Brian Laird on WNYC, now will turn to a bombshell investigation from our Gothamist newsroom

that uncovered allegations of systemic sexual abuse spanning decades at the women's

jail on Rikers Island. And a warning, this conversation will likely include descriptions of

sexual assault that may not be suitable for some listeners, so make your choices if you want

to tune in or tune out. But you remember the Adult Survivors Act,

which opened a one-year look-back window,

allowing women who experienced sexual assault

to file claims against their abusers years

after the statute of limitations expired.

The recent allegation against Mayor Adams

came from that look-back window opening,

so did the E. Jean Carroll case against Donald Trump.

Now we learn, thanks to WNYC and Gothamist investigative reporting, that out of the 1256 lawsuits

filed in the whole lookback period, more than half, 719, come from women alleging they were assaulted while incarcerated at the Rose M. Singer Center on Rikers Island.

So do the math, this amounts to over 60% of all suits filed in New York State under the Adult Survivors Act.

With us now to discuss the findings of their investigation and what they may mean,

our Gothamist and WNYC reporters, Jesse Edwards, and Samantha. Hi, Jessica, how, Samantha.

Thank you for coming on.

Thanks, Brian.

So I will just ask the questions.

You two can figure out who gets to answer them,

because I don't know which piece of the reporting you each did.

...