What is Cruel Money?

Cruel Money is a global investigative podcast and documentary platform exposing the billion-dollar industry that commodifies children under the guise of “treatment.”

We track the abuse, forced labor, overmedication, false diagnoses, religious coercion, and financial exploitation that define the troubled teen industry — and the silence that protects it.

Our investigations follow the money across borders, corporations, churches, governments, and families — spotlighting survivors, whistleblowers, and the hidden power structures that sustain it.

Our mission: Expose the global systems profiting from the exploitation and erasure of youth. We center survivor truth, demand public accountability, and dismantle an industry built on silence, suffering, and stolen futures.

Meet the Host

Katheryn Mesa is the creator, executive producer, and host of Cruel Money. A former FEMA operations leader and USMC veteran, she now uses her firsthand knowledge of crisis, surveillance, and control to peel back the layers of institutional harm — from the troubled teen industry to global systems of extraction and erasure.

With Cruel Money, she weaponizes truth to expose how power preys on the vulnerable and silences survivors.

Katheryn is also the creator of several truth-driven media platforms and is pursuing her PhD in International Relations at SIT Graduate Institute, focusing on systemic injustice, historical resistance, and decolonial frameworks.

Why It Matters

This isn’t treatment.

It’s the industrialized suffering of children. Kids are not simply neglected — they are silenced. They are stripped of rights, dragged from their beds in the middle of the night, handcuffed, restrained, and medicated until they disappear into compliance. They are denied education, denied healthcare, denied legal protection — and in too many cases, denied even their own names. Their abusers aren’t hiding. They’re protected by legislation. They’re emboldened by the absence of oversight. They are funded by the very governments and insurance systems that claim to protect children. They lobby openly. They incorporate abuse. They profit in plain sight.

And it doesn’t stop at our borders.

Programs expand globally, slipping into countries with weaker child welfare laws. They exploit legal limbo, warehouse kids until they turn eighteen, and abandon families with no recourse. This system isn’t broken. It was built this way. It thrives on secrecy. It feeds on vulnerability. And it survives because the suffering of children will never outweigh the pull of capitalism, corruption, and convenience.

This isn't just a podcast. It's a reckoning.

Submit Case

Do you carry a story that was never meant to be told? Were you - or someone you love - trapped inside a "treatment" center, teen program, or institution built to exploit and profit from your pain?

At Cruel Money, we expose the billion-dollar systems that thrive by silencing victims and protecting abusers. We don't sanitize stories. We weaponize truth. And your voice could blow the whole thing wide open.

They built an industry on suffering. Let's dismantle it - one story at a time.

Every testimony matters. Share yours.

Partner With Us

Fuel the Fight. Amplify the Truth. Help dismantle billion-dollar systems built on silence.

Cruel Money is an investigative media platform built to expose billion-dollar systems of exploitation. We rely on partnerships and community support to keep survivor stories at the forefront.

Corporate Sponsorships → Align your brand with raw, truth-driven storytelling. Season and episode partnerships available.

Foundations & Grants → Collaborate with us on projects that advance transparency, accountability, and youth protection.

Listener & Community Support → Contribute directly through future donation platforms to keep survivor voices amplified.

Strategic Partnerships → Join us in building cross-sector alliances for systemic change.

To explore partnership opportunities, contact us at Jessicat@cruelmoneypodcast.com

Ways to Support Our Work: