NYC NOW - September 3, 2024: Evening Roundup

Episode Date: September 3, 2024

Former aide to New York Governor Kathy Hochul, Linda Sun, was arrested Tuesday morning on charges of using her position to boost the Chinese government and communist party. Her husband, Christopher Hu, was also arrested in connection with the case. Meanwhile, global experts will meet in Syracuse this Wednesday and Thursday to discuss the future of energy technologies and strategies. Plus, WNYC has been investigating hundreds of claims by female detainees alleging sexual assault by jail staff on Rikers Island. Some of those staff members accused of assault are still employees at the jail today. Reporter Jessy Edwards has more.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. I'm Sean Carlson. A former aide to Governor Kathy Hokel is accused of using her position to boost the Chinese government and Communist Party. Linda's son and her husband, Christopher Hu, were arrested earlier Tuesday morning on charges they secretly pocketed millions of dollars used to buy homes in Manhasset and Honolulu. Federal prosecutors say son was in frequent contact with Chinese officials and taking actions. behind the scenes that benefited the Chinese government. In return, Chinese officials allegedly arranged millions in sales for her husband's seafood exporting business, which was active in China. Sun's attorney could not be immediately reached for comment. A spokesperson for Governor Hokel says

Sun was fired in 2023 after the governor's office found evidence of misconduct. Global experts on energy are gathering in New York this week to talk about the future. Governor Hockel called for a summit on the next generation of energy technologies and strategies. Okl says the aim is to accelerate the use of clean energy technologies while also supporting economic development. On the agenda for discussion, geothermal, advanced nuclear, clean hydrogen, and long-duration energy storage, among other topics. The summit is Wednesday and Thursday at the Syracuse Marriott downtown. For months now, W&MIC has been investigating hundreds of claims by female detainees alleging sexual assault by jail staff on Rikers Island. Some of the

Staff members accused of assault are still employees at the jail today. We'll love that story after the break. Over the past nine months, WNMIC reporters have been digging into hundreds of lawsuits filed against the city by women who say they were sexually assaulted by jail staff on Rikers Island. New York City Mayor Eric Adams says the allegations happened decades ago. But reporter Jesse Edwards has found that at least five guards identified in the lawsuits are still Rikers employees today. She spoke with my colleague Tiffany Hansen, and just a warning the story contains detailed accounts of sexual assault. Jesse, before we get into the details of the five officers, first just remind us how these hundreds of lawsuits came about. Well, back in 2022, New York legislators passed what's called the Adult Survivors Act.

It opened a one-year window where victims of sexual assault could file claims outside of the statute of limitations. What's remarkable is that more than 700 of the lawsuits that were filed against the city contain allegations from women who were previously held at the women's jail on Rikers Island, better known as Roses, who say they were sexually assaulted by jail staff. The allegations span from the 70s through to 2023 last year. They contain claims of rape, sexually abusive strip searches, groping, abusive medical practices, enforced oral sex. Many of the women don't know the names of the guards or the medical professionals who they say sexually assaulted them, but some do, and I've been looking at some of the more

recent cases. I've used information from city payroll records, a ledger that I got of staff who work at Roses, and information from interviews in the Department of Correction, and I've identified the full names of at least five guards who are still employed by the city today. Four are still working at Rikers. Three, still work at the woman's jail. But because so many of these women only know the last names of the guards who they say attacked them, there could actually be more. So let's talk about the officers that these women identified, the officers that still work at Rikers. What do the women say happen to them? And when did this take place? Okay, so the claims I've been looking at, they span from 2018 through to 2020.

One woman claims she was vaginally raped in her cell and in the showers by an officer in 2020. Another woman says an officer watched her undressing in her cell and later groped her vagina around 2022 or 2023. There are two different women who accuse one single officer of groping their breasts in 2018 and 2022. And then another woman, Rosie Cristo, alleges that a transportation, captain named Edward Jasmine forced her to rub his penis over his uniform while she was waiting to be bused to a court appearance

and that was in 2022. Tell us what is supposed to happen when someone makes allegations like these in a lawsuit against an officer at Rikers Island. The Department of Correction has a whole process in place for investigating sexual assault allegations and these are

mandated both by federal regulations and the city's own rules. Officers are typically moved from their post while an investigation is taking place to keep everyone safe. Mostly the sexual assault allegations are made while the detainee is still in jail, but the criminal justice experts I've spoken to say that even if the former detainee has left the jail and then files a civil lawsuit, those allegations should still be investigated by the Department of Correction. Now, when I ask the Correction Department, officials there are It wouldn't say whether the officers who are still working at Rikers have been investigated.

All they'd say is that the officers hadn't faced any discipline. But I did speak with three of the guards who were accused, and they all told me that I was the first person to tell them about the allegations and that they'd been identified in lawsuits. That suggests that they haven't been investigated by the city, even though these lawsuits were filed roughly a year ago. I spoke with Barbara Hamilton. She's an attorney at the Legal Aid Society.

She told me that she's really concerned for the safety of women who are currently detained at the women's jail. I would hope that the city would take this more seriously, but the fact that individuals are not aware of these suits or of these allegations is quite alarming to me. Jessie, how did these women that you spoke with react when you told them that these officers, are still working at Rikers, and what do they say about what's happening at the women's jail?

So I was able to speak with two of the women who filed lawsuits identifying these officers. One of the women says that she was sexually assaulted in 2022 by an officer who she says brought her into a slop sink closet, which is a small area where mop water is dumped out. She says she was in and out of Rikers over several years, but that at the time that she was allegedly assaulted, she'd never seen so much sexual activity between detainees and guards. She said she was disgusted that the officer, she says, assaulted her, was still working at Rosie's, and that it bothered her to think that other women might be experiencing assault at the jail right now.

And then Rosie Christo, who I told you about earlier, she says she was outraged that the captain she accuses of sexually assaulting her was apparently never investigated and therefore are still working at Rikers. He shouldn't be there. He should be like suspended without pay right now until the investigation is cleared or until they make a decision on it. But he's going to probably continue doing it to the woman. Jesse, I mentioned Mayor Adams in the open to our conversation. What has he said about these claims? Adams promised a quote, thorough investigation when we we first reported on the 700 lawsuits back in March, the lawsuits are seeking $14.7 billion

in damages. But Adams has since clarified that what he meant by a quote thorough investigation is that the city's law department is reviewing the lawsuits. But the thing to bear in mind is that the city's law department is responsible for defending the city against the lawsuits. As you mentioned in the introduction, the mayor has somewhat dismaloes. dismiss the allegation, saying that many of them are decades old. That is true about many of them, but in addition to the five officers still working at Rikers, we've found 40 of the women's

lawsuits detail assaults in the last six years. Six of the alleged assaults happened under the Adams administration. We've asked City Hall about these more recent allegations. We didn't get a response. That's reporter Jesse Edwards speaking with my colleague, Tiffany Hanson. For more on Jesse's reporting, go to our news website Gothamist. Thanks for listening to NYC Now from WNMIC. Catch us every weekday three times a day. I'm Sean Carlson. We'll be back tomorrow.