Levy Konigsberg Attorneys Jerome Block and Madeleine Skaller have filed lawsuits on behalf of over 250 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, June 13, 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 250. 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, Crossroad Juvenile Center and Rikers Island. 

Levy Konigsberg LLP's filing Tuesday of over 100 additional cases follow its filing of over 150 similar cases in late April. These latest filings include more than 50 cases brought on behalf of survivors of Brooklyn's Crossroads Juvenile Center, which along with Horizon Juvenile Center in the Bronx, remain open to this day. The City closed the Spofford facility in 2011 and stopped sending juvenile to Riker's Island in late 2018.

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 250 cases already filed, it's time for Mayor Adams and the City agencies operating these juvenile facilities to accept responsibility for the ongoing problem of sexual abuse in the City's juvenile detention centers. This rampant, institutionalized sexual abuse has persisted for many decades and there is no evidence that the City has done anything to fix its procedures to ensure the safety of children in the New York City juvenile system. It's outrageous and appalling that the perpetrators of this horrific sexual abuse are the very adult staff members that were supposed to keep children safe. Our clients want justice, accountability, and for sexual abuse in New York City juvenile detentions centers to end."

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