Rebenack Aronow & Mascolo L.L.P. Secure the Third-Highest Personal Injury Verdict in New Jersey

The New Jersey Law Journal has identified a recent Rebenack Aronow & Mascolo L.L.P. case as the third-highest personal injury verdict awarded in 2024. Matthew Bonanno, Esq., on behalf of client Niema Jones, filed a child sexual abuse case against the State Department of Children and Families (DCF). The case was one of the first following the 2019 statute extending the statute of limitations for sexual abuse survivors to sue their abusers. It is one of very few which have gone to trial. Vincent Nappo of Pfau Cochran Vertetis Amala in Seattle, Washington, served as co-counsel.

Ms. Jones, now 39, alleged that she endured years of sexual abuse by four different men while in the state’s foster system during the 1990s. She claimed that DCF failed to provide proper care after disclosing the first sexual assault at age 6. Records show that psychotherapy was recommended but never provided, depriving Ms. Jones of the protective aspects of psychotherapy.

The state argued that failure to provide therapy was not a proximate cause of Ms. Jones’ sexual abuse, and there is no guarantee that she would have benefitted from treatment. Matthew argued therapy could have helped her understand the abuse was not her fault and taught her to establish boundaries. Depriving her of therapy allowed the sexual abuse to continue, he argued.

After disclosing the first incident, adults repeatedly instructed her not to discuss the abuse, and her abusers threatened her from reporting further incidents. Her first sexual assault occurred by a man in the home of a family friend with whom Jones’ was staying while her foster mother was hospitalized. She was later placed into a foster home where she was forced to share a bed with a 21-year-old man who molested her. In yet another foster home, she was molested by her foster father and his biological son two to three times a week for more than two years.

The state offered Ms. Jones $150,000 to settle the case, increasing the offer to $1.5 million two weeks into the trial. The jury awarded her $15 million for past pain and $10 million for future pain and suffering, finding DCF and the Division of Child Protection and Permanency (DCPP) 99 percent at fault in Ms. Jones’ abuse. She plans to use the settlement to open a nonprofit for girls who have suffered sexual abuse.

Statewide, personal injury awards this year totaled $654 million, $485 million higher than last year.

To learn more about our services, call Rebenack Aronow & Mascolo L.L.P. today at 732-247-3600 or contact us online to schedule a free consultation. Located in New Brunswick, Somerville, and Freehold, New Jersey, we serve clients in Middlesex County, Monmouth County, and Somerset County.