State lawmakers said they plan to work on solutions to help survivors of childhood sexual abuse get their day in court as thousands of cases remain unresolved and the years of delay prolong their pain.
Thousands of cases filed under the Child Victims Act continue to languish as insurance companies evade responding to advance claims, making justice sluggish for many. More than 10,800 civil cases were filed under the 2019 law, which waived the statute of limitations to allow survivors of child sex abuse to file lawsuits against their abusers.
“The bitter reality for a lot of my clients is they are aging rapidly,” said attorney James Marsh, founder of Marsh Law Firm. “Many of them have died.”
Court shutdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic overwhelmed the system in the middle of the lookback window. And as the years drag on, judges assigned to pending cases are retiring.
Stephen Jimenez survived abuse by a members of the Order of Xaverian Brothers from ages 10 to 14. He’s been waiting for his day in court since he filed six years ago.
“This has been a problem for literally thousands of survivors across the state because they filed claims and either they’ve been experiencing evasion by the insurers,” Jimenez said. “And the state has been failing to enforce the Child Victims Act, and that includes regulating the insurance industry.”
Jimenez’s case was deposed by attorneys for the Diocese of Brooklyn on Sept. 8. He expects his trial will take place in 2026 at the earliest, but said it could be even longer.
The state Department of Financial Services released guidance shortly after the law was signed directing insurance companies to act in good faith to expedite the civil claims.
Attorneys and survivors said they’re frustrated by the department’s inaction to enforce the law with insurers.
“At the very least, we need some accountability, some transparency and some answers to the questions of how that directive has been fulfilled or ignored, and what DFS is going to do about it going forward,” Marsh said.
Survivors said having their day in court, or the chance to publicly address their abuse, is critical for their healing — and isn’t as much about compensation.
After more than five years of waiting, Colleen Garbarini directly addressed fellow survivors of childhood sexual abuse last Friday when she read her impact statement to Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger, who leads the Roman Catholic Diocese in Albany.
“I see you, I hear you,” she said. “I understand and you’re not alone.”
Garbarini survived abuse by a clergyman at Notre Dame Bishop Gibbons in Schenectady at the ages of 7 and 8.
She was one of more than 50 people to make impact statements before the bishop in bankruptcy court in the U.S. District Court Northern District of New York. Garbarini said the bishop, and others seated with him, did not emotionally react during multiple days of testimony.
“I saw quotes where he said he was listening with his heart, but I just don’t know how anyone sits there for two-and-a-half days but doesn’t show any emotion,” Garbarini said. “That was heartbreaking.”
Over a year ago, lawmakers who sponsored the Child Victims Act asked DFS to intervene to uphold its own guidelines and force insurers to negotiate with defendants.
A bill died in the Assembly this session to make a technical fix to prevent CVA case dismissals for lacking details of abuse.
Sponsor Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal said the Assembly ran out of time after the late budget.
“And I think that there were perhaps some disagreements about how to approach this issue,” she said. “…The nature of this trauma is you block it from your mind, and so, it’s very hard to conjure up those details that are part of the requirements when you go to Court of Claims.”
The measure cleared the Senate at the end of session. Sponsor Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal is poised to win the election for Manhattan borough president this November — forcing Democrats in the upper house to select a new sponsor in December or January.
“It’s obviously important that we don’t allow a technicality to come between a survivor and justice,” Hoylman-Sigal said Friday.
State lawmakers said they plan to revisit legislation, or other solutions, to force insurers to respond to cases and help survivors get their day in court.
Rosenthal said that could include questioning DFS leaders during legislative budget hearings next winter.
And lawmakers continue to explore opening another lookback window, or eliminating the statute of limitations for child sex crimes permanently.
“Nobody wants to pay, but they have to,” Rosenthal said. “Because they enabled, they harbored the abusers.”
A spokesperson with the state Department of Financial Services said the department has and continues to take this issue extremely seriously.
“We are actively monitoring ongoing litigation as the courts seek to answer important legal questions about insurers’ contractual liabilities and will hold insurers accountable for their obligations as appropriate,” according to the department.
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office declined to comment on pending litigation, and referred questions to DFS.
Maryland recently reduced the cap of non-economic damages for Child Victims Act lawsuits filed after June 1 as billions of dollars in claims threatened to bankrupt the state.