More than 150 people who were locked up in New York City juvenile jails from the 1970s through last year sued city agencies this week, saying they were sexually abused by staff.
The lawsuits echo the claims of more than 700 people who were adults when they say they were sexually abused at Rikers Island and other city jails. Gothamist has been reporting on those lawsuits in recent weeks.
The new civil suits against the city Administration for Children’s Services and the Department of Correction were all filed by the firm Levy Konigsberg under a 2022 city law that extends a statute of limitations and creates a new two-year window so people can sue over gender-motivated acts of violence from many years ago. The window is open until March 1, 2025.
“Childhood sexual abuse is one of the worst traumas that someone can experience,” Jerome Block, one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs, told Gothamist. “The juvenile justice system in New York City is broken.”
In a statement, a City Hall spokesperson said the mayor is taking the allegations seriously. “While these cases predate this administration, the Law Department will review them once served and respond accordingly,” the statement said.
Spokespeople for the city Administration for Children’s Services and the Department of Correction referred Gothamist to the City Hall statement.
More than 75% of the victims are men, Block said. They were all sexually abused when they were 11 to 17 years old, he said, adding that many clients were raped and others were forced to perform oral sex. The abuse took place at Horizon Juvenile Center in the Bronx, Spofford Juvenile Detention Center, a now closed juvenile detention center in the Bronx, and in the Rikers Island jails — which used to jail 16- and 17-year-olds.
Twelve of the victims claim in legal papers they were abused by the same former staff member at Horizon Juvenile Center, according to their lawyers. A variety of staff members at Bronx juvenile detention facilities were alleged to have been involved in the abuse, including correction officers, counselors, teachers and medical staff.
Last year, federal prosecutors charged two supervisors at Horizon with dragging, punching and stomping a 16-year-old. And at the beginning of 2023, according to a report from a federal monitor, one staffer was arrested and fired after sexually abusing a teen at Horizon. Another staffer who witnessed the event but remained silent was also fired.