PRESBYTERIAN CHILDREN’S VILLAGE SEXUAL ABUSE LAWSUITS

Fighting for Survivors Sexually Abused at Presbyterian Children’s Village in Pennsylvania

Levy Konigsberg is investigating claims that children were allegedly sexually abused at Presbyterian Children’s Village, a residential treatment facility in Rosemont, Pennsylvania now operated by Gemma Services.

Gemma Services is the nonprofit organization created in 2019 after the merger of Silver Springs–Martin Luther School and Presbyterian Children’s Village. The organization operates behavioral health, residential treatment, and educational programs for children and adolescents experiencing emotional and behavioral challenges in Pennsylvania.

Presbyterian Children’s Village was a separate nonprofit organization that provided residential and community-based services for children and families. In 2013, the organization rebranded as “theVillage” before later merging with Silver Springs–Martin Luther School to form Gemma Services.

Reports and legal claims have raised concerns about staff misconduct and failures to adequately supervise and protect children placed in residential care programs associated with the organization. These allegations involve incidents in which youth in treatment settings were allegedly subjected to sexual abuse or other misconduct by staff members responsible for their care.

If you or a loved one was harmed, contact us today.

History of Sexual Abuse at Presbyterian Children’s Village in Pennsylvania

Examples of alleged abuse at the facility, and of conditions likely to lead to abuse, include the following:

• In August 2024, Levy Konigsberg filed lawsuits on behalf of dozens of victims who alleged that they were sexually abused as children while housed in juvenile detention facilities in Pennsylvania, including Presbyterian Children’s Village, which later became part of Gemma Services.

Partner Jerome Block said the operators of the facilities allegedly put profit ahead of the safety of children, adding that many of the juvenile facilities where sexual abuse allegedly occurred remain open and that there was no evidence that the inadequate procedures and policies that enabled the abuse had been fixed.

• In February 2017, Maya Johnson, a staff member at the Presbyterian Children’s Village was arrested after students accused her of allegedly showing them indecent photos and videos of herself and flashing her buttocks at them.

Earlier that same month, another staff member, Nina Scott, was arrested for allegedly repeatedly sexual assaulting a 16-year-old student between February 2016 and October 2016. 

Examples of alleged abuse at the facility, and of conditions likely to lead to abuse, include the following:

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.