Lawsuit: Orange County, New York

“The Appellate Court for the Second Department has reinstated Orange County as a defendant in a sexual abuse case filed under the Child Victims Act. The victim, now an adult, had filed the lawsuit against Orange County in early 2020 and the county filed a motion to be removed with an argument that the plaintiff did not present facts against the county. The Orange County Supreme Court agreed.

The plaintiff says she was in foster care administered through Orange County between the ages of four and six years old, beginning in 1986. According to the victim, Orange County did not fully investigate the foster parents, Raymond and Roberta Grabowski, allowing for her to be sexually abused by her foster father, at the encouragement of the foster mother. She claims to have also been sexually assaulted by other male members of the Grabowski family.

The abuse continued and the victim says she informed a school counselor of the abuse, but the county had already allowed the foster parents to adopt the victim in 1990.

The victim plaintiff asserts that the foster mother would never allow Orange County workers to interview her privately, but instead allowed the mother to remain in the room. The mother is said to have threatened the victim prior to the interviews.

The plaintiff appealed the court’s decision to release Orange County as a defendant. After oral arguments earlier this year, the appellate court agreed with the plaintiff that enough facts were presented and ordered that Orange County be reinstated as a defendant in the case.”
Court reinstates county as defendant in sex abuse case
[MidHudson News 9/19/23]

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