Woman who accused Pridgen filed second Adult Survivor’s Act case a month later

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The Buffalo woman who filed an Adult Survivor’s Act lawsuit against the former Buffalo common council president in 2023 filed a second lawsuit against the State of New York a month later.

In her previously unreported August 2023 lawsuit, the woman claims a kitchen runner sexually abused her daily from August 2003 to February 2004 while she was serving a prison sentence at Beacon Correctional Facility. The accuser claims the abuse occurred in a kitchen freezer, and he threatened her to stay silent.

News 4 does not report the names of victims of sexual assault or anyone who claims they are a victim.

The woman served 3.5 to 4 years for second-degree attempted criminal possession of a forged instrument and second-degree attempted burglary. She completed her parole in August 2010.

The lawsuit alleges the state turned a blind eye to “decades-old” and “rampant” sexual abuse in state prisons. The accuser is asking for an award of $20 million for pain and suffering.

Since the 1970s, female inmates have filed lawsuits alleging sexual abuse in state prisons.

More recently, about 750 former inmates filed Adult Survivor’s Act lawsuits against the state in 2022, alleging rampant sexual abuse in state prisons.

The Department of Corrections and Community Supervision has denied the allegations.

The woman’s lawsuit against Darius Pridgen, the former council president, accused him of sexually abusing her in 2020. The lawsuit claimed she was a parishioner at True Bethel Baptist Church when Pridgen, the senior pastor, sexually abused her on seven occasions. She filed this case in July 2023, a month before she filed the second case.

Pridgen denied the allegations and claimed the accuser recanted her story. That resulted in his attorneys, Paul Cambria and Joseph Manna, demanding the woman’s New York City attorney drop the lawsuit.

The case against Pridgen remains active in Erie County Supreme Court. The accuser’s second lawsuit in New York Court of Claims was filed in Dutchess County.

The woman’s attorney did not immediately respond to inquiries.

The attorneys for True Bethel and Pridgen declined comment.