A former New York City congressman says his sexual abuse accuser shouldn’t be allowed to file his lawsuit anonymously.
Gary Ackerman, a Democrat who for 15 years represented parts of Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan, was sued last month by a man who says in 1966 he was sexually abused by the then-Boy Scouts camp director.
The alleged victim says he was 17 years old and attending the upstate Ten Mile River Camp.
The 76-year-old Ackerman, in an affidavit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court late Monday, asked a judge to bar his accuser from filing his lawsuit anonymously.
“I must take a stand against the outrageous allegations in this lawsuit — allegations that are 100 percent false, 100 percent unproven and unprovable, and made by an anonymous, faceless, nameless individual,” read Ackerman’s affidavit.
“If ever there was a time and place to fight for the right to face your accuser … that time is now.”
The now-70-year-old man alleged in his suit that Ackerman, then 23, convinced him to take a ride to a secluded road, where he tried to touch and fondle the teen before forcing him into oral sex.
The accuser brought the lawsuit under the recently passed Child Victims Act, which allows former child victims to bring claims that have long passed the statute of limitations.
Ackerman said that while he sympathized with the trauma his accuser endured, the blame is misplaced, according to the court documents.
“I am not part of the accuser’s narrative,” Ackerman said, adding he will defend himself for his friends and family, “even though I find no satisfaction in causing any extension of my accuser’s trauma.”
Ackerman said since the lawsuit and subsequent media coverage began, he has been forced to give up a consulting gig in Suffolk County and his “hard-earned reputation” has been damaged, causing trauma and embarrassment to himself and his family.
Ackerman’s lawyer, Elkan Abramowitz, told The Post, “It seems unfair that somebody who is not of a tender age and made no complaint about Ackerman in 55 years gets to bring this kind of a charge without any kind of personal consequence and personal exposure.
“At best this could be a case of mistaken identity. At worst this could be a malicious intent at smearing someone who has an impeccable record.”
Abramowitz said they also want to find out if the man has filed similar cases, which they can’t do until they learn his identity.
The accuser’s lawyer, Jordan Merson, said that none of the other defendants in the case, including the Boy Scouts and Ten Mile River Scout Camp, have opposed his client’s desire to remain anonymous.
“There is a reason there is anonymity with the Child Victims Act,” Merson said. “We don’t want people afraid to come forward. In this case none of the other defendants are opposing anonymity, so why is he? We are concerned about the motive here.”
Original story found here.
