City Of Rye Settles $3.25M Lawsuit Over Decades-Old Sex Abuse Scandal

RYE, NY — In the closing seconds of their final meeting of the year, the Rye City Council voted unanimously to close one of the ugliest chapters in the city's history.

Under "Old Business/New Business," a resolution was made by Councilmember Julie Souza and seconded by Councilmember Emily Hurd "to allocate $3.25 million from the undesignated fund balance for the settlement of John Doe v. City of Rye, and $35,000 from that same fund for attorney fees." The motion carried unanimously with Councilmember Bill Henderson absent.

The seemingly routine nature of the procedural item belied a dramatic, shameful, decades-long story that brought us to this point. The lawmakers had just approved a multi-million dollar settlement in a lawsuit stemming from a horrifying sexual abuse case involving high-ranking fire officials.

Warning: This story includes accounts of sexual abuse and torture, as described in court filings and police records.

The complaint filed Feb. 13, 2020 in the Supreme Court of New York against the City of Rye, the Rye Fire Department and the Rye Department of Public Works outlines a disturbing pattern of sexual abuse and abuse of the public trust that cost a 7-year-old his childhood and only ended when Rye police arrested his abuser.

The lawsuit was filed as a result of New York's Child Victims Act, which allows those who are victims of child sexual assault to bring civil lawsuits up until their 55th birthday, as opposed to the previous cutoff age of 23.

The lawsuit claims that Lieutenant Elwood "Joe" Ferris, an employee of the City of Rye, the Rye Fire Department and the Boy Scouts of America, repeatedly sexually abused the plaintiff, who is only identified as "John Doe."

On October 26, 1973, Ferris pled guilty to attempted sexual abuse in the first degree, and received a five-year sentence of probation.

Ferris, a Rye Fire Department lieutenant, "would lure plaintiff into a defendant Rye Fire Department’s firehouse located on Milton Road, bring seven-year old plaintiff into bedroom, remove plaintiff’s clothes, fondle plaintiff’s genitals, molest plaintiff, rape plaintiff, and stick objects in plaintiff’s buttocks and rectum," according to the now settled lawsuit. In further acts of torment, Ferris "would also force plaintiff into a crawl space underneath the firehouse, forcing plaintiff to remain in said crawlspace for hours in freezing temperatures, to both punish and intimidate plaintiff," according to court documents.

Ferris’ abuse happened on multiple occasions, not only at the firehouse, but also Westchester-Putnam Council, Inc. Boy Scouts of America's Durland Scout Center, where the complaint said he "sexually abused plaintiff by removing plaintiff’s clothes and fondling plaintiff’s genitals, before raping plaintiff.”

According to the legal filings, Harry Mooney, the then-Rye Fire chief was an active participant in the abuse, who "acknowledged, allowed, and even partook in the above-described sexual abuse, watching as Ferris raped plaintiff and masturbated during the rape."

The lawsuit accuses others of turning a blind eye when the victim needed a protector. "Often, in order to intimidate and punish plaintiff, Lieutenant Ferris would lock plaintiff inside of a lock box, preventing plaintiff from breathing by plugging any noticeable holes in said lock box," the complaint said. At one point, the victim recognized the voice of an employee of Rye Public Works discussing him being locked in the box, but the "employee did nothing to stop, prevent, or intervene in the abuse and imprisonment."

The instances of abuse occurred 20-40 times, beginning in June of 1972 through Ferris' arrest in mid-1973 by the Rye Police Department.

Upon his arrest, Ferris waived his Miranda rights and provided police with full oral and written confessions.

"About 2yrs ago the youth came into the Milton Fire House on four or five occasions, during this time I played with the youths [sic] private parts with my hands only," Ferris admitted in his confession. "Harry Moo Ney [sic] was present with me on these incidents. On or about Dec. of 1972 young [plaintiff] would come into the Milton Firehouse during these visits Harry Mooney and myself would drop our pants and played with the child also. Harry Mooney has masturbated in front of the a bove [sic] youth on at least two occasions. [Plaintiff] is 7yrs old I have been shown picture of males nude from the waist down and have [sic] identified them as pictures that I have taken in the Milton Firehouse of young [ ] and Harry Mooney. One picture is of myself which Ialso [sic] took."

