What it means for you
Since February 2019, child sexual abuse claims that had not already expired can be filed against abusers and responsible institutions until the survivor turns 55; most previously expired by age 23. A two-year window revived older claims, producing more than 9,000 lawsuits.
Who benefits: People sexually abused as children in New York whose civil claims were not already time-barred on February 14, 2019, plus people who filed older claims during the revival window.
If a childhood sexual abuse claim was still within the old deadline when the law took effect on February 14, 2019, you can file it until you turn 55. If it had already expired, the permanent age-55 rule did not revive it. You can sue the abuser and any school, church, youth group, or public agency whose actions or neglect let the abuse happen. Public schools and government defendants no longer get the special short notice deadline they once had. The law also gives prosecutors more time to bring criminal charges.
For claims that had already expired, the law opened a separate window from August 2019 to August 2021, after it was extended because COVID disrupted the courts. More than 9,000 lawsuits were filed. The law gives those revived cases priority when they are ready for trial.
Assembly Member Margaret Markey first introduced the bill in 2006. The Assembly passed versions of it several times, but the Senate, then led by Republicans, never voted on it. Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal took over the Assembly version, and Sen. Brad Hoylman sponsored it in the Senate. When Democrats took the Senate in 2019, Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins brought it to the floor. It passed 63–0 in the Senate and 130–3 in the Assembly. Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed it on February 14, 2019.
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Where it stands, and how we know
Source for this status, checked November 11, 2026.
Sources
- S2440, Child Victims Act (2019-2020 session)New York State Senate, February 14, 2019
- Child Victims Act Signed into LawOffice of Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, February 14, 2019
- CPLR § 208, Infancy, insanityNew York State Senate
- She Fought for Stronger Sexual Abuse Laws. Her Son Was the Reason.The New York Times (via BishopAccountability.org), February 20, 2019
- NY let childhood sex abuse victims sue; 9,000 went to courtAssociated Press (via BishopAccountability.org), August 13, 2021
How we checked this
Drafted by Claude Opus 5.5 (Anthropic) on November 11, 2026. Checked against its sources by GPT-5.6-sol (OpenAI) on November 11, 2026, which corrected it. Confirmed the enactment, sponsors, legislative history, vote totals, and current status. I clarified which claims receive the permanent age-55 deadline and corrected the filing count to lawsuits rather than individual survivors.
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