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The daughter of a New Jersey police chief has filed a lawsuit claiming he repeatedly sexually abused her for more than a decade, as part of what she describes as a “ritualistic cult” involving neighbors and other men.

Courtney Tamagny, 20, is accusing her father—New Jersey Leonia Police Chief Scott Tamagny—their neighbor Kevin Slevin, and other unnamed men of sexually abusing her from the age of 4 until she was 15 in 2020. 

Highlights
  • Courtney Tamagny accused her father—Leonia Police Chief Scott Tamagny—and others of sexual abuse in a ritualistic cult.
  • Alleged cult rituals included masked ceremonies in the woods, burning animals, and disturbing 'games' ending in assaults.
  • Courtney claims her father used his police power to block help; a Change.org petition demands his suspension amid transparency concerns.
  • The case has split the Bergen County town, with some demanding answers while others defend the police chief amid growing public debate.

In court papers, she says the abuse happened during what appeared to be cultlike ceremonies in the woods near their home.

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    Courtney has accused her father, a New Jersey police chief, of sexual abuse as part of a ‘ritualistic cult practice’

    Image credits: Leonia Police Department

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    Both men say federal authorities conducted thorough investigations into the claims and found them to be without merit.

    Slevin has also filed a defamation lawsuit against Courtney.

    But Courtney has taken her claims public on podcasts and social media to describe the alleged sex abuse. It has even sparked a Change.org petition to suspend her top-cop dad.

    “[Courtney was brought] into the woods in Rockland County, New York, and there was what appeared to be other middle-aged men present with masks on their faces,” the lawsuit claimed. 

    Image credits: Instagram/courtney.2467

    “She recalls there being fire and animals being burned, and they would chant as if ritualistic. She was sexually assaulted in those woods by defendant Slevin, defendant’s father, and some of the other men present,” it added. 

    According to court documents, the father allegedly threatened to murder her mother if she ever spoke up. 

    Courtney also claims the abuse happened inside the family’s home. She says her father used drugs to sedate her and her sisters, then attacked them while their mother was away or asleep with earphones in their downstairs bedroom. 

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    Her mother, Jeanne Tamagny, joined the lawsuit as a plaintiff and is divorcing Scott Tamagny.

    Image credits: Facebook/Leonia Police Department

    Courtney says she was too young to understand what was happening at first, and later suppressed the memories.

    She only began remembering the abuse after visiting a doctor for genital pain. When the doctor asked if she had ever been sexually abused, she started to recall disturbing events. 

    Her therapist later reported the abuse to authorities in 2022.

    Courtney went on the podcast We’re All Insane in April 2024, claiming that generations of her father’s “bloodline” had been in a satanic cult alongside numerous neighbors in their North Jersey town. 

    These members not only abused her and her siblings, but also trafficked children and burned them alive in the woods. 

    She claimed that the neighborhood cultists had “tunnels” that they would use during their rituals. 

    The rituals allegedly included sexual abuse, child trafficking, and burning humans and animals

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    Image credits: Instagram/courtney.2467

    These rituals allegedly included “taking kids’ blood,” “drum circles,” “burnings,” and “burnings of animal skin” that would last all night.

    “What scared us the most is, ‘Okay, we’re doing this to these people we’ve trafficked, why wouldn’t we do this to you? Because we just did that to this young girl or this young boy,’” she said on the podcast, relaying how these rituals were also made to silence her and her siblings.  

    She spoke about another alleged cult activity: games that always ended with kids being assaulted. 

    Image credits: Google Maps

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    “We would go into the woods, and we would play ‘games’ which were not games,” she said, describing a game allegedly called “Hunter and Gatherers.” 

    In the game, 10 kids were released into the woods and allowed to hide, and then cult members would allegedly chase them down, incapacitate them and assault them. 

    “They made it as if it was a game and you could win,” she told podcast host Devorah Roloff. “You weren’t going to win, you were always going to be hit, they just wanted you to look terrified and run.”

    Courtney has named the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, the State of New Jersey, and various state child protective services, alleging that her father leveraged his law enforcement position to ensure she was rebuffed when she reached out for help. 

    On the podcast, Courtney claims she had photos of the woods containing evidence, but police refused to take them.

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    This shocking account has divided the small Bergen County town of Leonia, where some residents demand answers while others defend the police chief.

    The Change.org petition, which was started by a resident of Leonia, says, “Rather than stepping aside to allow for an impartial investigation, Chief Tamagny has remained in his role, raising concerns about transparency.”

    “It’s made up out of whole cloth,” Slevin’s attorney, Kevin Corriston, told The New York Post.

    “This entire complaint was previously investigated by everybody from Homeland Security to the Attorney General’s Office in New Jersey, to the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, and they found no basis at all for these outrageous allegations.” 

    “Having got no satisfaction from law enforcement, she now decided to sue all the people who were involved in the investigation,” Corriston continued.

    “There is no way in the world that there was some sort of secret satanic child sex cult operating out of Riverdale, New Jersey. This is a fantasy made up in her mind.”

    Her father and the other accused men have denied the allegations and countersued Courtney Tamagny 

    Image credits: Facebook/Leonia Police Department

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    Slevin has launched a countersuit accusing Courtney of defamation, claiming her allegations have left him “exposed to public ridicule, held in disrepute,” and caused him “extreme embarrassment and humiliation and severe mental distress.” 

    Chief Tamagny’s attorney shared similar sentiments.