DEVEREUX ADVANCED BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SEXUAL ABUSE LAWSUITS

Fighting for Survivors Abused at Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health Pennsylvania

Devereux’s three Pennsylvania residential treatment facilities provide 24-hour, out-of-home services for children and adolescents with emotional and behavioral challenges who need intensive services. The facilities are owned by the Devereux Foundation. 

Devereux has faced significant scrutiny over the years due to allegations and incidents of sexual abuse perpetrated by staff members. Lawsuits, investigations and media reports allege that instead of fulfilling its promise and solemn responsibility to protect these vulnerable youth, Devereux exposed them to predators and abusers. 

A growing number of survivors are coming forward to file civil lawsuits against the Devereux Foundation and hold the organization accountable for the harm they suffered. They demand compensation for Devereux’s failure to fulfill its duty of care and protect them from abusers. 

If you or someone you love were sexually abused at Devereux residential treatment facilities in Pennsylvania, the attorneys at Levy Konigsberg want to help. Our team has extensive experience litigating sexual abuse lawsuits on behalf of survivors and knows how to help survivors fight back.

History of Sexual Abuse at Devereux Pennsylvania Facilities

The history of sexual abuse at Devereux facilities in Pennsylvania is a tragic and ongoing issue documented by high-profile legal filings, criminal indictments, and sweeping investigations. The allegations uncovered during these investigations show that Devereux failed to enact safety measures and other policies to protect children at their facilities. Their negligence fostered an environment where abuse could thrive and exposed the vulnerable children in their care to sexual abuse, often perpetrated by Devereux staff. Examples of sexual abuse at Devereux facilities in Pennsylvania include the following:

• In June 2024, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee released a sweeping report detailing abuse at residential treatment facilities operated by major healthcare companies, including Devereux. The report revealed system sexual, physical, and emotional abuse, unsafe conditions, inhumane confinement practices, and neglect throughout these facilities.
• In May 2024, a group of 66 people, represented by Levy Konigsberg, who had been committed to juvenile facilities in Pennsylvania as minors filed four lawsuits claiming that staff members, guards, nurses, supervisors, or other personnel had abused them physically, sexually, or even violently. According to the claims, several incidents were reported to other employees but were either disregarded or treated with disbelief. Eighteen of these survivors filed against Devereux regarding incidents of sexual abuse, including rapes, that occurred at Devereux facilities.
• In December 2023, six former residents filed a sexual abuse lawsuit against The Devereux Foundation. The lawsuit alleged that staff at Devereux’s juvenile facilities abused them and allowed the abuse to continue.

The lawsuit also accused Devereux of failing to provide a safe environment for the children in their care. It alleged that staff members betrayed the trust of both the patients and their families by not taking proper steps to protect the children from abuse.

• In August 2020, The Philadelphia Inquirer published an investigation documenting Devereux staff members’ decades of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse of vulnerable children. The investigation stated that in the previous 25 years, Devereux staff had sexually abused at least 41 minors as young as 12, some with IQs as low as 50.

Do I Have a Case?

You may have grounds to file a civil legal action if:

• You were sexually abused by a guard, counselor, nurse, or other youth residential treatment or juvenile detention center staff member.
• The abuse occurred at any youth residential treatment or juvenile detention facility.

Levy Konigsberg represents survivors in civil lawsuits that aim to hold youth residential treatment facilities,  juvenile detention centers, private healthcare companies, and other facility operators accountable for their failures to stop abusive staff members and protect young residents.

As civil claims, these cases are separate from any criminal proceedings that may arise from abuse and focus instead on holding institutions liable for damages. This means you may still have a claim even if:

• Your abuser is no longer alive.
• Your abuser was never charged with or convicted of a crime.

Recoverable Damages in Sexual Abuse Claims

In addition to providing accountability and a sense of justice, civil sex abuse lawsuits allow survivors to recover financial compensation for their damages, which may include:

• Past medical and mental health expenses
• Future mental health expenses, including therapy, medications, etc.
• Pain and suffering
• Emotional anguish and psychological harm
• Lost income
• Other economic and non-economic damages

Pennsylvania Sexual Abuse  Attorneys

In Pennsylvania, the current statute of limitations for civil sex abuse claims is the age of adulthood plus 37 years, which means that survivors sexually abused as minors typically have until the age of 55 to file legal action, as long as they were born after November 26, 1989.

As in other states across the country, Pennsylvania’s current statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse claims has been criticized for barring numerous survivors from seeking justice and compensation for their damages and for failing to recognize accepted research about the considerable difficulties survivors face when processing their abuse and taking steps to come forward. Thanks to new efforts by advocates and lawmakers, however, there are now several pending measures before the Pennsylvania Legislature that seek to expand the rights of child sex abuse survivors.

These groundbreaking measures, which are expected to pass, will create new opportunities for survivors to step forward and obtain long-overdue justice. If passed, these measures would create a temporary two-year window for child sexual abuse survivors to file claims over abuse that occurred at any time in the past.

Levy Konigsberg is actively investigating allegations of sexual abuse at any Pennsylvania juvenile detention and youth residential treatment centers.

We are committed to protecting the most vulnerable members of our society and seeking justice for survivors of sexual abuse in juvenile detention centers and youth residential treatment facilities. Our experienced team is dedicated to providing legal representation and support to survivors, and we are actively investigating allegations of abuse. We are working tirelessly to ensure that survivors have access to justice and that future generations of young people are safe from harm within these institutions.