Missing girl case: Frank Gervasi, father of alleged sex-trafficking victim, intends to sue Suffolk County, filing reveals
The father of an East Patchogue 14-year-old girl who was allegedly sexually abused in January after being placed in a state mental health facility as an alleged sex trafficking victim intends to sue Suffolk County, arguing his daughter’s constitutional rights were violated, a court document shows.
Frank Gervasi said his daughter was remanded as a trafficked person to Sagamore Children’s Psychiatric Center by a Suffolk Family Court judge following her 25-day disappearance in December, according to a copy of the notice obtained by Newsday. Gervasi is seeking monetary damages for personal injuries suffered by himself and his daughter and the expense of treatment, the claim filed on March 14 shows.
"Sometime after the placement at Sagamore, staff members reported to their supervisor that another employee was being a little to (sic) ‘handsy’ with the minor," Gervasi wrote in the notice filed by his attorneys at Keegan & Keegan Ross & Rosner in Patchogue.
Newsday is not naming the teen, who is 15 now, because she is a minor and the alleged victim of a sex crime.
The notice of claim, a precursor to a potential lawsuit, was filed weeks after Suffolk County Police arrested Sagamore mental health therapist aide Deshaun McClean, 42, of Deer Park on charges of child sex abuse and endangering the welfare of a child. Court records allege McClean touched the teen’s private body parts both inside and outside of her clothing, gave her massages and watched her touch herself on various occasions at the Dix Hills facility between Jan. 9 and Jan. 28.
The notice of claim alleges that officials at Sagamore had been warned about McClean and that Gervasi had been assured he "would not be a threat to his daughter."
"A supervisor at the facility ... contacted the father and informed him of the reported inappropriate contact with his daughter and assured him that it was being addressed and that the individual would not pose any further risk to his daughter," the claim reads.
Michael Martino, a spokesperson for Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine, declined to comment on the notice of claim, citing pending litigation.
Reached by telephone Tuesday, Gervasi declined to comment on the notice of claim. His attorney, Chris Ross, of Patchogue, did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
Suffolk police investigators said McClean’s arrest was based on a statement the teen gave a detective on Feb. 1, as well as video surveillance footage from the facility, where the teen had been receiving inpatient treatment, court records show.
The notice of claim alleges the teen was remanded to the facility Jan. 5, two days after she was found aboard a boat in Islip, where Suffolk prosecutors allege she had been held since Dec. 13. The notice credits Gervasi’s efforts with locating and saving his daughter on Jan. 3 after she was "being trafficked by a sex trafficking ring."
The notice of claim, which alleges both Gervasi and his daughter suffered emotional distress as a result of her treatment at Sagamore, does not designate a specific dollar amount for damages.
Suffolk prosecutors have alleged that before being sent to Sagamore, the teen left her father’s home in East Patchogue the evening of Dec. 9 and spent nights at three other locations in Bellport, Bohemia and Islip before she ended up at Whitecap Marina on a 56-foot yacht owned by Francis Buckheit, 64, of East Islip.
Suffolk prosecutors have alleged the teen was repeatedly raped during her 25-day disappearance. An 83-count superseding indictment charging 11 defendants with a range of crimes from kidnapping to child sex trafficking and rape was unsealed in Suffolk County Criminal Court in Riverhead last week.
Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Dana Castaldo said during a recent arraignment that the individuals indicted in the teen’s disappearance "capitalized on the vulnerability of a 14-year-old child for their own personal gain."
“[The teen] was sexually assaulted by each of the male defendants. [She] was also used to acquire narcotics and to repay a debt by her being subjected to sexual conduct. [The girl] was photographed and video recorded engaging in sexual performances from other defendants ... She was also fed narcotics on a daily basis and was kept in places that authorities or her family could not locate her," Castaldo told acting Suffolk Supreme Court Justice Karen Wilutis.
McClean, who remains free on cash bail, is charged in a separate criminal complaint in district court in Central Islip since his interactions with the teen began after the alleged kidnapping. His attorney, Derrick Magwood, of Mineola, did not immediately respond to a telephone message seeking comment.
McClean is due back in court April 28.
Justin Mason, a spokesperson for the New York State Office of Mental Health, said in a statement to Newsday last month that McClean was placed on leave and that law enforcement was notified after Sagamore learned of the alleged abuse.
"The Office of Mental Health has zero tolerance for abuse at our facilities," the statement read.
Sagamore provides inpatient treatment to children under 18 with a goal of helping them "return to home, school and the community," according to the Office of Mental Health website.
"Sagamore PC is an intermediate care facility that provides structure and supervision for children and adolescents with serious emotional and psychiatric disturbances," according to its inpatient treatment page. Treatment includes medication management, therapy, educational and recreational programming, the page states.
Sagamore Children’s Psychiatric Center has had 107 complaints of abuse and neglect since 2020, according to data provided in response to a records request by the New York State Justice Center, which oversees treatment of vulnerable individuals at certain state agencies.
In addition, there were 222 incidents classified as "significant." Those were incidents that were serious, but did not necessarily involve neglect or abuse, said Erin Hogan, spokeswoman for the center.
With Sandra Peddie
The father of an East Patchogue 14-year-old girl who was allegedly sexually abused in January after being placed in a state mental health facility as an alleged sex trafficking victim intends to sue Suffolk County, arguing his daughter’s constitutional rights were violated, a court document shows.
Frank Gervasi said his daughter was remanded as a trafficked person to Sagamore Children’s Psychiatric Center by a Suffolk Family Court judge following her 25-day disappearance in December, according to a copy of the notice obtained by Newsday. Gervasi is seeking monetary damages for personal injuries suffered by himself and his daughter and the expense of treatment, the claim filed on March 14 shows.
