Levy Konigsberg files suit on behalf of eight men and women who were sexually abused as juveniles at the medium-security youth correctional facility, the youth correctional facility for women and the Albert Elias Residential Community Home on the Johnstone Campus and the Costello Prep Residential Community Home

Mt. Holly, New Jersey, June 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ – Lawyers at Levy Konigsberg Moshe Maimon And Corey Briskin filed a lawsuit on behalf of eight men and women who were detained as juveniles in the Juvenile Medium Security Facility (“JMSF”), the Juvenile Female Secure Care and Intake Facility (“Bordentown“) and Albert Elias Residential Community Home (“Albert Elias“) on the Johnstone Campus in New York, NYand the Costello Prep Residential Community Home (“Costello”) in Tabernacle, NJ.

Levy Konigsberg sued the State of New Jerseyon the grounds that JMSF had failed to protect children from rampant sexual abuse. Bordentown, Albert Eliasand Costello. The lawsuit on behalf of eight men and women who were abused as children in these facilities is the latest in a series of New Jersey Lawsuits over abuse in juvenile detention centers, led by Levy Konigsberg.

As detailed in the complaint, there is a well-documented history of child abuse at JMSF. Bordentown, Albert Eliasand Costello, with reports of decades of abusive practices. In fact, the state was sued in 2000 for failing to protect a 14-year-old girl from sexual assault by a guard at JMSF during her confinement between 1996 and 1997. In 2002, a JMSF officer was convicted of sexually assaulting two female inmates in early 2001, one of whom was only 15 at the time. And in 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice released a report finding that New Jersey has one of the highest rates of sexual abuse among juvenile correctional facilities in the country, and much of this abuse goes unreported. Due to the state’s failure, children have been sexually abused by guards and other JMSF staff. Bordentown, Albert Eliasand Costello, who were responsible for her care.

The lawsuits filed by Levy Konigsberg were filed under New Jersey Child Sexual Abuse Act (“CSAA”), a 2019 law that extends the statute of limitations for filing civil lawsuits in child sexual abuse cases. Most of the survivors seeking justice in these lawsuits were abused many years ago, some as early as the 1980s, and suffered in silence until their claims finally became possible through the CSAA. Despite the years separating their experiences, the eight men and women whose claims were filed this week experienced disturbingly similar patterns of abuse, indicating New Jersey systemic failure to protect the children in his care.

Announcing this week’s filings, Levy Konigsberg partner Moshe Maimon said:

“For far too long, vulnerable children in New Jersey Inmates were mistreated beyond belief in their youth prison – victims of a broken juvenile justice system. The state had a responsibility towards these children and failed to fulfill that responsibility.”

Levy Konigsberg has filed hundreds of lawsuits on behalf of survivors of sexual abuse across the country and is at the forefront of CSAA litigation in New Jerseyafter filing some of the first lawsuits against widespread sexual abuse in the state’s youth correctional facilities. Earlier this year, the Associated Press reported on Levy Konigsberg’s lawsuit on behalf of 50 men who were tortured at the New Jersey Training School, known as JamesburgThose interested can read the article here. Since then, Levy Konigsberg has been working on behalf of 25 men who were killed as teenagers in four New Jersey Juvenile detention centres, including Jamesburg And skilland 14 male and female survivors of sexual abuse in the youth correctional facilities of the union And Middlesex counties.

Levy Konigsberg represents over 200 survivors of sexual abuse in juvenile detention facilities across New Jersey and plans to continue to fight tirelessly for her rights.

For more information on the child sexual abuse litigation led by Levy Konigsberg, please visit the firm’s website or contact partner Moshe Maimon using the firm’s contact form.

Contact:
Erica Helcher
(email protected)

SOURCE Levy Konigsberg