Ex-Paediatrician Ordered to Pay $1.6 Billion to Sexual Abuse Survivors in Landmark US Case. Stuart Copperman, once a trusted child doctor in New York, is now at the center of one of the largest sexual abuse verdicts in US history. Over 100 women who were his former patients finally got a court to say: We believe you
In a landmark ruling from Long Island, New York, Stuart Copperman, an 89-year-old former paediatrician, has been ordered to pay $1.6 billion in damages to over 100 women who accused him of sexually abusing them as children.
Copperman, once a respected doctor, ran his practice from the basement of his home, where he allegedly abused young girls for decades. Despite complaints dating back to the 1980s, he was never criminally prosecuted. His medical license was revoked only in 2000—long after dozens of girls had suffered.
This civil case was made possible by the New York Child Victims Act (2019), which temporarily suspended the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse cases. Copperman did not respond to the lawsuits, leading the court to rule in the victims’ favour by default.
The compensation ranges from $500,000 to $32 million per survivor. While many victims may never receive the full amount, the verdict itself is a crucial step toward justice.
One survivor, Rev. Debbi Rhodes, who was abused at age 7, said:
“To have a court say, ‘I believe you’ — that’s heavy medicine.”
Another survivor, awarded $27 million, said the process was painful but healing:
“People now understand the magnitude of what he did.”
The abuse often took place after he asked parents to leave the room, and Copperman defended his actions by claiming he was being “thorough” in his exams—language disturbingly familiar in such cases.
While his financial assets remain unclear and a collections specialist has been hired, what’s clear is this:
Justice doesn’t always come in a courtroom—but truth does.
Why this matters in India:
Much like in India, where rape conviction rates are low and survivors are often dismissed, this case reminds us that lack of conviction ≠ lack of truth. Survivors deserve to be heard—even decades later.
