Starting on Thursday, adult victims of sex abuse can file lawsuits against their abusers.
A wave of lawsuits are being filed against corrections officers, managers, doctors, and even major politicians like former President Donald Trump.
According to News Channel 10 the normal deadlines in place for filing lawsuits over sexual assaults will be waived for one year. This means those abused years ago may still file a lawsuit no matter how much time has gone by.
People can do this under the Adult Survivors Act. Many people don’t come forward until the statute of limitations has passed due to fear of retaliation or being embarrassed. With that statute waived, victims can now come forward.
The Adult Survivors Act was modeled after the Child Victims Act which opened a two year window for 11,000 people to sue churches, hospitals, schools, camps, and other institutions that allowed them to be abused as children. When this was passed it was only for people who were abused as children in many states. New Jersey allowed adults to file.
This new law in New York affords those sexually abused as adults the same opportunity. A large number of women filing lawsuits were sexually assaulted while serving prison sentences at the hands of prison guards. Many claim NYSDOCCS did nothing to stop it or help them. For a lot of these women they could not file lawsuits until their sentence ended, and by then it was too late for many. With the Adult Survivors Act, they can now file.
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