NEW YORK SCHOOL SEXUAL ABUSE LAWSUITS

Fighting for Survivors of Student Sexual Abuse in New York

New York schools allegedly failed to protect students from sexual abuse by teachers and staff, with allegations spanning decades across multiple districts.

Levy Konigsberg is investigating claims that students in New York schools were sexually abused by teachers and staff despite known reports of misconduct.

Multiple New York school districts have faced lawsuits alleging that teachers, coaches, and staff sexually abused students over several decades, with allegations spanning from the 1960s through the 2020s. The cases involve numerous public and private schools across the state, with school officials in many instances allegedly having been aware of misconduct but failing to report it or take disciplinary action. Settlements and jury verdicts across the various cases have totaled tens of millions of dollars, with litigation ongoing in several districts.

Teachers and school officials are trusted figures who are meant to protect, care for and educate innocent and vulnerable children. When children are harmed in a school and that trust is betrayed, the results can be devastating. If you or a loved one was harmed, contact us today.

Sex Abuse Scandals in New York Schools

Examples of alleged abuse, and of conditions likely to lead to abuse within New York schools, include the following:

Harrisville Central School District

• In August 2026, the Harrisville Central School District in Lewis County, New York, was ordered to pay $3.5 million to a former student who was allegedly repeatedly sexually abused by his teacher Bette Shampine for years beginning in 1981 when he was 9 years old.

The principal allegedly threatened to extend the student one more year and the district allegedly took no action.

New York City Department of Education (Multiple New York City Schools)

• In June 2026, a Brooklyn jury ordered New York City to pay $18 million to a former student who was repeatedly sexually abused by substitute music teacher John Clark at PS 15 in Red Hook, Brooklyn between 1968 and 1971. School officials were allegedly aware of the abuse after a parent complained, but the principal transferred the student rather than reporting the incident to the district superintendent. The jury found the Department of Education acted recklessly, marking the first verdict against New York City under the Child Victims Act. 

Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School

• In January 2019, Msgr. George Zatarga of the Diocese of Brooklyn was reportedly placed on administrative leave after he admitted to “inappropriate behavior” during his 40-year career.  At least five men have reportedly told the diocese that Zatarga molested them as teenagers.  At least one of the alleged victims attended Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School, where Zatarga was chaplain from 1971 until 1979.  Zatarga reportedly sexually abused his victims under the guise of counseling, and repeatedly had his victims strip naked and then molested them.  One family reported that three brothers were allegedly molested by Zatarga.

Christian Brothers Academy (Albany, NY)

• In August 2005, Sandra “Beth” Geisel, an English teacher at Christian Brothers Academy in Colonie, N.Y., was criminally charged with two counts each of rape and endangering the welfare of a child for allegedly having sex twice with a 16-year-old student.  The school reportedly fired Geisel shortly after police officers found her in the back seat of a parked car with a 17-year-old student. The administration then reportedly sent a note to parents vaguely outlining the events, which prompted a 16-year-old boy to come forward alleging he and Geisel had sex on two occasions about two weeks apart — once at her home and the other time allegedly inside a press box at the Christian Brothers Academy football field.  He alleged he “took turns” with the teacher with another student, a 17-year-old. 

Christian Brothers Academy (Syracuse, NY)

• In October 2022, Elizabeth Tucker-Schultz, the Girls Swimming and Diving Coach for Christian Brothers Academy, was arrested and charged with sexual abuse.

• In August 2018, it was reported in a Pennsylvania grand jury report that Father Barry M. Hudock, a former priest who served as a teacher at Christian Brothers Academy in Syracuse, engaged in sexual abuse of a minor.  In the grand jury finding, Hudock was alleged to have engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior with a 17-year-old girl in 1996 prior to his employment at Christian Brothers Academy.  According to the report, the sexual abuse allegedly occurred in multiple locations and states, Hudock groped and kissed the victim on numerous occasions, Hudock showed the victim pornographic videos, undressed her in his rectory and sexually assaulted her.

• In May 2010, James McDevitt, who had served as a priest at Christian Brothers Academy in Syracuse in the late 1980s, admitted to abusing young boys.  McDevitt pleaded guilty in the Delaware County town of Middletown to two misdemeanor counts of forcible touching.

