Can I sue if I was sexually abused at Horizon or Crossroads Juvenile Center in New York?
Kids in the NYC juvenile detention system deserve protection, dignity, and a safe environment. When a child is detained at Horizon Juvenile Center in the Bronx or Crossroads Juvenile Center in Brooklyn, the NYC Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) has a major responsibility for that child’s safety and welfare. Those centers are meant to provide rehabilitation, education, counseling, medical care, and supervision to protect vulnerable youth from harm. The reality is that several former detainees have claimed they were sexually abused whilst in detention at those facilities, resulting in hundreds of civil actions being brought against individuals and governmental bodies who were responsible for running the NYC juvenile detention system.
Survivors will often carry the emotional and psychological impact of childhood sexual abuse for many years before they even begin to realize that they may have legal rights. Many will believe they can’t bring a claim simply because they were in prison at the time, or because the abuse happened so long ago, or because they never reported it while they were in custody. In many cases, that isn’t true. Depending on the facts of the case and the law that applies, survivors may be able to bring a claim not only against the individual who abused them but also against the government body which failed in its duty to supervise, to hire, to train, to investigate, and to protect the children in its care. The claims typically allege institutional failure in those areas.
At Greenstein & Pittari, LLP, we represent survivors of childhood sexual abuse throughout New York with compassion, discretion, and a very firm commitment. We know how hard it is to talk about abuse that occurred in a juvenile detention facility, and we are prepared to look at every aspect of your case with the utmost sensitivity and respect. If you believe you were sexually abused whilst in detention at either Horizon Juvenile Center or Crossroads Juvenile Center, please get in touch with Greenstein & Pittari, LLP today for a free and confidential consultation by calling 1-800-VICTIM2 (1-800-842-8462).
Frequently Asked Questions
What are Horizon Juvenile Center and Crossroads Juvenile Center?
Horizon Juvenile Center and Crossroads Juvenile Center are New York City’s two secure juvenile detention facilities (both operated by NYC’s Administration for Children’s Services via the Division of Youth and Family Justice). Horizon is in the Bronx, and Crossroads is in Brooklyn. They hold kids and adolescents while they await either a juvenile delinquency proceeding or a criminal proceeding under New York’s Raise the Age law. They are secure facilities, but they differ from adult prisons because their primary purpose is rehabilitation and treatment rather than punishment.
Kids at Horizon and Crossroads depend completely on staff for every aspect of their daily lives. Staff are responsible for housing, education, counseling, medical care, recreation, mental health, and, of course, personal safety. Given that the kids have very little capacity to look after themselves or get out of a dangerous situation, ACS has a legal obligation to run the facilities in accordance with all federal, state, and local standards designed to protect children in care. When that duty is breached through either negligence or institutional failure, the consequences can be very serious.
Have survivors brought any lawsuits against Horizon and Crossroads Juvenile Centers?
Yes. Publicly reported litigation shows that hundreds of former detainees have brought civil suits alleging sexual abuse at Horizon Juvenile Center, Crossroads Juvenile Center, Spofford Juvenile Center (also known as Bridges Juvenile Center), and other NYC juvenile detention facilities. The suits allege that adult staff sexually abused children over many years and that the various government agencies responsible for the detention facilities failed to supervise their staff, investigate complaints, and protect the children in their care. As of early 2025, more than 500 survivors had filed lawsuits against the NYC juvenile detention system.
Courts will, of course, assess each claim on its merits, and the allegations are subject to the normal course of litigation. The sheer number of reported claims does not determine the outcome of any one particular case. However, the number of reported claims has drawn attention to how these facilities operate and are managed and has led to significant scrutiny of the systems in place to safeguard vulnerable children. A survivor who believes they have suffered abuse should not assume their case is the same as anyone else’s and should instead seek an individual assessment of their case in the light of their own circumstances.
What have the government’s own findings raised in relation to Horizon and Crossroads?
Beyond the civil litigation brought by survivors, government oversight has identified several operational deficiencies at the Horizon and Crossroads Juvenile Centers. In 2025, the New York State Office of the State Comptroller issued an audit finding that ACS had not ensured compliance with several standards governing the facilities’ operation. The audit found issues in incident reporting, intake, case management, and institutional oversight. Among its findings, the Comptroller reported that many incidents which were required to be reported (including incidents of sexual abuse, employee misconduct, harassment and assault) were not reported in a timely fashion.
Government audits won’t, by themselves, establish legal liability in an individual civil action, but they can be very useful in a negligence investigation. Audit reports, institutional records, investigation findings, and evidence of compliance with policies and procedures can all be important in determining whether reasonable safeguards were in place to protect children in the institution’s care. In the right context, they can be very useful in establishing whether a systemic failure allowed abuse to occur.
Who might be responsible for sexual abuse occurring within Horizon or Crossroads?
The kids in secure juvenile detention facilities are pretty much entirely at the mercy of the adults who are supposed to be looking after them. There have been several public lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by staff members who were in a position to be in contact with the kids. The staff in question have included youth counselors, correction officers, child care workers, supervisors, teachers, medical staff, mental health staff, contractors, and various other staff. The kids are effectively trapped in the facility and have very little ability to get out or to get in contact with any trusted adult outside the facility. Hence, they are at a distinct disadvantage in terms of being able to avoid an abusive employee or to get help.
Civil lawsuits often go well beyond the individual offender. Depending on the facts of the case, a government body or an institution may also be liable if their failure to act (their negligence) was a contributing factor to the abuse. As with any case, determining who is liable will require a full investigation into the hiring practices, the level of supervision of staff, any previous complaints, the institutional policies in place, the reporting procedures, and whether the appropriate authorities failed to act on the warnings that should have prompted action at an earlier stage. Each case is different, and it is vital to identify all potentially liable parties if justice is to be done for survivors.
Why Greenstein & Pittari, LLP?
Cases of childhood sexual abuse demand so much more than legal knowledge. You need lawyers who understand the emotional toll of institutional abuse and who are willing to go after the agencies with empathy, care, and determination. At Greenstein & Pittari, LLP, we know many survivors have carried these experiences in silence for years. We provide a confidential, respectful environment where survivors can speak freely, understand their rights, and make informed decisions about what they want to do next.
Our lawyers conduct full-blown investigations into both individual misconduct and institutional failings. They review staff records, internal investigations, government reports, past complaints, and other evidence that may show how failures in supervision, training, or policy enforcement led to the abuse. We are absolutely committed to holding to account every individual and every institution whose failure has resulted in children being abused.
We provide free, confidential consultations and generally work on a contingency fee basis (you pay us no attorney’s fees unless we recover compensation on your behalf). Suppose you or a loved one was sexually abused. If you are in detention at Horizon Juvenile Center, Crossroads Juvenile Center, or another NYC juvenile detention facility, our attorneys are ready to assist you.
Don’t be a victim twice.
Call Greenstein & Pittari, LLP today at 1-800-VICTIM2 (1-800-842-8462) to schedule your free and confidential consultation.