Levy Konigsberg Attorneys Jerome
Block and Clark Binkley, and
co-counsel, have filed a lawsuit on behalf of 16 men and women who
suffered sexual abuse when they were confined as children at three
of Pennsylvania's state-run
juvenile detention facilities.
NEW YORK, May 22, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- Levy Konigsberg and co-counsel have filed a lawsuit
against the the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services ("DHS"),
alleging that state agency failed to protect children from horrific
sexual abuse at three juvenile detention facilities. The lawsuit,
brought on behalf of 16 men and women who were abused as children
at Pennsylvania's Loysville Youth
Development Center, North Central Secure Treatment Unit, and South
Mountain Secure Treatment Unit, is the latest in a string of
juvenile detention abuse lawsuits spearheaded by Levy Konigsberg
across the country.
As detailed in the lawsuit, Pennsylvania's juvenile detention system has
for decades subjected children "to a culture of exploitation,
violence, and rampant sexual abuse." Widespread reports and
investigations into the traumatizing environment and violently
abusive staff went ignored by DHS, allowing generations numbers of
children to suffer sexual abuse at the hands of guards, counselors,
and other staff members who were supposed to be looking out for
them.
The men and women who filed claims today include those who
suffered sexual as far back as 2000 and as recently as 2023.
Despite the years and decades separating their experiences, the 16
men and women whose claims were filed today experienced
disturbingly similar patterns of abuse across the three facilities,
evidencing a systemic failure by DHS to protect the children in its
care.
Unfortunately, current law in Pennsylvania bars individuals who were born
prior to November 26, 1989 from
bringing claims for childhood sexual abuse. As a result, untold
numbers of survivors who were abused in earlier decades continue to
suffer in silence.
In announcing today's lawsuit filed on behalf of 16 men and
women, Levy Konigsberg Partner Jerome Block stated:
"These men and women have courageously stepped forward to seek
justice and accountability for the horrific sexual abuse they
suffered at juvenile detention center operated by the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania. It can take many
decades for survivors of child sex abuse to be ready to come
forward to assert their legal rights. These cases once again show
why it is so important for Pennsylvania lawmakers to pass legislation
that will allow survivors of child sexual abuse to seek justice,
regardless of how long ago the abuse occurred. There are many more
survivors, including men and women sexually abused at these same
facilities in earlier decades, who are unable to file their cases
of child sexual abuse under current Pennsylvania law."
Levy Konigsberg has filed hundreds of lawsuits on behalf of
survivors of sexual abuse nationwide, and is at the forefront of
litigation regarding abuse juvenile detention facilities, having
filed some of the first lawsuits about the widespread sexual abuse
at such facilities in states like Maryland, New
Jersey, and Illinois.
National news outlets, including The Associated Press and
The New York Times have covered
Levy Konigsberg's recent lawsuits on behalf of hundreds of men and
women who had been sexually abused as children at these facilities.
Interested parties can read the articles here, here, and here.
Levy Konigsberg represents hundreds of survivors of sexual abuse
at Pennsylvania's juvenile
detention and residential treatment facilities and plans to
continue fighting tirelessly on their behalf.
For additional information about childhood sexual abuse lawsuits
spearheaded by Levy Konigsberg, media members and journalists are
encouraged to reach out to Attorney Jerome
Block by using the law firm's contact form:
https://www.levylaw.com/contact-us/
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SOURCE Levy Konigsberg