La Salle Institute

• In September 2014, a former student of the La Salle Institute in Troy came forward to report that he was sexually abused by his teacher at the school more than two decades ago. The abuse allegedly began after the then-principal of La Salle, Brother James Romond, referred him to the teacher for tutoring so he could pass a Regents test.  The victim alleged the sessions were to take place every Saturday morning at the teacher’s apartment, but that it only involved abuse. The victim further alleged he reported the abuse to then-Bishop Howard Hubbard but was not helped.  The victim also alleged that the chaplain, the Rev. Salvatore “Sam” Rodino, deterred him from divulging the abuse because it would be stress on the victim’s father, an ordained deacon.  The school identified the teacher as Norman E. Rioux, a former Spanish teacher at the school.  Rioux reportedly was hired at the school despite being convicted of federal charges in U.S. District Court for a check-cashing scheme that La Salle officials now say they did not know about.

St. Peter’s Boys High School

• In October 2019, a fourth individual came forward with allegations that former Staten Island coach, Anthony Sagona, sexually abused him when he was a child.  According to his lawsuit, the plaintiff was abused from the ages of 13 to 17, when he played on Sagona’s youth basketball and baseball teams which were organized by co-defendants, the New York Archdiocese, Catholic Youth Organization of Staten Island, Catholic Charities of Staten Island, St. Peter’s Boys High School and Saint John Baptist De La Salle of New York.

Atlantic Acting School

• In April 2025, Samuel Gonzalez, a former teacher at the Atlantic Acting School in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, was charged with distributing and possessing child pornography, including material involving the sexual abuse of infants and toddlers. Gonzalez was arrested after he made contact with an undercover officer and allegedly began sharing child pornography with the officer.

Carthage Central School District (West Carthage Elementary School)

• In April 2025, Lowell Williams, a former substitute teacher at West Carthage Elementary School, was arrested for allegedly sexually abusing third-grade students.  Williams was accused of rubbing a 9-year-old boy’s groin area over his clothing and rubbing a 9-year-old girl’s breast over her clothing on the same day. Williams was charged with felony counts of sexual abuse for his conduct.

Family Foundation School

• In March 2025, former Family Foundation School teacher, Paul Geer, was convicted of sexually abusing students. Geer allegedly tortured students—depriving them of food, forcing them to eat vomited food, wrapping them in rugs and leaving them isolated for long periods, and making them do hard physical labor. Geer also allegedly raped or otherwise sexually abused students at the school.

Rochester City School District (East High School)

• In February 2025, a plaintiff was awarded $12.5 million after suing the Rochester City School District and Edwin Fleming, a former East High School music teacher, accused of sexually abusing her.  Fleming allegedly raped the plaintiff during the 1980-1981 school year. District employees were reportedly aware of Fleming’s abuse but failed to report it to authorities.  Other victims also filed lawsuits, claiming they were abused by Fleming between 1968 and 1981. In most of the cases, the plaintiffs’ experiences reportedly echo one another across the span of 1968 to 1981—Fleming hugged, touched, kissed and molested them, and in some cases escalated his assaults into graphic rape.

New York City Department of Education (P.S. 076 A. Philip Randolph School)

• In February 2025, former P.S. 076 A. Philip Randolph media specialist, Saneel Boodram, was accused of allegedly touching a 12-year-old’s breast, making inappropriate comments, and sending shirtless photos of himself to multiple students.

Amherst Central School District (Amherst Central School)

• In January 2025, Amherst Central School teacher Geoffrey Testa was arrested on multiple felony child exploitation charges.

