7 Lawsuits Claim Sex Abuse At Shuttered Facilities For Youth

HAWTHORNE, NY — Seven lawsuits filed this month claim youths were sexually abused while they were living at area residential treatment centers.

The litigation asserts the abuse happened at the Hawthorne Cedar Knolls Residential Treatment Center and Linden Hill Residential Treatment Center.

Both Westchester County facilities are now closed permanently.

Anna Kull and Shaunna Lazzaro, attorneys with the law firm Levy Konigsberg, filed the lawsuits March 26 in Westchester County Supreme Court on behalf of the plaintiffs.

“These young people were promised safety and support, yet they endured neglect, sexual violence, and an egregious breach of trust,” Kull said, in a press release announcing the litigation.

“By bravely coming forward, survivors are not only seeking justice for themselves, but also demanding the accountability and reform necessary to protect future generations of at-risk youth,” Kull added.

The centers had offered housing and mental health services geared toward at-risk youth, such as teens with psychiatric and behavioral issues.

The defendants named in the lawsuits include Hawthorne Cedar Knolls Union Free School District, where the centers were located, and the Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services, which owned and operated the centers.

Neither organization responded to a request for comment as of Monday afternoon.

The lawsuits have been filed by both female and male plaintiffs, who were minors when they came to live at the facilities, court documents show.

One plaintiff, for example, went to one of the residential treatment centers when she was about 15-years-old, according to the litigation. It claims a male staff member, identified only as “John Doe,” raped her approximately 15 times during the year she lived there.

Another plaintiff, who was 17 when she went to live at one of the facilities, claims a male staff member forced her to perform oral sex on him and raped her. The lawsuit claims the plaintiff got pregnant with the unidentified man’s child, and that it was confirmed through a paternity test.

In some cases, the litigation claims the facilities’ staff failed to protect teens from other residents. A male plaintiff, for example, claims he was raped by a male roommate at 15-years-old, court documents show.