Long Island Father Of Missing Girl Found After 25 Days Plans Lawsuit: Report

LONG ISLAND, NY — The father of a Long Island teenager missing for 25 days has plans to sue a state children's mental health facility on the grounds that his daughter’s constitutional rights were violated, Newsday reported.

The father contends his daughter was remanded by a Suffolk judge as a sex trafficking victim to Sagamore Children’s Psychiatric Center after her disappearance in December, and that he is seeking monetary damages for personal injuries suffered by himself and his daughter and the expense of treatment, according to the outlet.

The father declined comment.

His attorney, Chris Ross, of Keegan & Keegan Ross & Rosner in Patchogue, could not be immediately reached for comment.

Patch has reached out to both state and county officials for comment on this lawsuit.

The lawsuit comes on the heels of the arrest of 42-year-old mental health worker DeShaun McClean, who was accused of having sexual contact with the teen between Jan. 9 and Jan. 23 at a that she was staying at in Suffolk after she was found, News 12 reported.

The claim alleges officials at the facility had been warned about McClean and informed the girl's father of "reported inappropriate contact with his daughter and assured him that it was being addressed and that the individual would not pose any further risk to his daughter," Newsday reported.

McClean's attorney, Derrick Magwood of Mineola, could not be immediately reached.

In addition to McClean, 12 other people, including nine other men and three women, have been arrested in connection with the girl's arrest.

The first arrest in the case was that of Francis Buckheit, of East Islip, his defense attorney Danielle Marie Papa of Hauppauge said.

The second person arrested was Bunice Knight, 47, of Copiague, with investigators alleging he had sex with the girl inside of his house hours before she was found, according to reports.

Others arrested reportedly included Daniel Burke, 63, of Bohemia, and Robert Eccleston, who were reportedly arrested with investigators alleging they kidnapped the teen and held her at their homes.

A 20-year-old from Medford, Kevin McDonald, was also reportedly arrested in connection with the case.

Two women were also reportedly charged on Jan. 24 with child trafficking in the case — Elizabeth Hunter, 34, of Islip, and Jacquelyn Comiskey, 52, of Bellport — for using the teen for money and drugs from men.

Seven men and two women will answer a 75-count indictment containing updated charges, including child sex trafficking, kidnapping, and rape, Newsday reported.

Thirty-five-year-old Bellport resident Alton Harrell, who is alleged to have picked the teen up at her house on Dec. 9, faces the most serious upgrade with a new top charge of first-degree kidnapping, the outlet reported, citing court records.

Other arrests in connection with the case include that of Ralph Knowles, 63, and Rebecca Browell, 48, of Brentwood.

Online court records show that the nine previously indicted in connection with the case includes not only Knowles, but Buckheit, Eccleston, Burke, Harrell, McDonald, Hunter, Knight, and Comiskey.

Daniel Soto, 36, of Bay Shore, was the 12th person arrested on a felony charge of second-degree rape and endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor.

Editor's note: The teen's name is being withheld to protect her identity as a minor.