Levy Konigsberg Files Lawsuit on Behalf of 20 Women Who Were Sexually Abused as Juveniles at Maryland's Waxter Children's Center

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Dec 07, 2023, 13:37 ET

Levy Konigsberg Attorneys Jerome Block and Clark Binkley have filed a lawsuit on behalf of 20 women who suffered sexual abuse when they were confined as juveniles at the Thomas J.S. Waxter Children's Center, Maryland's juvenile detention facility for girls.

NEW YORK, Dec. 7, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Levy Konigsberg has filed a lawsuit against the State of Maryland, alleging that the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services ("DJS") failed to protect children from rampant sexual abuse at Maryland's juvenile detention facility for girls, the Thomas J.S. Waxter Children's Center ("Waxter"). The lawsuit, brought on behalf of 20 women who were abused as children at Waxter, is the latest in a string of Maryland juvenile detention abuse lawsuits spearheaded by Levy Konigsberg.

As detailed in the lawsuit, Waxter (which was finally closed in 2022) was for decades "a source of constant controversy for the State of Maryland, and a site of misery and abuse for the girls confined within its walls." Widespread reports and investigations into the traumatizing, prison-like environment and violently abusive staff of Waxter went ignored by DJS, allowing generations of young girls to suffer sexual abuse at the hands of guards, counselors, and other staff members who were supposed to be looking out for them.

The suit filed by Levy Konigsberg, and co-counsel Brown Kiely LLP, was brought under the recently enacted Maryland Child Victims Act ("CVA"), a law that eliminated the statute of limitations for filing civil lawsuits in cases of child sexual abuse. Many of the women seeking justice in this lawsuit were abused years, even decades, ago, suffering in silence until their claims were finally made possible this year by the CVA. Despite the years and decades separating their experiences, the 20 women whose claims were filed today experienced disturbingly similar patterns of abuse, evidencing a systemic failure by DJS to protect the children in its care.

In announcing the Waxter lawsuit filed on behalf of 20 women, Levy Konigsberg Partner Jerome Block stated:

"The women we represent have courageously stepped forward to seek justice for these horrific acts of sexual abuse. All of them were once young girls who entered the Waxter facility needing help. Instead, they were scarred for life by acts of sexual abuse enabled by a broken Maryland juvenile justice system."

Levy Konigsberg has filed hundreds of lawsuits on behalf of survivors of sexual abuse nationwide, and is at the forefront of CVA litigation in Maryland, having filed some of the first lawsuits about the widespread sexual abuse in Maryland's juvenile detention facilities. In November 2023, The Baltimore Sun covered Levy Konigsberg lawsuit on behalf of 25 men and women who had been sexually abused as children at Maryland's Cheltenham Youth Detention Center. Interested parties can read the article here.

Levy Konigsberg represents over 200 survivors of sexual abuse at Maryland's juvenile detention facilities and plans to continue fighting tirelessly on their behalf.

For additional information about childhood sexual 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: Jerome Block, [email protected]

SOURCE Levy Konigsberg