Four Winds Hospital Sexual Abuse Lawsuit: Claims and Response

At least 30 former patients have filed a Four Winds Hospital sexual abuse lawsuit in Westchester County Supreme Court, alleging that staff at the private psychiatric hospital’s Katonah and Saratoga Springs campuses sexually abused them when they were children in the hospital’s care. The suits, filed starting in December 2024 by the New York firm Levy Konigsberg, describe conduct ranging from groping to rape and name Four Winds as an institution rather than individual employees. The hospital has denied the allegations in court filings and asked that the complaints be dismissed.¹²

Who Is Suing and What They Say Happened

Attorneys Amber Long and Rebecca Kimmel filed the first 20 complaints on December 10, 2024. By May 2025 the count had grown to at least 30, with at least seven of those directed at the Saratoga Springs location.³²

All plaintiffs were minors when the alleged abuse occurred, ranging from 6 to 20 years old at the time of hospitalization. Most incidents described in the filings took place between the late 2000s and 2020, though abuse-related litigation involving Four Winds facilities dates back to 2015.²

According to CBS6 Albany, the complaints describe employees groping patients in the shower, forced oral sex, and rape. Plaintiffs say they were threatened, told no one would believe them, and in some cases overmedicated in connection with the abuse.¹

The Times Union summarized two specific incidents from filings tied to the Saratoga Springs campus. In one 2014 account, a plaintiff who was roughly 14 alleged that an employee sedated the patient with injections to prevent them from going outside, then fondled the patient’s genitals and buttocks while they were sedated. In a 2011 account, a plaintiff who was roughly 12 alleged that an employee watched the patient shower and forced the patient to touch the employee’s genitals, threatening a longer hospitalization if the patient refused.²

What the Lawsuits Accuse Four Winds Of

The complaints target the hospital itself. They allege Four Winds failed to adequately screen and supervise its employees, failed to investigate reports of sexual assault, and breached its statutory duty to report abuse under New York social services law. The filings also accuse the hospital of unfair and deceptive business practices.²

Long said in the firm’s announcement that “the incidences of abuse are so widespread and rampant that the abuse of our clients could not have occurred but for negligence, or worse, on the part of Four Winds.”³ She told CBS6 Albany that the firm expects Four Winds to argue it had no knowledge of the abuse, and plans to counter by pointing to the alleged scale of the conduct and seeking testimony from other staff who, according to plaintiffs, should have known.¹

Why Old Claims Can Still Be Filed

Many of the allegations describe conduct from years or decades ago and would normally be barred by the statute of limitations. Two New York laws made these suits possible. The Child Victims Act, enacted in 2019, temporarily suspended the statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse and created a lookback window for previously time-barred claims. The Adult Survivors Act, signed by Governor Kathy Hochul in May 2022, extended a similar one-year window, running from November 2022 to November 2023, to people who were adults at the time of the abuse. Both laws were written to let survivors sue the institutions that harbored abusers, not only the abusers themselves.⁴¹

Related Criminal Cases

Most of the legal activity around Four Winds is civil, but there have been criminal matters as well. In February 2017, Dominic Sbordone, a 31-year-old employee from Carmel, New York, was arrested and charged with third-degree criminal sexual act, a felony, and second-degree sexual abuse, a misdemeanor, in connection with the sexual abuse of a 19-year-old patient. He was arraigned in Lewisboro Town Court, held at the Westchester County Jail without bail, and a judge issued an order of protection barring contact with the victim.⁵⁶ The available reporting does not include a conviction or sentence.

Separately, court documents from September 2024 reference a New York State Police investigation into a 2023 incident at the Gatehouse Cottage on the Westchester campus, involving two unnamed inpatient youths and the rape of a 10-year-old resident. The documents note that the acts, if committed by adults, would have constituted crimes. The Saratoga Springs Police confirmed to CBS6 that reports of abuse at the Saratoga campus have been made to authorities, but declined to release details because minors are involved.¹

The Hospital’s Response

Four Winds has denied the allegations. CBS6 Albany reported that the hospital’s court filings include “repeated denials of the allegations” and requests for dismissal, and the Times Union reported that the company has denied the claims in court documents.¹² No detailed public statement from the hospital’s leadership addressing the allegations has appeared in the available reporting.

Both campuses remain open. The Katonah and Saratoga Springs facilities are actively hiring, continue to accept patients for inpatient and partial hospitalization programs, and remain licensed by the New York State Office of Mental Health and accredited by The Joint Commission.⁷

Where the Cases Stand

As of mid-2025, the lawsuits were still in early stages. Long told CBS6 Albany that Levy Konigsberg was in the discovery process, submitting requests for hospital records, client files, information on potential abusers, previous abuse reports, and internal policies. The firm was also contacting local police departments and filing public records requests to corroborate the plaintiffs’ accounts.¹ No settlements, verdicts, or trial dates have been reported.

1
CBS6 Albany. Lawsuits Filed Against Four Winds Allege Sexual Abuse at Psychiatric Hospitals
2
Times Union. Lawsuits Detail Sexual Abuse Allegations at Four Winds
3
PR Newswire. Levy Konigsberg Attorneys Amber Long and Rebecca Kimmel File 20 Sexual Abuse Lawsuits Against Four Winds Hospital in Westchester County
4
Governor.ny.gov. Governor Hochul Signs Adult Survivors Act
5
Lohud. Four Winds Hospital Staffer Charged With Sex Abuse of Patient
6
Patch. Hospital Employee Accused of Having Sex With Patient, State Police
7
Four Winds Hospital. Four Winds Saratoga Employment