Levy Konigsberg Attorneys Jerome Block and Madeleine Skaller have filed lawsuits on behalf of over 420 men and women who were sexually abused by staff members when they were confined as children at juvenile detention facilities in New York City

NEW YORK, Oct. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Levy Konigsberg has filed lawsuits on behalf of additional survivors of sexual abuse at New York City juvenile detention centers bringing the total number of plaintiff-survivors with cases brought by the firm to over 420. The lawsuits allege that New York City, through various city agencies, failed to protect children from rampant sexual abuse perpetrated by adult employees at juvenile detention centers in the Bronx and Brooklyn. These lawsuits are the latest in a string of juvenile detention abuse lawsuits spearheaded by Levy Konigsberg. The lawsuits include childhood sexual abuse that occurred at all of the major juvenile facilities in the City including Spofford Juvenile Detention Center (also known as Bridges), Horizon Juvenile Center, Crossroads Juvenile Center and Rikers Island.

Levy Konigsberg LLP's filing Tuesday of over 165 additional cases follow its filing of over 250 similar cases earlier this year.

With hundreds of cases already filed, it is now clear that many of these survivors were victimized by repeat perpetrators. The City of New York allowed these prolific abusers to sexually abuse children in the City's care for years unabated. Natalie Medford, a former staff member at Horizon, is alleged to have abused at least 13 of the survivors with cases currently pending. Additionally, Tony "Tyson" Simmons, a registered sex offender who was imprisoned for sexually assaulting several young girls at New York City's juvenile detention centers, has been named by seven additional survivors. As these cases continue to be filed, a culture of secrecy has been discovered.

Despite widespread reports, investigations, and campaigns to close or reform these juvenile detention facilities, the City of New York has allowed a culture of sexual abuse and brutality to continue unabated. The abuse endured by these plaintiffs stretches across decades. Sexual abuse of children at New York City's juvenile detention facilities including Crossroads and Horizon Juvenile Center likely continues to this day.

The suits filed by Levy Konigsberg were brought under the recently amended Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law. Enacted in 2000, the Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law, provides legal pathways for victims of this type of sexual abuse to pursue damages from their abusers and from the institutions that enabled the abuse. In 2022, The New York City Council passed a groundbreaking law to create a two year look back window for survivors to file civil suits against their perpetrators and the institutions that failed to protect them, even if it has been years or decades since the sexual abuse took place. This lookback window is open until March 1, 2025, and allows survivors a meaningful opportunity to seek justice.

In announcing the filing of Tuesday's lawsuits, Levy Konigsberg Partner Jerome Block stated:

"With over 400 cases of sexual abuse in New York City juvenile detention centers now filed, we have still heard nothing of substance from Mayor Adams or from the agencies responsible for the City's broken juvenile justice system. How many more men and women with their lives shattered must come forward before the City accepts responsibility for the sexual predators in its ranks that traumatized children? For decades, a culture of secrecy has allowed this institutionalized and rampant sexual abuse. Now the City and its agencies, including the Administration for Children Services (ACS) and the Department of Corrections, must be held to account. The Mayor and these agencies have done nothing to show these survivors any support and nothing to provide assurances to New Yorkers that children at these juvenile facilities are safe today."

Levy Konigsberg has filed hundreds of lawsuits on behalf of survivors of sexual abuse nationwide and is at the forefront of litigation in New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Illinois, and other states.

Levy Konigsberg represents hundreds of survivors of child sexual abuse at New York City's juvenile detention facilities and plans to continue fighting tirelessly on their behalf.

For additional information about New York juvenile detention center sex abuse lawsuits spearheaded by Levy Konigsberg, media members and journalists are encouraged to reach out to Attorney Jerome Block by using the law firm's contact form: https://www.levylaw.com/contact-us/

Media Contact: Attorney Jerome Block; [email protected] 

SOURCE Levy Konigsberg