Over 400 Child Victims Act Lawsuits Filed on First Day of New York’s Look-Back Window’s

Published on August 16, 2019 by Sandy Liebhard

Hundreds of child sexual abuse lawsuits were filed throughout New York state on Wednesday, the first day of a one-year look-back window that allows plaintiffs to revive decades-old claims otherwise time-barred by the state’s statute of limitations.

439 Child Victims Act Lawsuits Filed on Single Day

Media accounts indicate that 439 Child Victims Act lawsuits were pending in New York state courts by 11:59 p.m. on August 14^th. At least 169 were filed in New York City.

The majority of new claims name one of the state’s 11 Roman Catholic dioceses as a defendant, while others seek compensation from the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Boy Scouts of America, and Rockefeller University.  At least one Child Victims Act lawsuit names the estate of accused child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein as a defendant.

“His money, influence and connections to important people made me want to hide and stay silent,” 32-year-old Jennifer Araoz wrote in a New York Times op-ed published Wednesday. “For years I felt crushed by the power imbalance between Epstein, with his enablers, and me. The Child Victims Act finally offers a counterweight.”

What the New York Child Victims Act Did

Some of the Child Victims Act lawsuits assert claims that date back to the 1960s. All of these plaintiffs had been barred from court by the state’s old statute of limitations, which required that civil lawsuits involving child sexual abuse be filed by a victim’s 23^rd birthday.

The New York Child Victims Act changed the law in three key ways:

• Extended the statute of limitations for criminal felony charges until a victim’s 28^th birthday.
• Allows survivors to file civil lawsuits against perpetrators and the institutions that enabled their abuse until they turn 55.
• Opens a one-year, one-time-only window allows survivors of any to file previously time-barred civil claims. That window opened on August 14, 2019.

45 Judges Assigned to New York Child Victims Act Lawsuits

The New York Unified Court System has assigned 45 judges to handle the influx of Child Victims Act Lawsuits, including a dozen in New York City.

“The revived Child Victims Act cases are critically important cases, raising numerous challenging legal issues, that must be adjudicated as consistently and expeditiously as possible across the state,” Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence K. Marks said. “We are fully committed to providing appropriate and sufficient resources to achieve that goal.”