New York City Department of Education (Multiple New York City Schools)

• In January 2025, dozens of New York City educators were accused of having inappropriate, often sexual relationships and communications with students, with some requesting nude snaps from underage students. A Special Commissioner reported 32 new cases of school staff misconduct with kids, totaling 121 from 2018 to 2024. Examples of allegations substantiated by the city’s Special Commissioner of Investigation include:
  • Daniel Matuk allegedly began communicating with one of his 15-year-old graphic design students at William Cullen Bryant HS in Queens in 2020, exchanging over 700 messages between 2022 and 2023, some of which were graphic and about the student’s body parts.
  • Anthony Schiliro, a history teacher at the Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Manhattan, allegedly sent “excessive” late-night texts to three female students. On one occasion, he joked about one student having sex in front of the other two.
  • Jorge Luna, a social studies teacher at the Bronx Center for Science and Mathematics, repeatedly texted and called a female student starting when she was a freshman, and made inappropriate comments on her Instagram even after being disciplined for his communications with her.
  • Steven Perez, a social studies teacher at Fort Hamilton High School, allegedly texted a 15-year-old student, calling her “sweetie” and “beautiful,” gave her cigarettes and vaping oil, and tried to kiss her. He was arrested in 2021 but the Brooklyn DA declined to prosecute him.
  • Ellen Huynh, a teacher at the Civic Leadership Academy in Queens, allegedly exchanged over 9,000 texts with a male student, hugged him alone in a classroom, and met him in a park.
  • Dulaina Almonte, formerly a French teacher at the Harry S. Truman High School in the Bronx, allegedly sent a 17-year-old female student 28,075 late-night texts and traded nearly 1,900 texts with a male 12th-grader.
  • Scott Biski, a former teacher at the Jamaica Gateway to the Sciences High School, was accused of sexually abusing and grooming a female student when he was a music teacher. He allegedly sent the girl nearly 700 messages and told her to save his number under a fake name.
  • Natalie Black, a former teacher at Hillside Arts and Letters Academy, allegedly sent raunchy photos and videos of herself to a 17-year-old boy and sent other kids videos of herself dancing naked from the waist down.
  • Joseph Canzoneri, a former teacher at Townsend Harris High School, allegedly exchanged flirty messages with female students and had sex with one student who he allegedly brought to an apartment and plied with wine and marijuana.
  • Danielle Medellin, a former teacher at Manhattan’s Institute for Collaborative Education, allegedly exchanged nearly 5,500 flirtatious texts with a boy in one of her 11th-grade math classes.

Port Jefferson Board of Education

• In January 2025, the Port Jefferson Board of Education announced a $16.5 million settlement owed to seven victims who sued them for alleged sexual abuse experienced in their schools and the Board of Education’s plan for paying the settlement.

Oholei Torah

• In December 2024, a former student filed a lawsuit against Oholei Torah, alleging he was sexually abused by another student nearly daily for half a year when he was 11 years old.  According to the lawsuit, between 2004 and 2005, an older student allegedly took him to a storage room near the gym during lunch and abused him. Oholei Torah has been accused previously of failing to protect students from sexual abuse.

Bay Shore Union Free School District (Gardiner Manor Elementary School and Mary Clarkson Elementary School)

• In November 2024, the Bay Shore Union Free School District was ordered to pay $25 million in damages in a sex abuse case involving former teacher Thomas Bernagozzi.  Bernagozzi retired from teaching in 2003. He taught the third grade from 1970 to 2000. Over 50 former students alleged that Bernagozzi abused them during that time at both Gardiner Manor Elementary School and Mary Clarkson Elementary School where Bernagozzi taught.

Packer Collegiate Institute

• In October 2024, former Packer Collegiate Institute baseball coach Nicolas Morton was accused of allegedly grooming and sexually abusing seven boys. The victims were part of Morton’s private travel team, NYC Freedom Baseball, which included players from Packer and other schools.  Morton allegedly groomed players, some as young as 11, by discussing graphic sexual topics, making threats, and engaging in inappropriate touching, including groping and demanding to see or touch their genitals.

Saint Ann’s School

• In July 2024, former Saint Ann’s School teacher Winston Nguyen was arrested for allegedly posing as a student on social media to convince teenagers to send him nude photos and sexual videos.  According to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office, Nguyen used Snapchat to pretend to be a student at least 11 times between October 2022 and May 2024, sending messages to five girls and one boy, all of whom are between the ages of 13 and 15.  Also per the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office, the students with whom he exchanged messages all attended elite private schools around Brooklyn, including Saint Ann’s, Poly Prep Country Day School, Berkeley Carroll School and Packer Collegiate Institute.

