Suit accuses brother of sexual assaults
September 10, 2004
OXFORD - A town woman is seeking $1 million in property attachments from her brother for allegedly sexually assaulting her for several years when as a child more than 30 years ago. Cyndy Smith, of Edgewood Road, filed the lawsuit Thursday against her brother, Dwight Chernauskas, of the Higganum section of Haddam.
Tremont & Sheldon, the Bridgeport law firm representing Smith, filed an application for prejudgment remedy at Milford Superior Court. The filing asks the court to attach the brother's property to secure the $1 million. Chernauskas did not return telephone calls to his home or office.
Chernauskas is vice chairman of his town's Wetlands Commission, as confirmed by a fellow commissioner, who declined to comment. "Mr. Chernauskas adamantly and firmly denies the allegations that have been asserted by Mrs. Smith and he finds them to be totally outrageous," said Fred Stanek, Chernauskas' attorney. Smith has an unlisted telephone number; her attorneys could not be reached Thursday. The suit does not state where the two lived between 1967 and 1975, when the sexual assaults allegedly occurred.
According to the suit, Smith, now 41, was 4 when the sexual assaults began.
They continued until she was about 13, it alleges. "I was sexually abused, sexually assaulted and sexually exploited numerous times for a number of years by my brother," Smith said in a lawsuit affidavit. "As a result thereof, I have sustained injuries of a serious, painful and permanent nature in that I have suffered physical injuries from the abuse and severe emotional injuries including emotional distress, anxiety, frustration, disassociation, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and permanent psychological scarring," she said in the affidavit.
The suit said she has incurred medical expenses and will continue to require medical care and treatment.
Specifically, Smith is seeking her brother's property in Higganum, as well as property he owns at Shetucket Turnpike in Griswold, and any money he has in bank accounts or money market accounts.
Still pending in Milford Superior Court is a property partition lawsuit that Chernauskas filed against Smith in Sept. 2003.
Anthony Spinelli, who covers the Naugatuck Valley, can be reached at 736-5440.
© 2004 The Connecticut Post. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Media NewsGroup, Inc. by NewsBank, Inc.
If you believe that you have been injured in any manner, you must act swiftly to protect your rights. Please click here if you would like us to review your situation.
*Se Habla Español
*Available 24/7
*No Attorney Fees - Unless Recovery Received
Costs Not Contingent Upon Case Outcome