New York’s Child Victims Act Offers Survivors of Child Abuse a New Opportunity for Justice
October 2, 2019
On February 14, 2019, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the state’s Child Victims Act into law. The Act amended state law relating to victims’ rights, including statutes of limitations governing child sexual abuse offenses. Under the former law, child sexual abuse offenses could not be prosecuted after five years from their occurrence and civil lawsuits from this conduct had to be brought by the victim’s early twenties. The Child Victims Act now amends the state’s law to extend the time future victims will have to take legal action needed to hold perpetrators responsible and seek justice. Additionally, for victims of past crimes, the Act creates a one year “look back” window for claims that could have been barred because they were not raised in time according to the old law—providing victims a new opportunity to make claims that would have expired under previous statutes of limitations.
The Child Victims Act’s one-year “look back” window for past claims opened on August 14, 2019. In only the first few days since this period opened, hundreds of civil suits were filed, and thousands are expected to be filed over the course of the year. Given that many victims do not come to terms with the trauma of abuse until many years after the fact—when their claims are time-barred—the one-year window stands as a singular opportunity for past victims to get justice, and cases are expected to be filed by victims abused as long as 50 or 60 years ago. And while the Child Victims Act will amend the statutes of limitations for new claims, the look-back window is a limited opportunity for past victims to seek justice, which generally means most survivors of past abuse must bring their claims during the one-year window. In effect, this means that survivors who wish to tell their stories and seek justice must prepare to do so now.
Going forward, the Child Victims Act will provide future victims a longer period to assert claims. Victims who suffer abuse now and in the future will be able to commence civil litigation against those responsible any time before reaching 55 years of age, and they will gain additional time to see that perpetrators are held criminally responsible. And victims will be able to assert their claims without the potential need for a “notice of claim.” Furthermore, state judges will also receive special judicial training with respect to crimes involving the sexual abuse of minors. To this end, across New York, special “parts,” or sections, of the state supreme court have been created to handle the anticipated wave of litigation.
Defendants in the recently filed suits so far include the Boy Scouts of America, Rockefeller University, authorities in the Catholic Church, and the New York City Department of Education. Crosby & Higgins LLP is investigating potential claims and interested in assisting victims. Contact Us for more information.