Gov. Andrew Cuomo signs into law a sweeping package of police accountability measures that received new backing following the protests of George Floyd's killing. AP Photo: Courtesy of the Office of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday signed legislation extending the "look-back window" for New York's Child Victims Act through Aug. 14, 2021, giving survivors of child sex abuse several more months to file lawsuits related to older claims barred by statutes of limitation.
The Child Victims Act originally established a one-year window, from August 2019 to August 2020, in which survivors could file civil suits against their abuser or an institution regardless of the survivor's age.
In May, in connection with the coronavirus pandemic, Cuomo signed an executive order extending the window until January 2021. Monday's bill, which was sponsored by state Sen. Brad Hoylman and state Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, effectively added another seven months to the revival period.
"The Child Victims Act brought a long-needed pathway to justice for people who were abused, and helps right wrongs that went unacknowledged and unpunished for far too long, and we cannot let this pandemic limit the ability for survivors to have their day in court," Cuomo said. "As New York continues to reopen and recover from a public health crisis, extending the look back window is the right thing to do and will help ensure that abusers and those who enabled them are held accountable."
In addition to opening the look-back window, the Child Victims Act extended the civil and criminal statutes of limitation for child sex abuse cases. To try to avoid a backlog in claims prior to the pandemic, the Office of Court Administration designated judges for the cases around the state and provided special training on issues related to child sex abuse.
On the law's first day in effect in August 2019, hundreds of suits were filed, and Hoylman said in a statement that more than 3,000 survivors have come forward so far. Defendants include schools, religious institutions and the Boy Scouts of America, among others.
After Cuomo signed the extension, Hoylman tweeted, "Next up: passing the Adult Survivors Act," referring to his proposal to open a similar window for adult survivors to file claims that would otherwise be time-barred.
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Jane Wester
Jane Wester is a litigation reporter for the New York Law Journal. Email her at [email protected] or find her on Twitter @janewester.