SUMMIT ACADEMY SEXUAL ABUSE LAWSUITS

Fighting for Survivors Abused at Summit Academy in Pennsylvania

Levy Konigsberg is investigating claims that children were allegedly sexually and physically abused at Summit Academy residential school in Pennsylvania.

Located in Herman, this private facility serves as a rehabilitative environment for court-adjudicated and at-risk youth between the ages of 13 and 19. However, evidence from ongoing litigation suggests that the institution allowed an environment of negligence to persist for decades, resulting in reports of grooming, rape, and predatory behavior by staff members. Survivors allege that the facility restricted contact with the outside world and lacked transparent reporting mechanisms, effectively trapping vulnerable students with their abusers. These lawsuits contend that the operators prioritized profit over safety by failing to adequately screen employees, including consultants and instructors, and neglecting to investigate reports of misconduct. Legal actions are currently being pursued to hold the responsible entities accountable for these egregious breaches of the duty of care.

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

History of Sexual Abuse in Summit Academy in Pennsylvania

The problematic history of sexual abuse at the Summit Academy has been documented by high-profile court filings, criminal indictments, and investigations. The information found throughout these investigations demonstrated that the Summit Academy had neither implemented policies and safety precautions to safeguard the children nor adequately screened, trained, and supervised its workers. Their negligence created an environment conducive to abuse. It exposed students to sexual assault, which was frequently perpetrated by Summit Academy staff. 

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

• In July 2024, reports surfaced detailing three lawsuits filed on behalf of 92 individuals who allegedly suffered sexual and physical abuse as children at Abraxas Youth & Family Services, Summit Academy, and George Junior Republic in Pennsylvania, dating back to 2000.

Staff allegedly subjected children to grooming, strip searches, and rape. They allegedly had sexual relationships with youths, and used contraband and special privileges in exchange for sexual favors. 

The lawsuits alleged that the facilities prioritized profits over safety by failing to properly hire and supervise employees or investigate reports of abuse and misconduct.

• In 2023, seven former residents of the Summit Academy filed a class action lawsuit alleging that they were victims of sexual, emotional, and physical abuse when they lived in the juvenile detention and rehabilitative school. 

According to the lawsuit, Summit Academy allegedly restricted many of the children’s interactions with the outside world, trapping the children with their abusers. As a result, it was nearly impossible for the children who were allegedly abused at the facility to get help or stop the abuse. 

Additionally, the lawsuit claimed there was no safe and transparent way for victims to report abuse at Summit Academy; those who did so were reportedly ignored or, worse, targeted for retaliation, which made the trauma of the abuse much more intense.

• In 2017, Jordan Dominique Ondish, 24, a special education instructor at Summit Academy, was sacked after being accused of having sex with a student. A staff member at the school reported the incident after discovering a phone filled with graphic text conversations between the victim and his teacher in the student’s room. According to the police affidavit, Ondish allegedly had sex with the student twice in her classroom. She faced charges of institutional sexual abuse.

• In April 2013, Dr. David Evanko admitted to sexually abusing two students at Summit Academy, where he had worked as a consulting physician in the 2000s. Dr. Evanko, a serial abuser, was already serving a jail term for abusing children while serving as a Boy Scout leader in the 1980s and 1990s. He received a term of 14.5 years in jail for the Summit Academy abuse cases. 

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.