PHILADELPHIA – In a class action lawsuit, seven former residents of The Summit Academy allege they were the targets of physical, mental and sexual abuse while residing at the juvenile custody and rehabilitative education facility.
R.Q., D.B., W.M., S.C., R.B. and K.M.G. of Pennsylvania, plus S.B. of Maryland filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District on March 2 versus The Summit School, Inc. (doing business as “The Academy Schools” and “The Summit Academy”) of Herman and John-Jane Does 1-100.
“The Academy Schools operate facilities where juveniles are held in custody in Pennsylvania. The Academy Schools offers rehabilitation, education and support services for youth through a trauma-informed approach. Established in Western Pennsylvania and managed by leaders and innovators in the field of juvenile justice, The Academy Schools are both community-based and residential, serving both local and out-of-state students,” the suit says.
“The Schools program includes room and board, clothing, behavior management individual and group counseling, academic and vocational programming, medical and dental services, as well as athletic and recreational opportunities. The School offers services for court-adjudicated youth and non-delinquent youth.”
However, the suit adds that “instead of fulfilling its promise and solemn responsibility to protect these vulnerable youth, they were exposed to predators and abusers…Summit Academy failed to enact safety measures and other policies to protect the children, failed to adequately screen, hire, train, and supervise staff, and failed to fulfill its duties under state and federal law and as a result of the defendants’ misconduct, children in Summit Academy facilities have been reportedly sexually abused – often by Summit Academy staff.”
“The School serves as a custodial facility for the placement of juvenile court adjudicated youths, aged 11-18, and other at-risk youth. Founded in 1982, the School has provided juvenile residential care since its inception. It claims to assess the unique needs of each student, teach tools for success and offer meaningful opportunities for personal growth,” the suit states.
“For the children who were abused at a Summit Academy facility, it was almost impossible to get help or stop the abuse because Summit Academy reportedly limited the contact many of them had with the outside world, limiting phone calls thereby trapping children with their abusers. Nor was there any clear and safe mechanism by which victims could report abuse within Summit Academy; as reported, those who did report were disbelieved, or worse, retaliated against, exacerbating and amplifying the trauma of the actual abuse. Many of the children who were abused at Summit Academy were vulnerable, intellectually disabled, and already fleeing from abuse. Summit Academy staff members also took advantage of children who had already been victims of sexual abuse and were at Summit Academy to seek healing.”
The suit further graphically recounts alleged, horrific instances of physical, mental and sexual abuse the plaintiffs say they suffered at the hands of facility staff:
• Plaintiff R.Q. alleges that on multiple occasions, a staff member would pull him into a side closet and hit him all over his body with a broom stick or his fists;
• Plaintiff D.B. alleges he was beaten repeatedly, suffered punches to his genitals, spanked on the buttocks and sodomized with a broom handle;
• Plaintiff W.M. alleges he was forced to perform oral sex on a staff member on several occasions, being beaten when he refused;
• Plaintiff S.C. alleges he was slapped on his buttocks before, during and after football games and practices by a staff member;
• Plaintiff K.M.G. alleges he was forced to perform oral sex on a staff member more than three times, in order to receive basic program privileges, including phone calls, food, and home passes;
• Plaintiff S.B. alleges he was smacked with a wet towel across his genitals and buttocks, and was forced to manually stimulate a staff member’s penis in the facility’s chapel;
• Plaintiff R.B. alleges he was forced to perform oral sex on a staff member more than three times, and engage in masturbation, fondling and groping with that same person in order to be able to make a phone call.
The class action suit maintains that its potential members “are so numerous that joinder of all members in one action is impracticable”, since “hundreds and possibly thousands of boys have attended the School and been subjected to the widespread abuse occurring at the school.”
For counts of creating a sexually hostile culture/heightened risk for sexual harassment, deliberate indifference to sexual harassment, civil rights deprivation, negligence, negligent hiring, negligent retention, negligent supervision, gross negligence, negligent misrepresentation and omissions, violation of the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law, vicarious liability, negligent infliction of emotional distress, intentional infliction of emotional distress, breach of fiduciary duty, assault and battery and injunctive and equitable relief, the plaintiffs are seeking compensatory, restitutionary, general, consequential, punitive, and exemplary damages, pre-judgment and post-judgment interest, reasonable attorney’s fees and costs, including expert fees as provided for by law, granting such other and further relief as the Court deems just and proper; injunctive, declaratory and other equitable relief; a declaration that the defendants are in violation of their mandatory reporting obligations and a complete disclosure of all records and information during the time period from Jan. 1, 2000 to the present, pertaining to the abuse of students at the school.
The plaintiffs are represented by David Wesley Cornish of Cornerstone Legal Group, in Philadelphia.
The defendants have not yet secured legal counsel.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case 2:23-cv-00808
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com