Our New York sexual abuse attorneys of Levy Konigsberg have officially started legal action against the New York City Department of Corrections (NYCDOC) for allowing countless acts of sexual abuse at the Rose M. Singer Center (Rosie’s or RMSC) on Rikers Island. Previously, we had been investigating claims of sexual abuse from female inmates at Rosie’s, but we recently filed lawsuits on behalf of 10 women. All 10 cases have been filed using the New York Adult Survivors Act, and all 10 women allege severe acts of sexual abuse carried out by correctional officers at Rikers Rose M. Singer Center.
Acts of sexual abuse and other wrongdoings by staff, officers, and administrators at Rosie’s include:
- Rape
- Sexual assault from multiple assailants
- Sexual harassment
- Sexual degrading or humiliation
- Inappropriate pat frisks
- Stalking, leering, or acting as a “peeping Tom”
- Grooming
- Retaliatory threats for reporting a rape
- Attempts to coverup incidents of sexual abuse
- And much more
For decades, women incarcerated on Rikers Island have reported such sexual abuses and attacks, but many were ignored or intimidated into silence. With the passage of the New York Adult Survivors Act and the lookback window it created for civil claims, many of these women are taking legal action now that they have had enough time to find the courage and strength to speak up.
Rosie’s Sexual Abuse Lawsuits Against NYCDOC
In the 10 lawsuits filed so far for former RMSC inmates, the New York City Department of Corrections is named as the defendant. According to the complaints, staff would know when and where sexual assaults were going to occur, exactly what types of abuses would be carried out, and which staff members would be involved. Any effort to report and prevent such sexual attacks would be ignored or intentionally hidden. By allowing such abuses to continue in the face of such well-documented evidence, the NYC DOC should be held liable as the primary defendant.
Furthermore, outside evidence clearly shows that Rosie’s is an unsafe and lawless correctional facility. In 2013, the U.S. Department of Justice concluded that Rosie’s on Rikers Island was among the 12 worst prisons in the country due to its exorbitantly high rates of staff sexual misconduct and abuse. Despite the federal government recognizing the severe issues of inmate safety and security at RMSC, next to nothing was done to protect the inmates or punish and remove the offenders.
10 Lawsuits Are Just the Beginning
Our sexual abuse litigation team at Levy Konigsberg is proud to represent the 10 women who have used the Adult Survivors Act to come forward and demand justice for sexual assaults that occurred while serving time at Rikers Island. However, the 10 lawsuits are just the beginning. In the coming months we are expected to file at least 100 more such cases against New York City. The sexual abuses at Rosie’s are widespread, pervasive, and likely ongoing, but we are committed to giving sex abuse survivors a fair chance at justice and compensation.
As explained by Levy Konigsberg Attorney Anna Kull: “The exploitation of power by correctional officers at Rose M. Singer Center, the all-female jail on Rikers Island, New York, is well known and well documented. New York City Department of Corrections is aware of the significant risk and prevalence of sexual coercion of women in custody, but it nonetheless permits a culture of systemic rape and other sexual abuse of women by correction officers to persist. The City’s policies, practices, and lack of faithful investigations have enabled and encouraged widespread sexual misconduct. The Adult Survivors Act is critical in allowing these survivors of sexual assault to seek justice for the irreparable harm they have suffered.”
Attorney-Partner Anna Kull is Ready to Fight
The 10 Rikers Island sexual abuse lawsuits are in no way Levy Konigsberg Attorney Anna Kull’s first experience with sexual abuse litigation. She is a nationally reputable trial attorney who has been featured in numerous media pieces and news articles, mostly for her work in correctional facility sexual abuse lawsuits.
In 2022, she was featured in a cover story in the New York Daily News, which discussed how she was leading the fight for former female inmates who had been sexually abused at Bayview Correctional Facility, a now defunct all women’s prison in New York City notorious for its high rates of sexual misconduct. Recently, in March 2023, Brut Media released a short documentary film – A Chance for Justice: Life After Abuse in Prison – that told the story of some of those same inmates, as well as how Attorney Kull is at the forefront of litigation launched against other New York prisons and jails.
The 10 women who have already started an RMSC sexual abuse lawsuit against the NYCDOC, and the 100+ others who are likely to filed in the coming months, can trust that Attorney Anna Kull knows how to make the most of their claims. With her talents and tenacity, she is ready to fight for their rights, even when it means going head-to-head with powerful defendants like the NYCDOC.
Levy Konigsberg is a nationally recognized leader in sexual abuse litigation brought against powerful defendants, including religious groups, medical institutions, correctional facilities, and more. If you think you have a claim to file against NYC for the unchecked sexual abuses at Rikers Island, then please act now before the lookback window created by the Adult Survivors Act closes. This act lets you bring a civil claim for any sexual abuse that occurred when you were an adult, regardless of when it happened.
We are also handling lawsuits for inmates who were sexually abused at:
- Albion Correctional Facility
- Bayview Correctional Facility
- Lakeview Shock Incarceration Correctional Facility
- Bedford Hills Correctional Facility
- Taconic Correctional Facility
Call us now at (800) 315-3806 to speak with a member of our firm during a free, confidential consultation.
More Information
- “Hundreds of Women Set to Sue New York Over Allegations of Prison Sex Abuse” (The New York Times)
- “A Rikers Officer Had Sex With a Detainee. It Took 7 Years to Fire Him.” (The Marshall Project)
- “Guards Forced Sex: Ex-Inmates – Plan suit claiming abuse at closed Chelsea jail” (New York Daily News)
- “Life After Abuse in Prison” (Brut Media/America)
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