A 66-year old woman has initiated a claim under New York’s Child Victims Act due to allegations that three different church figures associated with Saint Michael’s Lutheran Church raped her over half a decade ago.

Before the change in the law, this woman would not have been able to bring her legal claim as an adult survivor of sexual abuse. However, the new lookback law enables a survivor of sexual abuse to file a lawsuit during the one-year lookback window that begins in August 2019.

Now, adult survivors who were previously prevented from bringing legal action to the statute of limitations can bring a claim under this one-year lookback window.

The woman alleges that beginning in 1961, she was subjected to repeated sexual abuse and rape from three different men, who also took naked photographs of her and molested her. She said that this behavior began when she was eight years old and that it was ritualistic in nature.

All three men who were allegedly involved in this behavior were previously pastors, according to the lawsuit. Two of the pastors have since passed away and the lone survivor is 88-years old. The same victim had attempted to file a lawsuit in the past, but had her case thrown out due to the statute of limitations.

The victim says that she also wrote complaints to state and nationwide Lutheran organizations and to the individual church, but never received notice of an investigation or a response at all. She argues that these traumatic incidents led to severe emotional anguish as an adult and significant anxiety. The woman also alleges that she never had children or got married due to the impact of the abuse.

Legal Reform Benefits Survivors of Abuse

Although this case involves claims of abuse outside the Catholic Church, the number of claims against churches and other organizations like the Boy Scouts have surged in recent years. Many of the victims in these cases kept quiet about the abuse for decades but now feel comfortable speaking out about the incidents in the hope of getting justice. Many survivors in New York were cut off from bringing litigation after age 23.

The lookback window gives an adult survivor of sexual abuse a chance to finally have their day in court, and in the eyes of some, allows for a victim to get their story heard and the behavior recognized as wrong. New York is not the first state that will open this sort of filing period for victims.

In 2003, California initiated their own one-year lookback period and this led to hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements and approximately a thousand cases. Several Catholic dioceses in Minnesota filed for bankruptcy protection after Minnesota closed this lookback window in 2016.

Major institutions across the state of New York are anticipating a high volume of lawsuits to be filed by adults who can now pursue formal legal action under the lookback window.

This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.