Levy Konigsberg Attorneys Jerome Block and Madeleine Skaller have filed lawsuits on behalf of over 535 men and women who allege they were sexually abused by staff members when they were confined as children at juvenile detention facilities in New York City

NEW YORK, Jan. 27, 2025 /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 535. 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 Monday of over 100 additional cases follow its filing of over 425 similar cases in 2024.

The lawsuits aim to hold the City of New York accountable for its failure to protect vulnerable children under its care. Despite the gravity of the accusations, the City is actively working to have the cases dismissed. In late October 2024, the City of New York filed a motion to dismiss the complaints, arguing that the law assigns liability only to the individuals who committed sexual assault rather than to the institutions that enabled the abuse, and asserting that institutions cannot be sued under the two-year revival window put into place by the City Council in 2022. In response to this motion, Levy Konigsberg contends that the City’s arguments are inconsistent with the law, given that the clear intent of the City Council in passing the 2022 Amendments to the Gender-Motivated Violence Act — proposed by Council Members Carlina Rivera and Selvena Brooks-Powers, and co-sponsored by 26 other council members — was to allow cases against enabling institutions, such as the City, to proceed under the two-year revival window.

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.

“Today we stand with survivors of sexual abuse at juvenile detention centers to be heard, believed and most importantly to hold accountable the City and its agencies who allowed this egregious sexual abuse occur,” said Levy Konigsberg Partner Jerome Block. “For nearly a year now, we have stood with elected officials, advocates, and members of the community to say enough is enough and something must be done. We have now filed over 500 cases from men and women who suffered sexual abuse in New York City juvenile detention centers as teenagers. The City and its broken juvenile system must be held to account. This institutionalized sexual abuse and culture of secrecy has persisted for decades and there is no evidence that the City has done anything to fix its procedures to ensure the safety of children in the 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; Jblock@levylaw.com 

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SOURCE Levy Konigsberg

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