Philadelphia, PA – The Joel Bieber Firm’s sexual assault practice, representing several clients alleging abuse at the private Key School in Annapolis, welcomes Monday’s decision by the Maryland Supreme Court to eliminate time restrictions on child abuse victims’ civil claims. The ruling means that previously halted civil suits can now return to the trial court to proceed.
By upholding the constitutionality of the Maryland Child Victims Act (MCVA), the state’s highest court recognized the General Assembly’s authority to eliminate the time restrictions on previously barred claims for victims of child sexual abuse (CSA). Previously, the time window in Maryland for filing a child abuse case as a minor was just twenty years after turning 18. Maryland’s legislature now joins 33 other states and territories that have windows or age limit revival laws, with more being proposed each year.
Monday’s ruling would not have been possible
without the courage, strength, and perseverance
required to pursue this case for so many years.
Window laws give child abuse survivors, whose time has already run out, a chance to sue their abusers and the institutions that harmed them. They encourage survivors to come forward and tell their stories to help protect other children today.
“We applaud this landmark decision, which is a crucial step toward justice for our clients,” stated Melissa Hague, an attorney with The Joel Bieber Firm and director of its sexual assault division. Hague represents one of the brave plaintiffs whose case was argued before the Maryland Supreme Court, along with five others whose suits were put on hold pending the court’s decision.
“The state’s Supreme Court recognized that a reasonably diligent victim of child sexual abuse cannot be expected to pursue a claim based on an arbitrary time period in light of the serious life-long emotional, psychological, and physical health issues caused by sexual abuse.”
On average, the length of time taken before the abuse is revealed is around 20 years, with the first disclosure taking place between the ages of 50 and 70; 30% of survivors never come forward (as per 2022 study by Child USA).
Now our clients will finally
get their day in court.
Hague noted that the abuse suffered by her clients occurred in the 1970s when the victims were in middle school; prior to the Maryland Child Victims Act, they had no legal action against the institution that perpetuated their abuse and protected their abusers. Over the past decade, these survivors have sought some measure of accountability and responsibility by sharing their stories with the General Assembly in support of passing the MCVA. “This has reopened the doors of justice for victims that in the past were told, ‘It’s too late.”
“Monday’s ruling would not have been possible without the courage, strength, and perseverance required to pursue this case for so many years—even amid uncertainty about the legislation’s success,” Hague said. “Because the law removes time restrictions, now our clients will finally get their day in court.”
”We are optimistic and hopeful that more will follow Maryland’s lead by passing similar legislation,” Hague said.
