AHRC Nassau sued by guardian of autistic victim who was sexually abused by agency's former driver

The guardian of a 27-year-old with severe autism is suing a Brookville not-for-profit adult day care, alleging the agency failed to protect the victim from an employee who has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing her.

On Dec. 16, Steven Harrison, 62, of Roosevelt, formerly a longtime van driver with AHRC Nassau, pleaded guilty before acting Supreme Court Justice Meryl J. Berkowitz at Nassau County Court in Mineola to charges of endangering the welfare of an incompetent person, a felony, and second-degree sexual abuse, a misdemeanor, according to court documents.

As part of his plea, he is expected to be sentenced in May to 1 year in prison following by 5 years' probation, records show. He must also register as a sex offender. His defense attorney, Brian Griffin, did not return Newsday’s request for comment.

Harrison sexually assaulted the victim, identified only by her initials in the lawsuit, in a parking lot during rides between her home and the not-for-profit’s facility. The abuse took place on numerous occasions over a span of nearly 2½ years, according to the civil complaint filed Monday in Nassau County Supreme Court.

Monday’s lawsuit alleges that AHRC Nassau, an agency that supports the developmentally disabled, failed to investigate repeated complaints made by the guardian, the victim's mother and several other guardians that their children were being picked up too early and arriving home late when driven by Harrison. The victim "suffered physical injury, sustained severe emotional and psychological injuries, and pain and suffering" because AHRC Nassau ignored these "red flags" and left her alone with Harrison without supervision or cameras, according to the lawsuit.

After the victim told her mother about the abuse, Nassau police arrested and initially charged Harrison with third-degree rape, first-degree endangering the welfare of an incompetent physically disabled person and second-degree sexual abuse on Sept. 23, Newsday reported at the time.

With her civil suit, the victim's guardian, also identified only by initials, is seeking to recoup costs of enrolling her daughter in day care programming, money "for mental pain and anguish" and other funds from Nassau County AHRC Foundation Inc., according to the complaint. Nassau AHRC is a chapter of The Arc New York, a Latham, New York-based organization that helps people with disabilities.

"What AHRC allowed to happen to our client and others is every parent’s nightmare," Effie Blassberger, of Clayman Rosenberg Kirshner & Linder LLP, and Kevin Mintzer, of Law Offices of Kevin Mintzer P.C., the attorneys who filed the lawsuit Monday, said in a joint statement emailed to Newsday. "AHRC must be held accountable to ensure that no other family of a developmentally disabled person suffers similar devastation."

The victim in Monday’s court filing was first enrolled at AHRC Nassau — through which adults with developmental disabilities participate in a farm-based program that includes animal care and nature walks — in 2019, according to the civil complaint. She was generally the first pickup and final drop-off on the days she attended the Brookville program.

Beginning in the spring of 2022, Harrison would pick her up, park in a "largely empty" Jericho Home Depot parking lot and sexually abuse her before picking up others and bringing them to Brookville, the lawsuit alleges. The following year, Harrison began picking her up around 15 minutes early and bringing her home around 15 minutes late as he "escalated his predatory and assaultive behavior," the complaint said.

"During the several years that Harrison sexually assaulted her, [the victim] repeatedly told him in sum and substance that she did not want him to touch her," the lawsuit said. "Harrison ignored her pleas and continued to assault her."

Harrison admitted taking the victim to the Home Depot parking lot and touching her in a sexual manner and acting "in a manner likely to be injurious to the physical, mental or moral welfare of the female victim who was unable to care for herself because of a physical disability, mental disease or defect" during his Dec. 16 criminal proceeding, according to Monday’s civil suit.

Following Harrison's arrest, AHRC Nassau, his employer for more than 20 years, suspended him without pay, Mary McNamara, director of communications for AHRC Nassau, told Newsday in a Tuesday telephone interview. 

AHRC Nassau officials previously told Newsday he was suspended with pay, but this was incorrect, she said.

AHRC Nassau declined to comment on the lawsuit filed Monday.

Correction: AHRC Nassau is a chapter of The Arc New York. An earlier version of this story inaccurately described its parent nonprofit.