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Residents allege abuse, medical neglect and deaths at local discipleship homes during council public comment
Summary
Multiple speakers used the public‑comment period to describe alleged abuse, medical neglect and a 2021 fatal stabbing connected to local discipleship homes (identified by speakers as RISE/Bridal Discipleship). They urged city action to investigate or close the homes; the council did not take action during the meeting.
During the public‑comment period at the Sept. 25 Abilene City Council meeting, several speakers described alleged patterns of abuse, medical neglect and criminal incidents tied to local discipleship homes they identified as “RISE” or “Bridal Discipleship.” Speakers urged the council and city officials to investigate and to pursue enforcement or closure of facilities they said operate with unsafe conditions.
Eddie Pugh described the Nov. 24, 2021, fatal stabbing of a resident he identified as Matthew Fouse at a men’s discipleship home and said the home’s intake and oversight practices left residents at risk. Pugh told the council he believed the home had accepted a resident with known psychological issues, that residents were asked to stop taking prescribed psychiatric medication and that staff did not perform adequate background checks. “Abilene can do better,” Pugh said, and he urged city action.
Other speakers echoed claims of mistreatment. A speaker identified as Bambi Pew described forced fundraising, long hours on the road, withholding of food and personal belongings, and alleged exploitation of residents for money. Dawn Utley said she was a former resident of the women’s RISE Discipleship home and described what she called emotional, physical and medical abuse, including being required to stop psychotropic medications without documented medical oversight and receiving intake treatment based on self‑reported questionnaires rather than background checks.
Speakers described a pattern in which residents were allegedly pressured to fundraise constantly, were denied appropriate medical care or counseling after traumatic incidents, and were subject to strict rules and conditions that some said were intentionally coercive. Several commenters urged the council to investigate and to shut down operations they described as unsafe and sometimes criminal.
Council members did not propose or take formal action on the allegations during the meeting. The speakers’ statements were delivered as public comment; the mayor closed the public comment period after the queue of speakers. No staff response, police report reference or immediate enforcement action was recorded in the meeting transcript.
The accounts presented at the council meeting are allegations made by public commenters. The council has not made findings on the claims and took no formal action at the Sept. 25 session. Speakers named facilities and people; those claims were presented to the council for consideration by city staff and law enforcement outside the meeting record.