"Sometime after the placement at Sagamore, staff members reported to their supervisor that another employee was being a little to (sic) ‘handsy’ with the minor," Gervasi wrote in the notice filed by his attorneys at Keegan & Keegan Ross & Rosner in Patchogue.
Newsday is not naming the teen, who is 15 now, because she is a minor and the alleged victim of a sex crime.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- The father of an East Patchogue girl who was allegedly sexually abused in January after being placed in a state mental health facility as an alleged sex trafficking victim intends to sue Suffolk County.
- Frank Gervasi said his daughter's constitutional rights were violated after she was remanded as a trafficked person to Sagamore Children’s Psychiatric Center in Dix Hills.
- The notice of claim, a precursor to a potential lawsuit, was filed weeks after Suffolk County police arrested Sagamore mental health therapist aide Deshaun McClean, 42, of Deer Park, on charges of child sex abuse and endangering the welfare of a child.
The notice of claim, a precursor to a potential lawsuit, was filed weeks after Suffolk County Police arrested Sagamore mental health therapist aide Deshaun McClean, 42, of Deer Park on charges of child sex abuse and endangering the welfare of a child. Court records allege McClean touched the teen’s private body parts both inside and outside of her clothing, gave her massages and watched her touch herself on various occasions at the Dix Hills facility between Jan. 9 and Jan. 28.
The notice of claim alleges that officials at Sagamore had been warned about McClean and that Gervasi had been assured he "would not be a threat to his daughter."
"A supervisor at the facility ... contacted the father and informed him of the reported inappropriate contact with his daughter and assured him that it was being addressed and that the individual would not pose any further risk to his daughter," the claim reads.
Michael Martino, a spokesperson for Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine, declined to comment on the notice of claim, citing pending litigation.
Reached by telephone Tuesday, Gervasi declined to comment on the notice of claim. His attorney, Chris Ross, of Patchogue, did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
Suffolk police investigators said McClean’s arrest was based on a statement the teen gave a detective on Feb. 1, as well as video surveillance footage from the facility, where the teen had been receiving inpatient treatment, court records show.
The notice of claim alleges the teen was remanded to the facility Jan. 5, two days after she was found aboard a boat in Islip, where Suffolk prosecutors allege she had been held since Dec. 13. The notice credits Gervasi’s efforts with locating and saving his daughter on Jan. 3 after she was "being trafficked by a sex trafficking ring."
The notice of claim, which alleges both Gervasi and his daughter suffered emotional distress as a result of her treatment at Sagamore, does not designate a specific dollar amount for damages.
Suffolk prosecutors have alleged that before being sent to Sagamore, the teen left her father’s home in East Patchogue the evening of Dec. 9 and spent nights at three other locations in Bellport, Bohemia and Islip before she ended up at Whitecap Marina on a 56-foot yacht owned by Francis Buckheit, 64, of East Islip.
A missing 14-year-old from Patchogue was found safe on a boat at the White Cap Marina in Islip on Jan. 3, 2025. Credit: John Roca
Suffolk prosecutors have alleged the teen was repeatedly raped during her 25-day disappearance. An 83-count superseding indictment charging 11 defendants with a range of crimes from kidnapping to child sex trafficking and rape was unsealed in Suffolk County Criminal Court in Riverhead last week.
Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Dana Castaldo said during a recent arraignment that the individuals indicted in the teen’s disappearance "capitalized on the vulnerability of a 14-year-old child for their own personal gain."
“[The teen] was sexually assaulted by each of the male defendants. [She] was also used to acquire narcotics and to repay a debt by her being subjected to sexual conduct. [The girl] was photographed and video recorded engaging in sexual performances from other defendants ... She was also fed narcotics on a daily basis and was kept in places that authorities or her family could not locate her," Castaldo told acting Suffolk Supreme Court Justice Karen Wilutis.
McClean, who remains free on cash bail, is charged in a separate criminal complaint in district court in Central Islip since his interactions with the teen began after the alleged kidnapping. His attorney, Derrick Magwood, of Mineola, did not immediately respond to a telephone message seeking comment.
McClean is due back in court April 28.
Suspects charged in connection with the missing girl case. Left to right top row, Francis Buckheit, Daniel Burke, Jacquelyn Comiskey and Ralph Knowles. Middle row, Robert Eccleston, Daniel Soto, Alton Harrell and Bunice Knight. Bottom row, Elizabeth Hunter, Kevin McDonald, Rebecca Browell and DeShaun McClean. Credit: Suffolk County Sheriff
Justin Mason, a spokesperson for the New York State Office of Mental Health, said in a statement to Newsday last month that McClean was placed on leave and that law enforcement was notified after Sagamore learned of the alleged abuse.
"The Office of Mental Health has zero tolerance for abuse at our facilities," the statement read.
Sagamore provides inpatient treatment to children under 18 with a goal of helping them "return to home, school and the community," according to the Office of Mental Health website.
"Sagamore PC is an intermediate care facility that provides structure and supervision for children and adolescents with serious emotional and psychiatric disturbances," according to its inpatient treatment page. Treatment includes medication management, therapy, educational and recreational programming, the page states.
Sagamore Children’s Psychiatric Center has had 107 complaints of abuse and neglect since 2020, according to data provided in response to a records request by the New York State Justice Center, which oversees treatment of vulnerable individuals at certain state agencies.
In addition, there were 222 incidents classified as "significant." Those were incidents that were serious, but did not necessarily involve neglect or abuse, said Erin Hogan, spokeswoman for the center.
With Sandra Peddie
Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.
Top Stories
