A New York father is fighting back after his children were unjustly taken from him due to false allegations made by a police officer. On November 10, 2025, Dominic Maher filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York against Officer Phillip Hoenscheid of the New York City Police Department.
The case revolves around an incident on March 19, 2025, when Maher was attacked by a neighbor in his apartment building in Jackson Heights, Queens. Despite being assaulted and injured, Maher chose not to press charges against his aggressor. However, later that night, Officer Hoenscheid returned to Maher's apartment and arrested him under dubious circumstances. With no immediate caretaker available for his children due to religious observances of their nanny, Child Protective Services (CPS) was called in to take custody of Maher's two young children.
Officer Hoenscheid allegedly fabricated a report to the State Central Register (SCR), falsely claiming that Maher had assaulted his neighbor and left his children alone in a dangerously hot apartment with locked doors. These claims led CPS to file neglect petitions and remove the children from Maher's care. The removal was based on alleged "immediate danger" which turned out to be unsubstantiated.
In court proceedings that followed, it became clear that the allegations were baseless. The court dismissed the petitions against Maher after hearing testimony from ACS worker Elizabeth Louis and realizing the discrepancies between her account and reality. Subsequently, both the child removal proceedings and criminal charges against Maher were dropped.
Maher's lawsuit accuses Officer Hoenscheid of malicious prosecution, evidence fabrication, and abuse of process under 42 U.S.C. §1983. He seeks compensatory damages for emotional distress caused by losing custody of his children temporarily and punitive damages for what he describes as an egregious abuse of power by Officer Hoenscheid.
Representing Dominic Maher are attorneys Alexander Klein and Danielle Muscatello from Barket Epstein Kearon Aldea & Loturco LLP. The case has been assigned docket number 25-cv-6249 in front of an unspecified judge at this time.
Source: 125cv06249_Maher_v_New_York_City_Police_Department_Complaint_Eastern_District_New_York.pdf