Woman who was sexually assaulted in Center City office after security breach reaches $6M settlement with building landlord
The assailant was able to roam through various floors of the building, assault a 22-year-old worker, and leave the way he came in undetected by security.
A 22-year-old paralegal who was raped, physically assaulted, and robbed at work after an intruder was able to get through building security undetected in July 2022 has reached a $6 million settlement with the Center City landlord of the space, according to her attorneys.
The victim, referred to in court filings as R.F., filed a civil suit against the building’s landlord — 211 N. 13th Street Associates, LP, and related entities — last March in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, accusing the agency of being negligent in its security measures in a high-traffic area.
“But for the negligent security of the landlord and their security guard, this brutal attack would not have occurred,” one of R.F.’s attorneys, Lorraine Donnelly of Kline & Specter, said in a statement.
Attempts to reach the landlord and their attorneys were unsuccessful.
According to the suit, another unauthorized person attempted to access the building that same day — it’s unclear in filings if it was R.F.’s attacker — but security never alerted tenants.
To enter the building, a person would have to have a key card or use a call box to be let in by the security guard positioned in the lobby. But on the day of the attack, Camden resident Willie Harris entered the nine-story office building on the 200 block of North 13th Street shortly after 2 p.m. by “piggybacking” his entry off someone leaving the building and not long after the initial attempted breach.
The front entrance and stairs, said R.F.’s attorneys, were out of the security guard’s field of vision while he was in the lobby, and a live closed-circuit television feed was the only way the guard could see who was accessing the stairs.
The stairs had no security feature, such as an alarm or buzzer, that would notify the guard on duty that someone was gaining access to various floors, which is what R.F.’s attorneys said Harris did undetected.
After scoping out several floors, Harris reached the eighth floor where he attacked R.F. The attack stopped because Harris heard someone returning to the office from lunch.
R.F.’s attorneys said Harris left the same way he came in, unnoticed by the security guard on duty.
Harris was later arrested and convicted of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, strangulation, burglary, robbery, criminal trespassing, and related charges. His sentencing is scheduled for August. Harris’ attorney could not be reached for comment.
The victim’s attorneys argued lax security allowed the attack to happen. According to the lawsuit, the attack left R.F. experiencing depression, PTSD, anxiety, flashbacks, and other detrimental effects after the attack.
“We hope that landlords in our city and elsewhere will realize the importance of having reasonable security to protect their tenants and employees, including from criminal acts of intruders,” said Donnelly.