Victims of sexual abuse or sexual assault at the Gow School in New York could be eligible for a potential class action lawsuit, but the amount of time left to file could be limited.

So far, multiple lawsuits have been filed against the school under the Child Victims Act, with former students accusing the Gow School New York of negligence after they were sexually abused by faculty members while attending.

The act, which was signed by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo last year, extends the window of time for victims to come forward and for their abusers to be held accountable. It allows victims of such crimes to file a civil lawsuit anytime before they reach 55 years of age and increases the amount of time allotted for an offender to be held criminally accountable.

Originally, the window to file sexual assault lawsuits under the act was set to expire in August 2020, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, that deadline was extended to Aug. 14, 2021.

“The Child Victims Act brought a long-needed pathway to justice for people who were abused, and helps right wrongs that went unacknowledged and unpunished for far too long and we cannot let this pandemic limit the ability for survivors to have their day in court,” Cuomo said in a statement. “As New York continues to reopen and recover from a public health crisis, extending the look back window is the right thing to do and will help ensure that abusers and those who enabled them are held accountable.”

Joining the ranks of other school abuse cases, according to the Buffalo News, four Child Victims Act lawsuits have so far been filed against the Gow School New York, a boarding and day school for students with dyslexia and language-based learning disabilities in South Wales.

The victims claim in their lawsuits that the Gow School “negligently employed and retained employees and/or agents who sexually abused minor residents and gave them access to children.”

The school itself conducted an investigation in which multiple students reported incidents of “forced sexual interactions” with faculty, but despite those claims, the Gow said its investigation found “no patterns of misconduct or systemic failures were alleged” as many of the incidents were never reported to staff at the time.  However, one student who attended the school from 1993 to 1995 says he now suffers from generalized stress disorder.

Still, since the first Child Victims Act lawsuits were filed, Greenstein & Milbauer, LLP said multiple survivors have alleged additional abuse the Gow School in New York.

If you were sexually abused or assaulted while a student at the Gow School, attorneys working with Top Class Actions would like to speak with you about a possible class action lawsuit investigation.

Fill out the free form on this page to see if you qualify.

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