Sex abuse case glut at Rikers

The city’s Department of Correction has a backlog of open sexual abuse and harassment complaints dating back to 2015 — and it does not expect to catch up until next February, the department said at a City Council hearing.

Federal guidelines call for investigating sexual abuse within 90 days — but the city has a backlog of more than 1,000 Prison Rape Elimination Act complaints dating back to 2015, according to data and Council testimony.

“We have a corrective action plan in place that we believe in February of 2019 will allow us to close out the backlogged cases,” Deputy Commissioner Sarena Townsend said, noting the backlog was around 1,200 cases in June when it was revealed at a Board of Correction meeting.

But even when they eliminate the backlog in February, they won’t be fully caught up — they’ll have to turn to the cases they’ve been getting since June.

“We will then address what we call that second wave of smaller backlog, from June of 2018 to February of 2019, which is going to be a much smaller backlog, and at that point we will be in substantial compliance,” Townsend said.

The hearing comes as the Council wants the department to report more regularly on claims of sexual harassment and abuse on Rikers Island and in other jails — and was grilling staff on an incredibly low rate of substantiated cases, with numbers in the single digits.

In her testimony, Townsend blamed thatrate on understaffing — and the resulting backlog.