and staffing in the unit involved, restructured the program and “continued to work on supervision, culture and accountability.”
A Nexus spokeswoman also said the company has made broad changes over the past year, including adding more leadership oversight, centralizing compliance and investigations and increasing auditing and reviews.
Investigations of sexual abuse allegations at state-licensed facilities are not uncommon, but a case involving repeated substantiated sexual abuse of minors is unusual.
Some Minnesota families now have another option to get help for kids in crisis
One of the alleged victims reported the staff member had inappropriate interactions with multiple youth living in one unit at the center when they were alone and in areas not monitored by surveillance cameras.
That teenager said incidents started a few weeks after they moved into the center in October 2025 and continued weekly — sometimes up to five times a week — until mid-February, when the employee left the center. The young person also said there were multiple incidents where the staff member sexually assaulted them in their bedroom.
The client estimated the staff member engaged in sexual contact towards them “at least, if not over, 50 times.”