A law firm that frequently represents victims of clerical sexual abuse announced April 6 that it had counted at least 2,800 lawsuits filed so far against Catholic institutions in New York under the 2019 Child Victims Act.
Of those lawsuits, over 700 have been filed against the Archdiocese of New York.
New York’s 2019 Child Victims Act created a one-year “lookback” window where alleged abuse victims could file lawsuits long after their statute of limitations had ended.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has since extended the window for filing lawsuits until Aug. 14, 2021, due to complications caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
From the opening of the window on Aug. 13, 2019, until Dec. 31, 2020, alleged victims have filed a total number of 2,801 civil complaints against Catholic institutions in New York, according to data from Jeff Anderson and Associates, a California-based firm.