FIRST LAWSUITS FILED AGAINST NEW YORK PUBLIC SCHOOLS AS CHILD VICTIMS ACT TAKES EFFECT. VICTIMS CALL ON SCHOOLS TO RELEASE LIST OF CREDIBLY ACCUSED SEXUAL ABUSERS
August 12, 2019
WHAT: Attorneys representing victims of child sexual abuse in New York public schools today announced the filing of the first of many lawsuits under the New York Child Victims Act. The New York Child Victims Act was signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo February 14, 2019. It opens up a one-year window to allow all victims access to the courts regardless of how long ago the abuse occurred. That one year period begins on August 14, 2019. In a lawsuit to be filed against the New York City District #17 and New York Department of Education, Plaintiff Auset Love alleges that she was physically and sexually abused by her teacher, Mr. Pamphile, beginning in the fourth grade when she was nine years old. In a lawsuit to be filed against the Wellsville Central School District in Alleghany County, Plaintiff Joanne Schoonmaker alleges rape by Robert Alexander Wade who was employed as a janitor at the Wellsville Middle School / High School attended by Ms. Schoonmaker. From the time Ms. Schoonmaker was 12 or 13-years old Wade began sexually abusing her on and off school grounds.
WHO:
Auset Love, Child Sexual Abuse Survivor
Joanne Schoonmaker, Child Sexual Abuse Survivor
Larry Krantz, Attorney - Krantz and Berman
Sarah Klein, Attorney and Victim’s Advocate – Dalton & Associates
Saul Wolf, Attorney- Manly, Stewart & Finaldi
WHEN: Wednesday, August 14 at 1:30 PM
WHERE: New York Department of Education Headquarters
Tweed Courthouse (In front by the Courthouse steps)
52 Chambers St,
New York, NY 10007
WHY: A group of prominent attorneys and their clients will hold a news conference in front of the New York City Department of Education headquarters to announce the filing of the first lawsuits against public schools throughout the State of New York under the newly enacted Child Victims Act. The attorneys and their clients also called upon all New York public schools and school districts to follow the lead of the Archdiocese of New York who released a list of 120 clergy who it said have been “credibly accused” of sexually abusing a minor, possessing child pornography or whose actions led to related paid compensation claims. The attorneys represented plaintiffs in the $140,000,000 settlement against Los Angeles Unified School District in the Miramonte case, the largest child sex abuse settlement against a School District in the US. They have recovered more than half a billion dollars on behalf of victims of child sexual abuse in public schools. The firm currently represents more than 180 alleged victims of former Michigan State University and U.S. Women’s Gymnastics Olympic Team doctor Larry Nassar. Michigan State University has settled this case for $500,000,000, this is the largest settlement of any personal injury case against a University.
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