• UPDATE: The deadline to take legal action under the New York Child Victims Act look-back window is Aug. 14, 2021.

In early 2019, the state of New York passed a bill that extends the statute of limitations for survivors of Catholic child sexual abuse.

The state law now allows prosecutors to file criminal charges against a perpetrator until the victim turns 28. Survivors of childhood sexual abuse now have until they turn 55 years old to file a lawsuit against the perpetrator or the entity that protected and enabled the perpetrator.

Before the law was passed, a New York survivor had to ensure criminal or civil charges were filed before the survivor turned 23 years old.

The law, known as the Child Victims Act, also allowed a “look-back window” to enable victims whose claims had already passed the statute of limitations to be reinstated. The look-back window was originally meant to be a one-year period, but it was extended a couple of times due to COVID-19 conditions. Now, victims of childhood sexual abuse have until Aug. 14, 2021 to file their claims during the look-back window period.

The law has been in the works for more than 12 years, but leaders from large and influential groups such as the Roman Catholic Church, Orthodox Jewish communities, the Boy Scouts of America, insurance companies and private schools always have lobbied to keep the bill from becoming law, according to The New York Times.

Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal was one of the key sponsors of the Child Victims Act. In a press conference held right after the bill’s passage, Rosenthal said, “You will be able to name your abuser. The institutions that harbored them. And moved them among other institutions so they could harm other children.”

Empowering Survivors of Catholic Child Sexual Abuse

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed the bill into law in February 2019. He held his own news conference where he stood with many childhood sexual abuse survivors, many now in their 50s and 60s.

Gov. Cuomo said that Pope Francis has led the dedication to bringing Catholic child sexual abuse perpetrators forward to answer for their crimes against children.

“You cannot deny what happened. You cannot deny that there was significant abuse in the Catholic Church,” said Gov. Cuomo. “You cannot deny that it was not handled appropriately. And you can’t deny that people were hurt.”

New York’s Catholic Conference has spent upwards of $1.8 million on lobbyists since 2012 to fight the bill, per The New York Times. Catholic Church leaders have accused Gov. Cuomo of singling out the church.

The Catholic Church finally said it would back the bill if the law was applied to all public and private institutions. The sponsors of the bill didn’t hesitate to agree that the bill should hold all child abusers equally accountable.

Still, allegations against Catholic leaders that have made the majority of headlines. In December 2018, a man who is now 67 years old finally saw the name of the priest who raped him before he was a teen appear on a newly published list of 57 priests who had been accused of sexually abusive conduct. Previously, the man had been told by a local bishop that naming the abusive priests would violate the Ten Commandments.

Thirty-eight of the priests named on that newly released list are dead. The 19 living have all been removed from the ministry, according to the diocese.

If you or someone you love has suffered from childhood sexual abuse within the Catholic Church, legal help is available to you.