NEW YORK, March 27, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Levy Konigsberg attorneys Amber Long and Rebecca Kimmel filed a lawsuit today on behalf of 23 brave survivors of childhood sexual abuse at Daytop New Jersey’s adolescent substance abuse treatment facilities.
Despite a well-documented history of sexual abuse within Daytop, Daytop failed to protect its young and vulnerable residents from sexual abuse at the hands of Daytop staff members. In addition, the State of New Jersey was culpable in the sexual abuse perpetrated at Daytop. Most of the Plaintiffs entered Daytop because of a referral program through the State of New Jersey and its agencies. Through this referral program, Plaintiffs, and many other young people, were court-mandated to complete the Daytop program or else serve a sentence in a New Jersey juvenile detention facility (which were also rife with sexual abuse). After mandating Plaintiffs reside in the Daytop facility and complete the Daytop program, however, the State essentially abandoned them and threw them to the proverbial wolves.
Perversely, for many of the Plaintiffs, the sexual abuse they experienced at Daytop, and the traumatization stemming therefrom, caused them to descend into drug and alcohol addiction to try to mask the pain of the trauma they endured at Daytop. Further, at least some of the Daytop abusers provided drugs and alcohol to their victims to facilitate sexually abusing them.
Our legal team is leading the way in investigating sexual abuse claims from survivors of sexual abuse committed at Daytop facilities and other youth serving residential treatment facilities.
Leading the Way for Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse
With the New Jersey Child Sexual Abuse Act of 2019, which extended the statute of limitations to age 55 for filing civil lawsuits in cases of child sexual abuse, former patients and residents of treatment centers like Daytop in New Jersey can seek justice and compensation, even for abuse that occurred many years ago. Levy Konigsberg and its team of dedicated trial attorneys are at the forefront of childhood sexual abuse litigation, having filed hundreds of lawsuits nationwide on behalf of survivors.
In announcing this week’s filings, Levy Konigsberg Partner Amber Long stated:
“It is outrageous that the perpetrators in these cases are the very adult staff members that were entrusted with keeping our clients safe while they were committed to Daytop’s custody. The incidences of abuse at the Daytop facilities are so widespread and rampant that the abuse of our clients could not have occurred but for negligence, or worse, on the part of Daytop, as well as the State, which entrusted children to Daytop’s care without proper oversight.
The sexual abuse that Daytop and the State of New Jersey allowed, and indeed, enabled by locking our clients away in the care of child abusers, without adequate supervision or protection, caused our clients horrible suffering. It is sadly ironic that rather than helping these young people with drug addiction, for some of them, their stay at Daytop was the beginning of serious drug addictions which have plagued their lives since. Our clients have courageously stepped forward to seek justice and accountability, and it is an honor to represent them in this fight.”
Levy Konigsberg represents hundreds of survivors of sexual abuse at residential treatment facilities and plans to continue fighting tirelessly on their behalf.
Levy Konigsberg is a nationwide trial law firm with a proven track record of representing survivors of sexual abuse. We have the strength, size, and resources needed to file lawsuits against government agencies, religious groups, medical institutions, and more. If you want to know if you can file a claim for sexual abuse that occurred at Daytop or another residential treatment center in New Jersey, then speak with our team today.
Please call 800-315-3806 now and request a free, initial consultation with our firm.
Media Contact: Attorney Amber Long; [email protected]
SOURCE Levy Konigsberg
