BINGHAMTON (NY)
Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin via PressConnects
February 7, 2020
By Anthony Borrelli
A Binghamton man has accused a former staff member at the Salvation Army’s Youth Center of sexually assaulting him when he was a homeless 16-year-old during the latter months of 1985.
The now-51-year-old man’s lawsuit, filed Monday in Supreme Court of Broome County under New York’s Child Victims Act, doesn’t name the suspected abuser but it refers to him as a “John Doe” — an agent, administrator and/or officer with the Salvation Army.
Alleged repeated acts of sexual abuse, including rape, harassment and violence, were committed between September and December of 1985, according to the lawsuit. Seven defendants are listed: the Salvation Army, its Open Door Youth Center now known as the Salvation Army of Binghamton, and five “John Does,” one of them described as the “principal abuser.”
The lawsuit accuses the abuser of grooming the 16-year-old victim while working as a counselor at the Youth Center, someone who became a guiding force in the victim’s life.
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