Recently, New York has changed its laws to enable more adult survivors of child sexual abuse to file lawsuits against their alleged abusers. The new law has resulted in over 700 lawsuits filed in just more than a month. These suits often concern abuse claims that took place decades ago, posing a unique set of challenges.

The New York Child Victims Act went into effect on Aug. 14, according to the Democrat & Chronicle newspaper. As part of the legislation, New York has expanded the window in which adult survivors of child sexual abuse can seek a civil remedy for abuse allegedly suffered as a minor. Victims now have until age 55 to do so. The law has not forgotten those outside this window, though. Another provision of the law gives New Yorkers a one-year lookback window in which they can bring claims of childhood sexual abuse, even if they would otherwise be outside the window.

The lookback window applies only to civil claims, not criminal ones, notes the Democrat & Chronicle, and provides an opportunity for victims to seek compensation and justice for abuse, even if it occurred decades ago.  

This temporary window is open until August 2020, and has ushered in a flood of lawsuits against alleged abusers. USA Today explained that electronic filing is available 24/7 to allow civil suits to be filed. 

The Wall Street Journal analyzed court records and found that 734 lawsuits were filed by alleged adult survivors of child sexual abuse between August 14, 2019, when the window opened, and September 23, 2019. 

The Wall Street Journal explains that most of these lawsuits aim to hold institutions liable for the abuse. The plaintiffs maintain that the institutions did not do enough to prevent the abuse from happening, and in some cases, even covered it up. 

Sixteen of the 734 lawsuits were filed against individuals accused of committing assault, some of them by family members.

The high number of lawsuits filed in such a short period of time is proving challenging for the justice system. According to the Wall Street Journal, some law firms have hired social workers to work with victims. Alleged victims’ memories range from hazy to vivid, the former making it potentially difficult to piece together the story in some instances, says the Wall Street Journal.

Additionally, many of the lawsuits filed during the one-year lookback window took place so long ago that the statute of limitations would normally have prevented them from being filed.

This makes tracking down information, and holding parties accountable, more difficult than it might be if the case had been filed sooner. The Wall Street Journal stresses that record-keeping has changed along with technology, and older records that may be key in these cases may be difficult to access.

For their part, the institutions named as defendants have also said that the time frame poses a challenge. In some cases, the institutions may not deny abuse allegations, but pursuing justice may nonetheless be difficult, because the accused may have change no longer be affiliated with the organizations.

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