SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
It sounds like something out of a movie - a journalist reports on a CEO's alleged misconduct. Then the journalist's home is vandalized - bricks and rocks thrown through the windows, the words, just the beginning, spray painted in red on the walls. This was not, however, a movie. It happened to New Hampshire Public Radio journalist Lauren Chooljian after she published an investigation into allegations of sexual assault and harassment by Eric Spofford, founder of the state's largest network of addiction treatment centers. The story took another turn in recent days when Spofford himself was arrested and accused of orchestrating a conspiracy to vandalize Chooljian's home and the homes of her editor and her parents. And Lauren Chooljian joined me to talk about these developments. And I do want to let our listeners know this story includes a description of alleged sexual assault.
So you had been living with this for a while.
LAUREN CHOOLIJIAN, BYLINE: Yeah, years.
DETROW: And then all of a sudden, there's this major development. And I'm wondering what your reaction was when you heard the news that Spofford had been arrested.
CHOOLIJIAN: Well, it was, like, supposed to be a normal Friday for me, Scott. I was in Target shopping for stuff for my kid's birthday party. And then I see this call coming from the DOJ, and I think, huh. And it's not that I, you know, didn't know they weren't still poking around. But, you know, I mean, we have a new administration now. Priorities have changed in the DOJ's office. And so I just figured maybe they just let it go, and they have other priorities. No, never in a million years did I think I'd be standing in a Target in the soap aisle, on a Friday, getting a call saying Eric Spofford has been arrested.
DETROW: You then went to the courtroom where he was arraigned earlier this week. What was that experience like?
CHOOLIJIAN: Yeah. It was kind of wild, to say the least. You know, I went with my family and my boss and my reporting partner. And now the feds are saying they have evidence that Spofford had organized this whole thing, had asked his close friend to pay some guys to do this. And so he walked in. He looked pretty tired - you know, tight black shirt, black pants, handcuffs on. This is a guy who seemed untouchable. And so to see him in this place - a federal courtroom - it was just something that I thought was just really wild to see - separate, of course, from then the victim part of me that is in a courtroom because, allegedly, this man has perpetrated violence on me and my family. I mean, it's a lot to hold in one brain. I can tell you that.
DETROW: And I should say, he was charged with stalking. He has pleaded not guilty to four counts. But I want to shift here and talk about the original reporting. Tell us a little bit more about who Eric Spofford is or was.
CHOOLIJIAN: Yeah. So Eric Spofford grew up in New Hampshire. He is a person who found sobriety at a young age and then decided that he wanted to use what he had learned and give back to the community in New Hampshire. This is around 2008 that he came on the scene, which, of course, is a time where New Hampshire, like many other states, was really struggling with the opioid crisis. And we really didn't have that great of a plan for addiction treatment in our state. And so, no exaggeration, politicians in New Hampshire were like, thank God. Here's a guy who went from having one sober home to building this huge provider of treatment that was the biggest in New England at the time. And so here's a guy who becomes close to politicians 'cause he's meeting a need that, like, really needs to be met. He's a local guy. He's charismatic. You know, he accumulated quite a following.
And so what I didn't realize until I started reporting - and the tips that we first got, I should say, Scott - this is back in 2020. People were just like, we work here at this company, Granite Recovery Centers. It doesn't feel like people are taking COVID seriously. Maybe you should look into it. And it was from that outbreak story that I ended up getting additional tips that while in the public, Eric Spofford looked one way, it seemed that for decades, there was, like, a whisper network of people who were saying, no, no, there's more here. And I ended up being able to corroborate multiple allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault allegedly perpetrated by Eric against former employees and former clients.
DETROW: And I should say, the source did not want to be named because she wanted to keep that part of her life separate.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: At that point, he was becoming powerful in the sense that all the new, you know, teenagers or young 20-year-olds that came in really looked up to him, and he took all those boys and young men under his wing. And it's kind of like, looking back now, you can almost think of like an evangelist or something like that, that can, you know, get people enraptured with what they're saying because let me tell you - what he ended up being like was, like, the supreme commander of recovery.
CHOOLIJIAN: You know, this is 2008. This is when Eric had only a sober home. She had run into him at a 12-step meeting. And he already had this persona behind him, especially for other people who are looking for sobriety.
DETROW: And there's another side of the story. There's a more specific side of the story about serious sexual misconduct allegations. What did you learn there?
CHOOLIJIAN: So I learned that there were multiple allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault involving Eric and former clients and former employees of his treatment center. So oftentimes, the dynamic was that a woman in recovery was in a vulnerable spot. And allegedly, you know, here comes Eric, a guy who seems to have it all, so it's hard to say no. But that also happened, allegedly, with women who weren't in recovery, who worked for him.
DETROW: And again, I'll just say to listeners, we're not using this next person's name because she feared retaliation.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: He was very quick to, like, just pull me in and start kissing me. And then he went to his desk, and he grabbed out a condom. And we did end up having sex on his couch in his office.
CHOOLIJIAN: Did you want that to happen?
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: No. But I also didn't know how to tell him no.
DETROW: Lauren, let's just recap. You report this series of stories about these serious allegations of abuse and retaliation. In the process, you are retaliated against, yourself. Your home...
CHOOLIJIAN: Yeah.
DETROW: ...Is attacked. You are seriously threatened. And now the federal government is alleging that the executive you were reporting on was behind the whole thing. That is a lot.
CHOOLIJIAN: Yeah.
DETROW: You have continued to be a journalist. And I'm wondering has this investigation, has its aftermath changed the way you approach that job?
CHOOLIJIAN: Oh, yeah. Even before the vandalism, what I learned from having all these conversations with these women who had these allegations was, this is unlike any kind of reporting I had done before. I have learned so much about how to be a trauma-informed reporter and understanding that sometimes sources are going to drop out on you. And while that might not feed your deadline, you have to respect where they're coming from because what happened to them and what's in their body and how they want it, you know, put out in the world or not, that's the No. 1 most important thing. And if they're not there and if they're not ready, there's nothing I can do about it. And it's not a failure on me, and it's not a failure on them. This stuff is so, so complicated. And I say that as, like, that was all before I experienced my own trauma in this reporting and my own retaliation, which is what they were all afraid of.
DETROW: Like, you can know that in theory and think you're being really sensitive to that, but then go...
CHOOLIJIAN: Yes.
DETROW: ...In a situation like that, you just understand it on a deeper, deeper level.
CHOOLIJIAN: A hundred percent - and I think what's unique now, now that Eric Spofford has been arrested, it's also, like, pushed that into a whole new category where I have my sources coming to me saying, now we all have a story about Eric. And that is a position, Scott, I have never - I could have never imagined, and who has the guidebook for that? And yet, I'm really determined to continue to do the right thing because this reporting is so important.
DETROW: That is New Hampshire Public Radio's Lauren Chooljian. Lauren, we appreciate your reporting, and we appreciate you talking to us today.
CHOOLIJIAN: Thanks. I appreciate you.
DETROW: Spofford has denied all allegations and has not been charged for anything related to sexual misconduct. In 2022, Spofford sued Chooljian, two fellow journalists and New Hampshire Public Radio for defamation. Those claims were dismissed. We reached out to Spofford's lawyer about the information in the story, and we were told that his client had no comment. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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