By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2025-03-26 19:27:58 | Updated at 2025-03-29 20:38:04
3 days ago
The father of sex-trafficked Long Island teen Emmarae Gervasi is planning to sue Suffolk County over claims she was sexually abused in a state hospital following her made-for-tv rescue, a new report says.
Frank Gervasi’s court papers say the Sagamore Children’s Psychiatric Center admitted to him that an employee had gotten “handsy” with the teen — after a male staffer was arrested for allegedly groping her while she was there trying to recover from her trafficking ordeal, Newsday reported.
Gervasi’s notice of claim also reportedly says that officials had “assured him that [the abuse] was being addressed and that the individual would not pose any further risk to his daughter.”
The younger Gervasi, 15, was sent to Sagamore after her 25-day disappearance last December, the notice says, according to Newsday. She had been rescued by her dad from a docked boat in Islip on Jan. 3, after he got a tip she was there.
While at Sagamore, however, her ordeal continued, when state mental health worker DeShaun McClean of Deer Park allegedly molested and groped her.
Prosecutors arrested McClean, 42, last month and said that in addition to the groping he watched her engage in sex acts for a roughly 20-day period during her January.
When reached by telephone, Gervasi declined to comment. Christopher Ross, an attorney for the tattoo’ed dad, did not reply to a request for comment.
At least 13 people have been arrested so far in the sick plot, which authorities say revolved around drug and sex trafficking of the teenaged girl during a 25-day nightmare.
