(NEW YORK, NY) — On December 17, 2025, ECBAWM filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York alleging that New York City Department of Correction (DOC) officers sexually assaulted Kyle Knight while he was incarcerated at Rikers Island, used excessive force against him, and that jail staff failed to intervene, report, or remedy the abuse.

The complaint alleges that on the morning of September 19, 2024, while Mr. Knight was detained at the Otis Bantum Correctional Center (OBCC) on Rikers Island, Correction Officers Frantz Laurenceau and Ronnie Stafford sexually assaulted him during a retaliatory strip search by forcibly inserting a finger into his rectum, after pepper-spraying him and striking him in the head. Mr. Knight was then dragged naked from his cell, wrapped only in a sheet, and paraded past other detainees, causing severe humiliation and trauma.

According to the lawsuit, a housing-unit camera captured another correction officer filming the incident with a hand-held device. That video footage has never been produced and remains missing more than a year later, in violation of long-standing DOC policy.

“The officers at Rikers are supposed to protect us, not hurt or humiliate us. They had no right to sexually violate me. I want to hold them and the Department of Correction accountable for what they did, so that it doesn’t happen again.” said Plaintiff Kyle Knight.

“For decades, correction officers at Rikers have abused their power in horrific ways, and we may never know just how many incarcerated people have been sexually assaulted by the guards who are supposed to care for and protect them. What happened to Kyle is a travesty. It’s a privilege to represent him and demand better from the City and the Department of Correction,” said ECBAWM associate, Sonya Levitova.

“Officers sexually assault people in custody to show them who’s boss and take away their humanity. Sexual violence in our City jails has to end. We are standing up for Kyle Knight to hold the City and its officers accountable and obtain justice for Kyle,” said ECBAWM Partner, Debbie Greenberger.

ECBAWM attorneys Debbie Greenberger and Sonya Levitova represent Kyle Knight.

To read the full press release, click here.

Press:

“‘They Treated Me Like I Was Nothing:’ Rikers Detainee Alleges Sexual Assault,” The City