A woman from Connecticut has received a $25 million award after taking legal action against her significantly older brother for sexual abuse that occurred during her teenage years.
A judge in Manhattan’s Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday, granting Dorothy Farrell both compensatory and punitive damages from George Robb, Jr., who failed to attend any of the court hearings, as per court documents.
The mistreatment started in 1971, when Farrell was just 6 years old, according to 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.
According to the lawsuit, Farrell, now residing in Connecticut, was the second youngest among eight siblings, with their parents often absent from their home in Manhasset, LI.
Robb, currently living in Florida, failed to appear for two hearings earlier this week, where Farrell, forensic experts, and other witnesses provided their testimonies.
The trauma shattered her early years, ceasing only when Robb reached the age of 23, as stated by Farrell in the court documents, which also highlighted that two additional sisters suffered similar fates.
He reportedly issued death threats to the girls if they disclosed 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.”