Levy Konigsberg attorneys Jerome Block and Madeleine Skaller have filed lawsuits on behalf of over 250 men and women who were sexually abused by staff members when they were incarcerated as children in juvenile detention centers in New York City

NEW YORK, June 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Levy Konigsberg has filed lawsuits on behalf of other survivors of sexual abuse with New York City juvenile detention centers, bringing the total number of plaintiff-survivors brought to court by the firm to over 250. The lawsuits claim The New York Cityby various municipal authorities failed to protect children from rampant sexual abuse by adult staff in juvenile detention centers in the The Bronx And Brooklyn. These lawsuits are the latest in a series of juvenile abuse lawsuits led by Levy Konigsberg. The lawsuits involve child sexual abuse that occurred at all of the city’s major juvenile detention centers, including Spofford Juvenile Detention Center (also known as Bridges), Horizon Juvenile Center, Crossroad Juvenile Center, and Rikers Island.

Levy Konigsberg LLP filed over 100 more cases on Tuesday, following on from filing over 150 similar cases in late April. These latest filings include more than 50 cases on behalf of survivors of Brooklyn’s Crossroads Juvenile Center, which is located together with the Horizon Juvenile Center in The Bronxare still open today. The city closed the Spofford facility in 2011 and stopped sending juveniles to Riker’s Island in late 2018.

Despite numerous reports, investigations and campaigns to close or reform these youth correctional facilities, City of New York has continued a culture of sexual abuse and brutality unabated. The abuse these plaintiffs have endured spans decades. Sexual abuse of children in New York City Juvenile correctional facilities such as Crossroads and Horizon Juvenile Center probably still exist today.

The lawsuits filed by Levy Konigsberg were filed under the recently amended Gender-Motivated Violence Victims Protection Act. Enacted in 2000, the Gender-Motivated Violence Victims Protection Act provides legal avenues for victims of this type of sexual abuse to seek compensation from their abusers and the institutions that enabled the abuse. In 2022, the New York City Council passed a groundbreaking law that creates a two-year look-back period for survivors to file civil lawsuits against their abusers and the institutions that failed to protect them, even if the sexual abuse occurred years or decades ago. This look-back period is open until March 1, 2025and gives survivors a meaningful opportunity to seek justice.

Announcing the filing of the lawsuits on Tuesday, Jerome Block, partner at Levy Konigsberg, said:

“With over 250 cases already filed, it is time for Mayor Adams and the city agencies that operate these juvenile detention centers to take responsibility for the ongoing problem of sexual abuse in the city’s juvenile detention centers. This rampant, institutionalized sexual abuse has existed for many decades, and there is no evidence that the city has taken any action to improve its procedures and ensure the safety of children in the juvenile detention centers. New York City juvenile justice system. It is outrageous and appalling that the perpetrators of this horrific sexual abuse are the very adult staff who are supposed to keep children safe. Our clients want justice, accountability and prosecution for sexual abuse in New York City “Youth correctional facilities must be abolished.”

Levy Konigsberg has filed hundreds of lawsuits on behalf of victims of sexual abuse across the country and is at the forefront of litigation in New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Illinoisand other states.

Levy Konigsberg represents hundreds of survivors of child sexual abuse in juvenile detention centers in New York City and plans to continue to fight tirelessly for their rights.

More information about new York Media representatives and journalists are requested to contact attorney Jerome Block using the law firm’s contact form regarding the juvenile detention center sexual abuse litigation led by Levy Konigsberg: https://www.levylaw.com/contact-us/

Media contact: Attorney Jerome Block; (email protected)

SOURCE Levy Konigsberg