Former Student Files $10 Million Lawsuit Alleging Abuse at Defunct New York School

A former student filed a $10 million civil lawsuit in Brooklyn Federal Court against the Argiros family, the village of Hancock, local police, and others over alleged abuse at the Family Foundation School. The plaintiff attended the school from 2000 to 2003 after being sent there from homes in Demarest, New Jersey, and Roosevelt Island.

He asked the court to allow him to remain anonymous in the case.

Court papers describe multiple alleged practices at the now-defunct school in Hancock, about an hour east of Binghamton. Students were allegedly strip-searched on arrival, forced into sexualized group sessions with teachers, and required to perform labor including digging excavation trenches, shoveling snow, cleaning waste from pig pens and farm animal enclosures, and construction work on Argiros family properties.

The same documents state that students were also required to cook meals for the Argiros family and clean the family house.

Additional allegations include students being encased in rolled-up rugs bound with duct tape, forced to eat their own vomit, made to dig their own graves and lie down in them, and locked in closets without food, water, or bathroom access for days. K9 dogs were allegedly used to pursue and forcibly return students who attempted to escape.

The plaintiff alleged he was repeatedly sexually abused by music teacher Paul Geer during a chorus trip to Toronto.

According to the court papers, the plaintiff reported the abuse to Michael Argiros and was subsequently placed on work sanction. He testified against Geer at a 2024 federal criminal trial. Geer was convicted of sexually abusing students and sentenced in September 2024 to 27 years in federal prison.