California recently expanded its statute of limitations for child sexual abuse cases. Despite the ability to file abuse cases from years or even decades ago, there’s a risk that these new rules could lull victims into complacency. If you are an older adult who was sexually abused as a child in California you have until December 31, 2022 to sue your abuser and/or the institution in which she or she worked. Paul Mones, P.C. encourages victims to not wait too long to step forward, and we’re here to answer any questions you might have about it
Delayed disclosure of a child sexual abuse claim isn’t as much of a problem these days from a statute of limitations perspective. Thanks to Assembly Bill 218 (AB 218), victims in California have a three-year lookback window from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2022 to file old child sexual abuse claims. These are lawsuits that were previously time-barred due to the statute of limitations.
But in addition to this filing window, AB 218 more generally extends the statute of limitations for sexual abuse cases. Victims now have 22 years after reaching age 18 (or, until they reach the age of 40) to file a sexual abuse claim. Alternatively, they have five years from the date of discovering psychological trauma stemming from their abuse to file.
With these open windows and expanded filing periods, it may be tempting to delay disclosing your sexual abuse case. However, Paul Mones, who has been representing sexual abuse victims for decades, encourages victims to take swift legal action.
Every case is different, so the exact timing in your child sexual abuse claim won’t be the same as someone else’s. Talk to attorney Paul Mones today about the best strategy for filing your lawsuit.