San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
9,000 file abuse claims after state permits lawsuits
ALBANY, N.Y. — For two years, New York temporarily set aside its usual time limit on civil lawsuits in order to allow victims of childhood sexual abuse to sue churches, hospitals, schools, camps, scout groups and other institutions and people they hold responsible for enabling pedophiles or turning a blind eye to wrongdoing.
That window closed Saturday, after more than 9,000 lawsuits were filed, a deluge whose impact may be felt for many years.
Four of the state’s Roman Catholic dioceses have filed for bankruptcy partly as a result of litigation unleashed by the state’s Child Victims Act. Thousands of new allegations against priests, teachers, scout leaders and other authorities have brightened the already harsh light on institutions entrusted with caring for children.
And survivors of abuse have been given an outlet for their trauma and a chance at accountability once thought long lost.
“This has, ironically, been a very healing experience for me on a personal level,” said Carol DuPre, 74, who sued the Roman Catholic diocese in Rochester, saying she was molested by a priest as a teen in the early 1960s.
She put the events “in a storehouse in her mind,” but it still haunted her for decades. When the chance came to file a suit, it was an easy decision. “The idea of confronting it, talking about it and dealing with it is internally setting me free,” she said.
New York City Attorney Jeff Anderson (left) discusses sex abuse allegations in 2019. New York is among several states that have lifted statute of limitations bars against claims of abuse.
New York is among a number of states that have in recent years established windows allowing people to sue over childhood abuse no matter how long ago it took place. Similar windows were opened in California and New Jersey.
Ordinarily, courts put deadlines on suing because of the difficulty in holding a fair trial over incidents that happened many years ago. Witnesses
die or move away. Records are lost. Memories fade. But lawmakers believed that, despite those hurdles, victims deserved an opportunity for justice and might feel emboldened now to speak up about things they’ve kept to themselves for many years.
The wave of litigation surprised even some of the attorneys who work regularly with abuse victims.
Plaintiffs’ lawyers said potential clients were still coming forward as the deadline neared, some gaining the strength after seeing stories of others filing suits. Attorney Jeff Anderson said some survivors wait until the last minute because of the difficulty of coming forward.