Prison psychologist raped 17-year-old dozens of times as NY staff made jokes, suit says
A former youth detention center psychologist, who’s charged with 65 sex offenses, raped a teen during every one-on-one counseling session he had with her until she was fired over a year later, a new federal lawsuit says.
Maya Hayes began sexually abusing him about three months after he was detained at age 17 at the Brookwood Secure Center for Youth, a facility for male and female juvenile offenders in Columbia County, New York, about a 30-mile drive southeast from Albany, according to a complaint filed March 18.
She forcibly raped him about 30 times between August 2021 and December 2022, the complaint says.
Most of the sexual assaults occurred in Hayes’ office where there were no cameras, his attorney, Marion Conde, of Conde Law Firm PLLC in New York City, told McClatchy News on March 25.
The youth prison’s staff members were aware of the ongoing sexual abuse and joked about it to the teen, according to the complaint.
Now an adult, the man, of Staten Island, is suing Hayes and 22 other staff members accused of ignoring and enabling the ongoing sexual abuse against him and other teenage boys in state custody at Brookwood.
“Sexual abuse is sexual abuse, regardless of the gender of the perpetrator or the victim,” Conde said.
Hayes, of Albany, was arrested on 62 counts of third-degree criminal sexual act and three counts of third-degree rape April 12, according to New York State Police.
“Following an extensive investigation, it was determined Dr. Hayes sexually assaulted numerous victims at the Secure Center over the course of several years while employed as the facility clinician,” state police said in a news release issued the day of her arrest.
Hayes’ defense attorneys didn’t immediately return McClatchy News’ request for comment March 25.
Her jury trial is set to begin July 8, the Times Union newspaper reported.
The New York State Office of Children and Family Services, which operates Brookwood, declined to address the lawsuit, as it “does not comment on pending litigation,” a spokesperson told McClatchy News on March 25.
The office confirmed Hayes doesn’t work for the state agency anymore.
When she still worked at Brookwood, while the plaintiff was in custody, Hayes advocated to be moved to an office without cameras, Conde told McClatchy News.
After her request was granted, she covered up the office’s glass window, according to Conde.
This violated Brookwood’s policies, as all windows inside the facility were supposed to be unobstructed for everyone’s safety, the complaint says.
Though the view into Hayes’ office was mostly blocked by papers over the window, “it was still possible to see into” the room, according to the filing.
‘We see you in there … doing nasty stuff’
When staff members became aware of Hayes sexually abusing the teen, they never reported it to authorities, the complaints says. But they had an obligation to do so.
Instead, they found the abuse humorous, according to the complaint, which says staff had nicknamed Hayes as “Big Foot.”
“Are you doing things with Big Foot? We see you in there with Dr. Hayes doing nasty stuff,” the teen was told by staff, the complaint says.
The staff members are complicit in the sexual abuse of the teen and other detainees, the complaint says. The filing refers to the employees named in the complaint as “the enabling defendants.”
“The enabling defendants did nothing to stop defendant Hayes,” the complaint says.
Grooming and manipulation
To gain the teen’s trust, the complaint says Hayes manipulated and groomed him, using an approach “that was a mix of being authoritative, awkward, self-deprecating, disarming, self-pitying, alarming, fear mongering, and overtly offensive.”
She’d prolong their one-on-one sessions, including appointments that were “unnecessary,” according to the complaint.
She orally raped him during each meeting and forced “him to ejaculate in her mouth,” the complaint says.
Hayes also received Cash App payments from the plaintiff’s parents, who believed they were paying for costs associated with meals and hygiene, the compaint says.
According to the complaint, Hayes told the plaintiff to get his parents to send her up to $100 over Cash App. His parents did send her payments, the complaint says.
In addition to sexually molesting the plaintiff and other teen boys detained at Brookwood, Hayes organized brawls between inmates, according to the lawsuit.
Hayes would “pit other inmates against each other” and caused them “to fight against each other for no reason,” the complaint says.
The plaintiff was involved in one of these fights, according to the filing.
Hayes told the teen that she would watch footage of the fights and that she enjoyed seeing the brawls, the complaint says.
Jury trial demanded
The sexual abuse he endured from Hayes continues to cause him “personal physical injury and several emotional and psychological distress,” according to the complaint.
With his lawsuit, the plaintiff demands a jury trial and seeks an unspecified amount in damages.
“Defendant Hayes used and exploited her position of trust and authority bestowed on her by the State of New York and the Enabling Defendants to her disgusting advantage and her own depraved benefit, and in furtherance of her scheme to sexually abuse and exploit as many children as possible under the guise of performing routine and necessary counseling sessions,” the complaint says.
The case is also represented by attorney Evan Brustein, of Brustein Law PLLC in New York City.
This story was originally published March 25, 2025 at 4:48 PM with the headline "Prison psychologist raped 17-year-old dozens of times as NY staff made jokes, suit says."
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