John Adams High School

• In May 2024, Michael Budhu, a former assistant principal at John Adams High School in Queens, was arrested on charges of sexual abuse and child endangerment involving a 15-year-old student.  He allegedly shared personal marital problems, inappropriately touched the student without consent, showed her explicit content, made sexual advances, and threatened to fail her if she didn’t return to his office.

Siena Catholic Academy

• In March 2024, a jury awarded a plaintiff $5.4 million for alleged sexual assault perpetrated by Joseph Grasso, a former principal at Siena Catholic Academy. Grasso allegedly abused the victim at St. Thomas More Church, located next to the school while the victim was in middle school, approximately twenty years ago.

Herricks School District (Herricks High School)

• In March 2024, another lawsuit was filed against the Herricks School District over alleged sexual abuse by Herricks High School psychologist Vincent Festa in the 1980s.  More than a dozen victims have filed lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by Festa. Victims and their parents allegedly reported the abuse to the principal and staff, but no investigation was done.

Hilton Center School District (Northwood Elementary School)

• In November 2022, former Northwood Elementary principal, Kirk Ashton, was sentenced to 63 years in prison for allegedly sexually abusing students. In April 2021, allegations surfaced against Ashton claiming that he sexually abused over 20 students while he was principal. He was arrested for these accusations and was found guilty in October 2022 on 46 out of 50 counts of endangering the welfare of a child, first-degree sexual abuse, and second-degree sexual conduct against a child.

Rockville Centre School District

• In October 2022, a jury awarded $30 million to a plaintiff who alleged that his fifth-grade teacher, David Savage, sexually abused him between 1979 and 1983.

Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda Union Free School District

• In June 2022, the Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda School District announced it settled 35 child sexual abuse lawsuits involving alleged abuse by former employees, including Arthur Werner.

LK is Investigating Sexual Abuse Claims in New York Schools

Levy Konigsberg is investigating cases of sexual abuse and assault that occurred at New York schools.

You may have a potential claim if you were sexually abused in any of the following schools or districts:

• Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School 
• Christian Brothers Academy (Albany, NY) 
• Christian Brothers Academy (Syracuse, NY)
• La Salle Institute
• St. Peter’s Boys High School
• Lake Grove School
• Atlantic Acting School
• Carthage Central School District (West Carthage Elementary School)
• The Family Foundation School
• Rochester City School District (East High School)
• P.S. 076 A. Philip Randolph School
• Amherst Central School
• William Cullen Bryant High School
• Eleanor Roosevelt High School
• Bronx Center for Science and Mathematics
• Fort Hamilton High School
• Civic Leadership Academy
• Harry S. Truman High School
• Jamaica Gateway to the Sciences High School
• Hillside Arts and Letters Academy
• Townsend Harris High School
• Manhattan’s Institute for Collaborative Education
• Port Jefferson Board of Education
• Middle Township Elementary School
• Oholei Torah
• Gardiner Manor Elementary School
• Mary Clarkson Elementary School
• Packer Collegiate Institute
• Saint Ann’s School
• John Adams High School
• Siena Catholic Academy
• Herricks School District (Herricks High School)
• Northwood Elementary
• Rockville Centre School District
• Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda Union Free School District
• Harrisville Central School District

Do I Have a Case?

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

• You were sexually abused by a teacher or staff at a school.
• The abuse occurred at any school.

Levy Konigsberg represents survivors in civil lawsuits that aim to hold schools accountable for their failures to stop abusive teachers and staff.

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

New York School Sexual Abuse Statute of Limitations

A statute of limitations sets deadlines for victims to bring claims against their abuser or entities responsible for the abuse. New York has pioneered efforts to make it easier for sexual abuse survivors to seek justice and compensation.

In 2019, New York passed the Child Victims Act, expanding the statute of limitations for survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Under current law: (1) survivors of childhood sexual abuse at private schools, who were born after February 14, 1998, have until age 55 to file civil lawsuits; and (2) survivors of childhood sexual abuse at public schools, who were born after November 15, 1999, have until age 55 to file civil lawsuits.

Levy Konigsberg is actively investigating allegations of sexual abuse in New York schools.

We are committed to protecting the most vulnerable members of our society and seeking justice for survivors of sexual abuse in schools. 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.