Over 420 brave survivors have come forward to demand justice after enduring child sex abuse at juvenile detention facilities throughout New York City perpetrated by adult employees. Represented by Levy Konigsberg Partner Jerome Block, over 165 more survivors filed sexual abuse lawsuits Tuesday following the filing of more than 250 similar cases earlier this year. The lawsuits are filed against the City of New York for the sexual abuse these survivors suffered while confined at juvenile detention facilities at the hands of City employees. Some of these individuals were sexually abused at multiple juvenile detention facilities in New York City.
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.
According to the lawsuits, many different staff at New York City juvenile detention centers were involved in sexual abuse, such as:
- Correctional Officers
- Counselors
- Supervisors
- Teachers
- Doctors
- Nurses
- And others
Despite the widespread and well-known sexual abuse of children at New York City juvenile detention centers, the City has done little to protect these children or to punish their abusers. It is this pattern of negligence on the part of the City that has prompted the filing of these lawsuits. The City’s shocking negligence in its failure to stop the sexual abuse of children in its juvenile detention facilities is detailed in the complaints that have been filed this year.
Leading the Way for Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse
Levy Konigsberg and its team of dedicated trial attorneys are at the forefront of childhood sexual abuse litigation, having filed hundreds of lawsuits nationwide on behalf of survivors.
In announcing these latest filings, 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 represents hundreds of survivors of sexual abuse at New York City’s juvenile detention facilities and plans to continue fighting tirelessly on their behalf.
Levy Konigsberg is a nationwide trial law firm with a proven track record of representing survivors of sexual abuse. We have the strength, size, and resources needed to file lawsuits against government agencies, religious groups, medical institutions, and more. If you want to know if you can file a claim for child sexual abuse that occurred at Crossroads Juvenile Center, Horizon Juvenile Center, Riker’s Island, Spofford Juvenile Detention Center, or other juvenile detention centers in New York City, then speak with our team today.
Please call 800-315-3806 now and request a free, initial consultation with our firm.