New York jury awards $11.3 million to former Riverside Church basketball player over decades-old sexual abuse
A New York jury on Wednesday found Riverside Church reckless and responsible for the sexual abuse a former teenage player suffered in 1978 at the hands of the church's sports program director, Ernest Lorch, ordering the church to pay a total of $11.3 million in damages split between past pain and suffering and future losses. The plaintiff, now 63 and identified only by his initials, testified that Lorch abused him repeatedly when he was 14 years old. Lorch, who died in 2012, ran the Riverside Hawks basketball program for decades and is alleged by 27 plaintiffs to have abused children in his care. This verdict is only the second to come from a jury in the slow-moving series of cases tied to the church, which was founded by the Rockefellers and whose program launched the careers of numerous NBA players.
Why it matters
For coaches: Organizations and coaches in youth sports programs may face greater scrutiny and accountability for supervision failures, even decades after alleged misconduct.
For parents: The case underscores how youth sports institutions can bear legal liability when they fail to supervise adults in positions of authority over children.
For athletes: Former youth athletes who suffered abuse in organized sports programs may be encouraged to pursue legal action under laws like New York's Child Victims Act, which opened a window to bypass statute-of-limitations restrictions.
Read the full story at Sportico
Sources
- Sportico · Luke Cyphers: Riverside Church Ordered to Pay $11.3 Million to Child Sex Abuse Victim