Lawyers are rushing to file child sexual abuse lawsuits before New York's statute of limitations goes back into effect

New York's Child Victims Act provided a "look back window" allowing survivors to file claims, no matter how long ago alleged abuse took place.

• Victims of long-ago child sexual abuse in New York state have until August 14 to file lawsuits.
• The state provided a "look back window" allowing child victims to sue, no matter how long ago the alleged abuse took place.
• Lawyers told Insider they've been rushing to file last-minute claims before the window closes.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

A rare window of opportunity to hold predators accountable for decades-old child sexual abuse allegations in New York is rapidly closing, and lawyers are rushing to file lawsuits by the August 14 deadline.

Lawyers told Insider they've been working all week to file last-minute lawsuits on behalf of survivors abused in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s - cases that all normally would have expired past the statute of limitations.

But state lawmakers provided a brief "look back window" in New York's Child Victims Act, signed in 2019, that allowed survivors to file claims no matter how long ago the alleged abuse took place.

Previously, the statute of limitations set a time limit that prevented survivors from suing their abusers more than three years after the alleged incident.

Perhaps the most high-profile case filed so far has been Virginia Roberts Giuffre's lawsuit against Prince Andrew, which alleged that the Duke of York sexually abused her in Jeffrey Epstein's New York City mansion in the early 2000s, when she was 17.

Prince Andrew, whose representatives did not respond to Insider's request for comment, has previously denied ever knowing Giuffre. In a July 2020 statement to Insider, his representatives "categorically" denied "any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors."

Michelle Simpson Tuegel, an attorney known for representing the gymnasts abused by disgraced former Olympic team doctor Larry Nassar, told Insider she and her team have been working intensely throughout the week to file their lawsuits by the deadline.

Many of her clients, she said, are suing members of Catholic dioceses for alleged sexual abuse that occurred decades ago.

For many survivors, coming forward to allege child sexual abuse is a gradual process

Tuegel said New York's look back window has been a saving grace for some of her clients, who have taken years or even decades to muster up the courage to take action. Even when the look back window first opened in 2019, she said some survivors took months or more than a year to reach out to a lawyer.

"When you do come forward, I always explain that it's kind of like an onion. You don't just pull the curtain down. It kind of unravels," Tuegel said. "For people in the public who have not had any experience with sexual abuse or with survivors, [they ask], 'Why didn't they just do it all at once or say it all at once?' And I really believe and have seen it be the case where it's because they have literally blocked certain things out."

Another lawyer, Debra Greenberger of the law firm Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel, said she just filed a lawsuit before getting on the phone with Insider. She said she's personally handling four different Child Victims Act lawsuits with allegations dating back to the 1970s and 1980s, and her firm is handling many more.

Greenberger said it's common to see child sexual abuse allegations against school staff or clergy members, given that child predators tend to seek out jobs that give them access to children. For instance, Greenberger said one of her clients was a high school student in the 1970s who alleged that a teacher abused her.

Though the girl immediately reported the incident to the school, the school told her parents to discourage her from going to the police, Greenberger said.

"It's not happenstance that she didn't pursue it at the time," Greenberger said. "She was basically told by the people she trusted and respected that 'that would be better for you,' but actually it was better for them."

Greenberger added that while she's grateful the look back window gave her clients an opportunity to seek justice in the civil system, she believes adult victims of sexual abuse have been overlooked and should get the same opportunity to seek justice.

"The options for criminal accountability are quite limited," Greenberger said. "So to be able to have a jury hear survivors' accounts, and believe the survivor, and measure out some justice in that situation, I'm just really pleased that we have the opportunity to do that at long last."