BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — With investigative journalism, sometimes court documents are the only way we ever hear from the people involved. These documents are used as instruments. They detail charges of a crime or accuse someone of wrongdoing.
A woman, who said she was raped by a former New York State Supreme Court justice, in Monroe County, is coming forward to share her story for the first time. She filed a lawsuit in 2023, against the court system, Monroe County and others, under the Adult Survivors Act.
The case is being heard in Erie County to avoid a conflict of interest.
The details of this story may be disturbing to some readers.
A 2005 divorce had Rebecca Klymn thinking about one thing — her son.
"My priority was my son and making sure he had a stable home. Food on the table and a parent that was always there for him," Klymn said.
She said her boss — former State Supreme Court Justice Matthew Rosenbaum — used that vulnerability against her. She said Rosenbaum made clear that sexual compliance was tied directly to her job — and to her custody of her son.
"I was told that it was a condition of my employment," Klymn said. "Sexual acts that he deemed necessary."
"My initial response was no, that's not part of my job. And I was then advised that it was a part of my job and it would also be contingent on my maintaining custody of my son," Klymn said.
A complaint filed in state supreme court alleges that from 2005 until 2009, Rosenbaum "compelled Klymn to perform fellatio more than 80 times" in his judicial chambers in Monroe County.
"It was extremely demeaning and every single time it happened, I contemplated whether it would be better for me to leave my son... and be gone altogether so I did not have to do that," Klymn said.
On Nov. 14, 2006, Klymn said Rosenbaum showed up at her home demanding to be let in, threatening to cause a scene if she refused. Feeling she had no choice, she let him in. She said he then raped her.
"So he told me that I needed to put on high heels, and then proceeded to follow me to my bedroom, where he forced me face down onto my bed, and proceeded to rape me," Klymn said. "While I was crying and telling him to stop, he finished, and he said he needed a towel to clean himself up."
In a recorded statement made in 2021, Rosenbaum acknowledged having a relationship outside of his marriage but denied the allegations of assault.
"To my wife, as I have said, I am sorry beyond my ability to express it in words," Rosenbaum said.
"There is another issue I must confront. That is the untrue allegation that the relationship was anything but consensual. It was always totally consensual. Any attempt to frame it as other than that is both untrue and unfair," Rosenbaum said.
Rosenbaum, through his attorney, refused to speak with the 7 News I-Team. He resigned as a judge in 2019 and agreed never to seek or accept judicial office in the future. As a result of that agreement with the Commission on Judicial Conduct, Klymn's attorney said the investigation into these claims stopped.
The Commission on Judicial Conduct states, "In cases where a judge resigns pursuant to a stipulation with the Commission, the matter is closed."
Klymn's attorney, Lindy Korn, said the power imbalance was severe. She said supervisors, to whom Klymn reported Rosenbaum's behavior, never escalated those complaints through the proper chain of command.
"This case is about power and abuse of power," Korn said.
In the lawsuit against the state and the court system, Korn writes that "high-ranking employees of New York's Seventh Judicial District joined together in a unified group whose goal was to protect Supreme Court Justices, especially male justices, from any and all challenges to their autonomy...with complete impunity..."
WATCH: Woman accuses former NYS Supreme Court justice of rape, years of sexual coercion
"If you really get up the courage to complain about sexual harassment and the other allegations, including an allegation of rape, that takes a tremendous amount of courage. But she did. Silence, radio silence," Korn said.
"The point of the matter is the state's policies to protect its employees, including our client Rebecca Klymn, utterly failed," Korn said.
Korn also noted there is a push to change the process that allows investigations to close when a judge resigns.
"There is a movement to have that changed, that process. I think it would go a long way towards equalizing the balance of power," Korn said.
Throughout the years of alleged abuse, Klymn said she tried to hide her pain from her son — something she said she ultimately failed to do.
"This is pain. This is my acknowledgment that I've lost everything. They've taken everything from me. It hit home when my son told me that I'm not the person he remembered me to be because I don't know how to laugh or smile and then I'm so controlled. That I don't know how to be anything other than stiff," Klymn said.
"I was trying to protect him and until this lawsuit came out, he didn't know the extent," Klymn said. "I begged him not to read it, but he was an adult by then, so I know he did."
"So that's what these emotions are. That I lost myself because someone else was better than me and had more control and power than I had, that I didn't have anything," Klymn said.
The lawsuit against the state and the court system continues to be heard in an Erie County State Supreme courtroom. The Monroe County District Attorney's office has not returned a request for comment on a possible criminal investigation.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.