A Bronx judge has tossed more than 450 lawsuits filed by people who claim they were sexually abused while in juvenile detention centers between the 1960s and 2010s, saying the plaintiffs did not have the legal right to sue.

Hundreds of New Yorkers who were detained as kids and teens have accused jail staff of groping them, raping them, forcing them to perform oral sex or otherwise sexually abusing them while they were held at Rikers Island jails, Horizon Juvenile Center or the now-shuttered Spofford Juvenile Detention Center in the Bronx. Their allegations span decades and accuse the city of ignoring a widespread culture of abuse within its facilities.

A bill is pending in the City Council that would provide a legal path forward for the juvenile detention cases and other allegation

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