The abuse started when the victim walked from his home to a City of Rye public school, passing by the Milton Firehouse. In June 1972, Ferris began to "coerce and force plaintiff inside." Ferris would bring "plaintiff into a room with a bed, once inside said room, instructed plaintiff to remove his clothing and lie down on said bed." Ferris then "fondled, groped and/or molested plaintiff’s genitalia; then Ferris placed Ferris' penis inside of plaintiff’s mouth and anus." Ferris also placed objects inside of the plaintiff’s anus.

In additon, Ferris took pictures of the plaintiff naked, along with pictures of himself naked, according to his own confession.

"Chief Harry Mooney would be present in the above-described room, masturbating while watching Lieutenant Elwood 'Joe' Ferris molest and rape plaintiff, doing nothing to intervene or stop Lieutenant Elwood 'Joe' Ferris," the lawsuit contends.

Ferris went to great lengths to keep the abuse secret. Court filings reveal he would "lock plaintiff in a crawl space underneath the Milton Fire House, instructing plaintiff to keep quiet or that plaintiff would be in trouble." The torture went on even during winter months, when temperatures dropped down to freezing, according to the victim.

Ferris threatened the plaintiff to not tell others what he did, including threatening to visit the same abuses on his sister.

The lawsuit contends that "Lieutenant Elwood 'Joe' Ferris and Chief Harry Mooney repeatedly sexually abused plaintiff only because of the negligence of defendant City of Rye, Rye Fire Department, and Rye Department of Public Works, who allowed these individuals unfettered access to plaintiff, as Lieutenant Ferris used facilities owned, operated and maintained by defendants, and as Chief Mooney, a person of authority acting on behalf of the municipal defendants, not only witnessed and partook in Lieutenant Ferris' heinous actions, but also did nothing to prevent said acts from occurring, as did others who knew or should have known that plaintiff was being sexually abused."

Elwood 'Joe' Ferris retired in August of 1973 and died in May of 1975. Harry Mooney retired in March of 1974.

At the Wednesday evening city council meeting, Mayor Josh Cohn said, "There have been a number of questions about a settlement that the city entered into in December and I'm going to make one statement about it and that will be the city's only statement on this. So, the case which involves allegations from 50 years ago was resolved. We respect the language of the agreement, which legally requires the parties not to comment further. And then, relatedly, there is no other similar litigation pending or threatened, and the statute of limitations is closed, and payment for the settlement came from funds reserved for that purpose."

The victim was allowed to settle the lawsuit anonymously because of the sensitive, personal matters of the sexual crimes against him when he was a minor.

"Ultimately, the police arrested Lieutenant Ferris and the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office prosecuted Ferris for the repeated sexual assault he unleashed upon me," the victim said in a statement included with the legal filings. "Ferris pled guilty to the sexual abuse. Though Lieutenant Ferris pled guilty, the torment did not stop. News about what happened to me spread throughout town. When my classmates found out about the sexual abuse, they tormented me, singing songs about what Ferris did to me and making fun of me on a constant basis. My relationship with my parents, who provided no support to me while going through the abuse, dissolved to the point where we no longer speak. I have seen firsthand what even just the knowledge of the sexual abuse that I was forced to endure can do to a family."

The victim told the court he doesn't want to bring that sort of humiliation upon his own family.

"I have my own family now, consisting of a wife and two young children," he said. "I do not want my wife to face any retaliation by her employer, the City of Rye, in my pursuit of justice. Additionally, I do not want my children, my children’s friends and their families to know about what happened to me, or about this lawsuit. As I stated above, I know the damage that the knowledge of the sexual abuse I suffered can have upon a family, and I do not want that to happen to the life I built in spite of what Ferris did to me. I do not want my children to be tormented by other children because of the abuse I suffered."

The members of the Rye City Council saw fit to respect those wishes as they approved a multi-million dollar settlement 50 years after an evil was visited on a child by those who were supposed to be protecting the city.

This article was updated with Mayor Josh Cohn's statement given at the Wednesday night council meeting. A portion of the victim's statement that could possibly lead to his identity being revealed was removed from the penultimate paragraph.