Woman who sued brother for years of sexual abuse gets $25M
A Connecticut woman who sued her much older brother for sexually abusing her as an adolescent has been awarded $25 million.
A Manhattan Supreme Court judge issued a decision and judgment Tuesday, awarding Dorothy Farrell compensatory and punitive damages against George Robb, Jr., after he didn’t show up for any of the court hearings, according to court records.
The abuse began in 1971, when Farrell was only 6 years old, she said in her 2021 lawsuit.
“George took advantage of his power over Dorothy as her much-older sibling by preying upon Dorothy with impunity, forcing sexual acts upon her over and over again,” she claimed in court papers.
“Dorothy’s earliest specific memory of the abuse is from her sixth or seventh birthday. Dorothy was wearing a birthday bow in her hair, and George — then 16- or 17-years-old — subjected her to sexual touching,” she said in the litigation.
Farrell, who now lives in Connecticut, was the second youngest of eight children, according to the lawsuit, which claimed their parents were rarely at their Manhasset, LI, home.
Robb, now a Florida resident, was a no-show for two hearings earlier this week, during which Farrell, forensic experts and other witnesses testified.
The abuse destroyed her childhood, and only ended when Robb turned 23, Farrell said in the legal filing, which noted two other sisters were victimized.
He allegedly threatened the girls with death if they revealed the abuse.
“In later years, George admitted to several family members that he had engaged in sexual touching of Dorothy and her sisters,” but blamed the girls for his criminal conduct “because of the way they dressed or how they sat or positioned themselves,” Farrell alleged.
“It takes enormous courage for survivors of childhood sex abuse to come forward and fight for years for justice after their perpetrators have destroyed their sense of safety and taught them to internalize shame and fear,” said Farrell’s attorney, Mariann Wang. “It has been our privilege to represent Dorothy in this fight.”
Robb did not respond to calls for comment.
