A Connecticut woman will receive $25 million as a result of a lawsuit filed against her older brother.
A Connecticut woman will receive $25 million as a result of a lawsuit filed against her older brother. A Manhattan Supreme Court judge awarded Dorothy Farrell compensatory and punitive damages against George Robb, Jr., who did not appear in court for any of the hearings. Farrell, forensic experts, and other witnesses testified in the courtroom.
Dorothy Farrell’s childhood memories are clouded with the dark haze of continuous sexual abuse. Robb began molesting her in 1971. At the time, he was 16 years old and she was 6.
“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,” the litigation states.
Farrell was the second youngest of eight children, according to the lawsuit. The siblings’ parents were “rarely” present at the family’s Manhasset, LI, home.
“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,” lawyers claimed in court documents.
This violent abuse and neglect led to long-term psychological damage. In the legal filing, Farrell stated that Robb continued abusing her and two other sisters until he turned 23. He allegedly threatened the girls with death if they revealed the truth about his actions.
Years later, Robb admitted to multiple family members that he had “engaged in sexual touching” of Dorothy and her sisters. Yet, he blamed the young girls for his own criminal conduct “because of the way they dressed” and “how they sat or positioned themselves.”
“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 never appeared in court and did not respond to requests for comment.
Authors: Alexis Kabat and Andy Goldwasser
