Statement of Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal on Child Victims Act One-Year Look Back Window Opening Tomorrow, August 14, 2019

New York, NY – “Tomorrow, August 14, 2019, the Child Victims Act opens a one-year lookback window, and with it, the doors to justice. Finally, abusers like Jeffrey Epstein who have been able to hide behind New York’s weak laws will be revealed, and justice can finally be served.

Epstein’s suspicious death in prison deprives his victims of the opportunity to confront him in a court of law. While there is nothing that we can do now to bring him to account and force him to face the people he hurt, we can provide his victims and all survivors of childhood sexual assault in New York with the opportunity to revive old civil cases that have been barred by the statute of limitations.

Tomorrow, August 14, 2019, the Child Victims Act opens a one-year lookback window, and with it, the doors to justice. For years, abusers like Epstein who have been able to hide behind New York’s weak laws will be revealed, and justice can finally be served.

For years, many survivors have struggled under the immeasurable weight of their abuse, carrying around the pain and shame for years. But now, with the one year window, survivors have an opportunity to face their abusers in court and perhaps find some measure of closure.

This is the moment survivors have fought so long and so hard to realize. That’s why no survivor should be swayed by sob stories from abusers and the institutions that harbored them claiming that a survivor’s quest for justice will hurt them. These people and institutions did not consider the consequences when they committed the abuse or hid it. They didn’t think about the pain survivors would feel, they only thought about protecting themselves.

The window is designed to empowered survivors after years of being silenced by their abusers and the law.”