The State of New York plans to ask a judge to dismiss 500 prison sexual abuse cases because of typos and other technicalities in the victims’ legal filings, according to new reporting in New York Focus and Hell Gate. With support from the Fund, Chris Gelardi and Jessy Edwards have spent months compiling and analyzing data from 1,600 lawsuits filed against the state under the Adult Survivors Act. The lawsuits were filed by men and women who allege they were sexually assaulted by staff working at New York prisons. The reporters identified one case that was dismissed because of typos – and uncovered the state’s larger strategy to dismiss hundreds more. The reporting sparked renewed calls to pass legislation in 2026 that would close the loophole allowing sex-abuse lawsuits to be dismissed because of technicalities.
Grantees find that New York State is trying to toss hundreds of sex-abuse cases because of typos; reporting sparks calls for reform
