Tsunami Of Childhood Sex Abuse Suits Flood CA Before Year-End Deadline

CALIFORNIA, CA — As 2022 draws to a close, California is seeing a tsunami of lawsuits accusing people and institutions such as the Catholic Church of being complicit in childhood sexual abuse committed decades ago. Triggered by a looming deadline Saturday to file suit in abuse cases dating back to the 1980s, 70s and 60s, the flood of lawsuits is likely to send shockwaves through families and institutions in 2023.

Already, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa has announced plans to file for bankruptcy protection in anticipation of about 130 victim lawsuits dating back to 1962, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported. The diocese called it an “inevitable result of an insurmountable number of claims,” according to the Los Angeles Times.

The three-year legal window known as the "look-back" window enabled older adult victims to sue for damages against their childhood sexual abusers. It closes at midnight on Dec. 31, 2022

Over the past three years, California Assembly Bill 218 temporarily set aside the statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse victims to file claims. It led to a flood of suits against celebrities, institutions and family members that exposed decades of abuse.

According to the Times, over 2,000 lawsuits have been filed against the Catholic Church, alone. Other civil cases against large organizations such as the Boy Scouts of America, SeaCoast Grace megachurch in Cypress and prominent celebrities such as Bill Cosby and boxer George Foreman were filed during this open period of time known as the 'look-back' window.

The final week of the year brought another high-profile case.

On Tuesday, a woman who has previously said Steven Tyler had an illicit sexual relationship with her when she was a teenager is now suing the Aerosmith frontman for sexual assault, sexual battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The lawsuit brought by Julia Misley was filed Tuesday under the look-back law. The 65-year-old Misley, formerly known as Julia Holcomb, said in a statement that she wanted to seize “a new opportunity to take legal action against those that abused me in my youth.” The Associated Press does not name victims of sexual assault unless they publicly identify themselves.

In Tyler’s 2011 memoir, he mentions meeting an unnamed 16-year-old “girlfriend to be.” He wrote that he almost “took a teen bride” and got her parents to sign over custody so he wouldn’t get arrested when she went on tour with him out of state.

Joelle Casteix, spokesperson for the California chapter of the Survivors Network, spoke on the sheer number of cases filed by those abused by priests.

"The cultural view of childhood sexual abuse now, as opposed to 2003, is night and day — it’s very, very different,” Casteix told the Times. “We know that survivors in the church are far more likely to come forward.”

On Oct. 13, 2019, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 218 into law. Authored by Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez, the new law allowed victims of childhood sexual assault to file civil claims for damages within 22 years of reaching adulthood or within 3 years of discovering that childhood abuse caused psychological trauma into adulthood. It was a broad expansion of the statute of limitations for victims to sue.

For victims older than 40, the law created a three-year 'look-back window,' giving them until the coming New Year's Eve to sue regardless of when the alleged crime happened.

The law also expanded the definition of childhood sexual abuse to"sexual assault."

"AB-218 has been a blessing to many many survivors of childhood sexual abuse," attorney Samuel Dourdulian, owner of the Dordulian Law Group, told Patch via email. "It has given them an opportunity for justice they otherwise would never have had."

A former Deputy District Attorney in Los Angeles County, Dordulian's DL Law Group has processed close to 100 cases during the three-year look-back window, advocating for sexual abuse victims, he said.

"Just this week we've had several new callers with claims of childhood sexual abuse," he said. "I don't believe there should be any statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse survivors. If there needs to be one, it should match the science and studies that teach us the statute of limitations needs to be after the child turns 51, to cover most survivors."

Those stories may remain silent unless something changes, he contends.

Some cases such as Temecula resident Patricia Egan, who was recently awarded $18 million in a civil suit against a relative in New York. She discovered that finding a lawyer willing to take on a decades-old case was a hurdle she almost didn't overcome. Her path to justice was costly, though worth it, Egan said.

She doesn’t know if she’ll see a penny of the award, but through the legal process, she said she’s gained something even more valuable: her voice.

Whether or not she receives compensation from Gordon was never the point, Egan told Patch.

She is one of the thousands of victims of childhood sexual abuse who lobbied for the passage of the Child Victims Act and the associated look-back window that allowed survivors to sue perpetrators, regardless of whether the statute of limitation passed.

After the jury-less trial that ended Nov. 10, New York Supreme Court Justice L. Michael Mackey ordered Stewart Gordon to pay $18,810,296 in damages to Egan, more than two years after her suit was filed according to court records.

New York's look-back window has closed, with Egan's one of the nearly 10,000 civil lawsuits filed during the window that opened in 2019. New York was among 24 states that instituted such look-back windows, including California, where Egan now resides.

She is still working through the long-term effects of the abuse, she says.

“Thanks to the passage of the Child Victims Act, today I can ask this court to give my abuse a voice,” she said in her victim’s impact statement in court. “I ask that you help me gain back a feeling of worth, power, and a sense of justice.”

Egan hopes that new laws will be written to eradicate statutes of limitation with regard to sex crimes against children, especially as the California Childhood Sexual Assault look-back window is about to close at the end of 2022.

“We should all have the opportunity to be heard when we are ready. Some victims may never be ready or even able to take a stand for themselves,” she said. “For those who can, they should be allowed to do so without time constraints.

What's next on the docket for protecting abuse victims?

In 2023, new laws are surfacing that will focus on adult victims of sexual assault, sexual harassment and other crimes of a similar nature.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the Sexual Abuse and Cover-Up Accountability Act (AB-2777) into law on Sept. 19. This new law similarly suspends the statute of limitations for civil claims for survivors of adult sexual assault. Starting Jan. 1, 2023, California will open up a three-year window to foradults who say they faced sexual abuse by another adult to sue.

"Adult survivors of sexual assault are now one step closer to having an opportunity to file civil claims for damages related to crimes that were otherwise barred by an expired statute of limitations," Dordulian said.

He says they anticipate a substantial increase in the number of sexual assault claims for a variety of crimes, including sexual harassment, sexual abuse, and related wrongful termination incidents.

“We’ve seen the importance of revival windows in securing justice for childhood survivors with the passage of AB 218," Dordulian said. "AB 2777 is an equally important step in helping adult survivors of sexual violence obtain the justice they deserve without being deterred by the statute of limitations. The positive impact it will have on survivors simply can’t be overstated.”

Read also:

CA 'Look-Back' Window Closing For Adult Victims Of Childhood Sex Abuse

Temecula Woman Wins $18M Settlement In Look-Back Sex Abuse Case

The Associated Press and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.