A teenager from Staten Island has filed a lawsuit alleging that he was repeatedly raped by his female counselor, nicknamed “Big Foot,” at an upstate juvenile detention facility. The lawsuit claims that the victim, who is now 21 years old, was just 17 when he was sent to Brookwood Youth Facility, located south of Albany, where he first encountered psychologist Maya Hayes. According to the lawsuit, Hayes engaged in sexual abuse with the victim over a period of several months, with the abuse allegedly occurring more than 30 times. The victim accuses Hayes of manipulating him into believing that the abuse was part of legitimate care and treatment.
Hayes, 47, was arrested in April and pleaded not guilty to charges of criminal sexual acts and rape. The victim claims that staff members at the facility were aware of the abuse and even made jokes about it. The lawsuit also alleges that Hayes deceived the victim’s parents into sending her money through CashApp under false pretenses. The victim is seeking unspecified damages from Hayes and other staff members at Brookwood Youth Facility for failing to prevent the abuse.
The victim’s lawyer, Evan Brustein, stated that the responsibility for the abuse lies with the New York State employees who were aware of the situation but did nothing to stop it. Hayes has not yet provided a comment on the allegations.
