Nineteen years after former Merrick doctor Stuart Copperman was stripped of his medical license for reported cases of sexual assault, more than 50 of his former patients now hope to sue him for monetary damages under the Child Victims Act, according to an Oct. 8 article published by The New York Times.
The law opens a one-year window, beginning in August, during which victims of childhood sex abuse may file civil lawsuits against abusers, even decades after the crimes occurred, the Times wrote.
Copperman, now 84, received his medical license in 1961 and opened his Merrick practice in 1965, which he ran out of his basement at 3137 Hewlett Ave. For more than 35 years, he was the go-to doctor for thousands of children in Merrick and beyond. Affable and always reliable, the Times wrote, he was seen as trustworthy by most parents.