( Cut for stupid blithering. )

I have to ask - has there ever been a story about a seemingly benevolent group actually running a side business in having young people with the desired superpowers/bloodlines/plot-tokens deeply traumatized and abused so that, when the benevolent front shows up and takes them in, they're so broken that they have no defenses against being brainwashed and turned to whatever purpose the group wants?

Yes, I know of PLENTY of stories where a SINGLE young person is so targeted. But are there any stories where this is the sinister manipulator's favored technique?

I'm just thinking of deconstructing an elite-teenagert-team story...