MIAMI (WSVN) - A lawsuit filed on behalf of a woman who was sexually assaulted at her Brickell apartment claims the building’s failure to screen people staying with other residents led to the violent attack.
The victim, whose face was blurred to protect her identity, said the Dec. 28 encounter only occurred because of a lack of security measures at Camden Brickell Apartments located at 50 SW 10th Street which allowed the suspect to stay with another resident despite not being registered as a guest or resident himself.
“A man who lived in that building attacked me, sexually assaulted me,” the victim said.
She believes if the building had done a thorough check, he would’ve never been allowed to live inside.
Surveillance video from the building captured the woman walking toward the pool area with a man in the early morning hours that day.
According to the victim, what began as a casual conversation with the man turned into a terrifying ordeal.
According to the arrest report, the man, identified as 46-year-old Curtis Griffin, asked her “if she has ever been with a gangster.” Griffin then told her “you need to be with a gangster.”
Police say that was when Griffin began groping her and exposing himself before telling her “no one was around, no one could see them, no one could hear them, and that no one would ever know.”
The woman was eventually able to fight him off and run to her apartment.
Ronald Weil, an attorney for Weil Law Firm, who filed the civil lawsuit on the victim’s behalf, claims the apartment complex didn’t do enough to protect its residents, allowing Griffin to live in the building with his girlfriend without being registered as a guest or resident.
“All of the protections that they lure people into the building with were not present,” said Weil.
The suit argues that the entire alleged encounter would’ve been prevented if the apartment building and the security company had properly screened Griffin, who had previously been arrested for sexual assault.
“Had he properly been screened and underwent such a background check, the building would have discovered his extensive criminal history, active protective injunctions filed against him and a 2023 arrest for sexual assault,” said Alecsander Kohn, another attorney for Weil Law Firm.
Weil said the lawsuit is critical, as the alleged laidback security measures endangers countless residents to traumatic attacks.
“This suit needs to be taken seriously. Why, because it’s clear that people can be hurt. There are lifelong consequences to this,” said Weil.
Attorneys for Camden Brickell Apartments responded to the allegations, claiming the woman was “negligent by failing to exercise due diligence for her own safety.”
Her attorneys denounced their response, calling it cruel for blaming her for the alleged actions of Griffin.
“Which is absolutely despicable that they would suggest that a woman is somehow responsible for being sexually assaulted,” said Kohn.
Griffin was later taken into custody by authorities in Texas for attempted sexual battery and has since been extradited to South Florida to face charges.
Meantime, the 20-year-old victim has moved out of her old apartment unit in favor of a new place to call home.
She said the trauma from the attack has warped her perspective of what was meant to be her sanctuary.
“My whole life, I was told that home is where you are safe. I believed that and I don’t believe that anymore,” she said.
She added that she hopes the lawsuit will help prevent what happened to her from happening to anyone else.
“No woman should ever have to fight for her own safety in her own home, the place you sleep, the place you come back to at the end of the day. That should be the one place you feel safe,” she said.
The victim also said she was required to undergo a background check when she first moved into Camden Brickell Apartments.
7News has reached out to Camden Brickell Apartments and the security company for the building for a response.
Griffin is currently out on bond and expected back in court in June.
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