Adult abuse survivors will be able to sue their assailants for decades-old attacks under bipartisan legislation signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday.
“To those who thought they got away with a perfect crime, I say to you: Your time is up. Your victims will see you in court,” Hochul said at an Albany press conference shortly before signing the bill into law.
The Adult Survivors Act applies to cases involving people who were 18 and older when they were attacked, while the Child Victims Act, passed by the Legislature in 2019, applies to cases involving younger people.
Survivors have said a lookback window created by the Child Victims Act allowed them to pursue justice against attackers and institutions that protected them, like the Catholic Church.
Abuse survivors are hoping for similar relief after leading the way to get the bill past resistance in the Assembly, according to Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal (D-Manhattan) and state Sen. Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan), who sponsored the bill in their chambers.
“Seeing the sense of relief in the survivors’ eyes really is the reason I even began this endeavor because … They were carrying this heavy burden of not just their own horrible assaults and rapes in many cases, but they were also carrying the burden for the unspoken number of victims out there who haven’t spoken out,” Rosenthal told The Post the morning after the bill passed her chamber Monday night.
The legislation unanimously passed the Senate last month.
State lawmakers lengthened the statutes of limitations for many offenses in 2019, but those changes did not apply retroactively, which advocates of the Adult Survivors Act said made the bill necessary.
Rosenthal said a one-time opportunity under the new law to pursue civil damages could bring some solace to survivors whether or not they end up pursuing litigation.
“They can sit with the knowledge that that path is open to them if they so choose,” she said.
