Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The deadline is fast approaching for the Adult Survivors Act in New York State. Similar to the Child Victims Act, people who claim they were sexually abused as adults have had the past year to file a claim.
The state legislature opened the window for plaintiffs to bring claims against sexual predators while they were adults. That window opened last year, and closes on Thanksgiving Day.
Attorney Paul Barr tells WBEN it takes years for some victims to come forward. "People feel shame," says Barr. "They have self-blaming reactions to having been assaulted. Predators that abused people sexually, they impose those feelings on their victims."
Barr says victims don't come forward for a cash grab. "I've learned having done this work, that unlike perhaps other kinds of claims, when people are injured, they may exaggerate because there's financial gain, potentially, to be had. sex abuse victims don't exaggerate or embellish. If you ask them what happens, they're very clear," explains Barr.
Attorney Steve Boyd says when it comes to extending the law, he's heard rumblings about it. "There have been other states, where statutes of limitations have been lifted permanently in the child area for people who were sexually abused as children. But it's difficult for me to say which way this will go," says Boyd.
Boyd says there's a difference in adult sex abuse cases compared to child sex abuse cases. "You have to overcome the defense of consent," says Boyd. "In most cases ... that is something people can overcome. It's different though, from the child victims act where if a person was underage, they legally could not consent, and there are also areas in the adult world where you cannot consent, mental, mental illness patients, in some circumstances cannot consent. People in prison cannot consent."
The deadline is Thursday to file a claim.
