The daughter of a New Jersey police chief has reportedly filed a lawsuit accusing him of abuse and sexual assault as part of a “cult”.
In the lawsuit, cited in a New York Post report, Courtney Tamagny (20) claimed that her father had raped her for more than a decade, adding that he was part of a “ritualistic” cult which also included some of their neighbours.
The lawsuit names Leonia Police Chief Scott Tamagny, his neighbour Kevin Slevin and others as the accused.
Scott and Slevin, who are residents of the Bergen County borough, have denied the allegations, while claiming that investigation into the matter, which went up to the federal government, had not yielded anything.
Slevin has also countersued Courtney for defamation.
Courtney's mother Jeanne Tamagny, who is also a plaintiff on the lawsuit, is in the process of divorcing her father. The lawsuit states that the 20-year-old's sisters were also subjected to abuse, adding that their father sedated them with drugs before assaulting them.
However, Courtney has regularly appeared on podcasts and taken to social media to reveal details about the alleged sexual abuse. She also started a Change.org petition demanding suspension for her father.
Courtney alleges cult members had ‘tunnels’ to carry out rituals
On the podcast, Courtney claimed that the local cult members reportedly had “tunnels” to carry out their rituals, adding that these included “burnings” and taking “kids' blood”, according to New York Post.
{{/usCountry}}On the podcast, Courtney claimed that the local cult members reportedly had “tunnels” to carry out their rituals, adding that these included “burnings” and taking “kids' blood”, according to New York Post.
{{/usCountry}}She also alleged that her father had threatened to murder her mother if she spoke up about the “rituals”.
Her lawsuit claims that she was taken to the woods in Rockland County New York. “…There was what appeared to be other middle-aged men present with masks on their faces,” it says. The lawsuit states that Courtney recalls a fire there and animals being burned, with the members chanting like in a ritual.
“She was sexually assaulted in those woods by defendant Slevin, defendant father, and some of the other men present,” the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit says that the abuse started in 2009 when Courtney was four, and continued till 2020.
Courtney shared her experience of torture and abuse on a podcast called 'We're All Insane' in April.
Courtney talked about the cult's alleged activities, calling them “games”. “We would go into the woods, and we would play ‘games’ which were not games,” she said, claiming that kids would be left into the woods and permitted to hide. She claimed that after this, cult members would find them and assault them.
“You weren’t going to win, you were always going to be hit, they just wanted you to look terrified and run," Courtney said.
However, Slevin's attorney has rejected Courtney's accusations, saying they had been probed by the US Homeland Security, the Attorney General’s Office in New Jersey, and the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office. “…They found no basis at all for these outrageous allegations,” attorney Kevin Corston told the New York Post.
Corston said that there was “no way in the world” that a “satanic child sex cult” would operate in Riverdale, while adding that Courtney's claims were a “fantasy made up in her mind”.