Adult survivors of sexual abuse may be given more time to bring civil claims against their accusers.

State Sen. Brad Hoylman, D-Manhattan, proposed the Adult Victims Act in the state Senate in the fall that would give one year for victims of sexual abuse whose abuse happened when they were over the age of 18 to bring claims against their alleged abusers. The legislation is co-sponsored by Sen. Alessandra Biaggi, D-Bronx.

The legislation, S.6810, allows claims in sexual abuse claims where the statute of limitations has run out. Claims under the Adult Victims Act would be given special trial preference and require the Chief Administrative Judge of the Office of Court Administration to develop rules so that cases brought under the Adult Victims Act are heard quickly.

Hoylman said New Jersey enacted legislation in 2019 that allowed a two-year window for time-barred sexual abuse claims to be revived in civil court for both child and adult victims.

“This legislation, the Adult Survivors Act, would create a one-year window for the revival of otherwise time-barred civil claims arising out of sexual offenses committed against people who were 18 or older at the time of the conduct,” Hoylman wrote in his legislative justification. “Those who have had justice denied them as a result of New York’s formerly insufficient statutes of limitations should be given the opportunity to seek civil redress against their abuser or their abuser’s enablers in a court of law.”

Hoylman said the fiscal impact of his proposal is still to be determined. One reason for that is it remains to be seen how Child Victims Act cases will be adjudicated and what the act’s impact will be on the institutions that are defending against civil lawsuits. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September to seek protection from creditors in relation to child sex abuse claims.

The Rochester diocese was the first diocese in New York state to file for bankruptcy protection and the 20th diocese nationally, according to the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle. The filing is to allow the diocese to reorganize its finances, raise money to pay fair compensation to sex-abuse accusers and create a plan for the diocese to continue operations much as they were before.

More than 900 cases have been filed statewide under the Child Victims Act, according to the Albany Times-Union. Some organizations are pushing for a separate fund to be created because too many claims are focused on institutions that have an ability to pay a civil claim. In September, the Fighting for Children PAC began advocating for legislation previously proposed by former state Sen. Catharine Young, R-Olean, to create a Child Victims Reconciliation and Compensation Fund. Young would have paid for her fund with $300 million in criminal asset forfeiture money held by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.

Gary Greenberg, founder of the Fighting for Children PAC, wrote in a letter posted on the PAC’s Facebook page recently that an analysis of cases filed under the Child Victims Act found that 98.8 percent of the lawsuits filed are institutional cases in which the defendant is either an organization, corporation or other legal entity. A little more than 1% of cases have been filed against a private citizen.

“Hundreds, if not thousands of victims are being turned away by attorneys because their cases involve perpetrators who are not fiscally worthwhile to prosecute,” Greenberg said. “This is not justice for all. … The legislature and governor must correct this. My recommendation is to create a victims fund with public and private funds for those who, under the current law, are not able to go to court.”