Partner Todd Mathews Fights for Sex Abuse Survivors on "Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson"
“Everybody [knew], because it was happening to all of us.”
Bailey Glasser partner D. Todd Mathews appeared on “Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson” along with our brave client Patricia Thomas on Sunday, May 19. As described by Ms. Thomas, after she was forced to run away from an abusive home as a teenager, she ended up at the Thomas J.S. Waxter Children’s Center where was abused by staff members over many years: “I was sexually assaulted there. I didn't even feel safe to take a shower.”
The staff at the Center knew what was happening to her, and all the other children placed there, at the hands of known predators in their midst. Ms. Thomas, just like many of her fellow survivors, later turned to drugs and alcohol, and even attempted suicide, to block out the horrific memories of abuse.
The Maryland General Assembly passed a law in 2023 to permit survivors like Ms. Thomas to seek justice but abruptly slashed the financial compensation available to survivors by more than half in April 2025.
Nothing can undo the damage done to the survivors by the state actors who preyed upon these vulnerable children. The only measure of justice available in the legal system is monetary, so we continue to fight for the full measure of justice to help all the people harmed in systems that knew what was happening yet cruelly turned a blind eye to the children in their custody who needed their help and protection.
Learn more about our work on behalf of Maryland sex abuse survivors here.
You can watch the news segment below.
