A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that victims of sexual abuse cannot pursue their lapsed claims in federal court, despite a move to revive older claims of child sexual abuse under New York’s Child Victims Act.
When New York lawmakers passed the Child Victims Act in 2019, they provided a one-time, look-back window for survivors of childhood sexual abuse to pursue civil suits against their alleged abusers, even if the statute of limitations had already run out.
But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit wrote that the look-back window would not apply to similar claims under federal law, such as Title IX, which are commonly used to pursue cases against alleged abusers at educational institutions.
However, survivors will still be able to pursue portions of their cases in New York state courts.
Fordham rape suitSuit against Fordham over alleged rape shows need for Adult Survivors Act, sponsors say
“I’m disappointed that every single federal court that has decided this issue has gotten it wrong,” said Kevin Mulhearn, an attorney for one of the plaintiffs in the case, who was attempting to sue the Mount Pleasant Central School District in federal court for sexual abuse the individual says he suffered as a high school freshman.
In his lawsuit, the former Mount Pleasant student said he was sexually abused by older football teammates in the locker room at Westlake High School, and that coaching staff knew about this but did not meaningfully intervene. Later on, he says school administrators conducted a sham investigation into his claims of abuse and ended up suspending him.
“For some reason, the federal courts in New York don’t want to revive cases using federal statues that involve sexual abuse,” Mulhearn continued. “But the extent to which the court is bending the law in my mind is ridiculous.”
Mulhearn’s client is still maintaining a case against the Mount Pleasant Central School District in state court, but without the benefit of the additional federal…
Read the full article here
