Closing the CA ‘Look-Back’ Window for Adult Victims of Childhood Sexual Abuse

CALIFORNIA — Southern California resident Patricia Egan, 65, is breathing better, she said, after spending her day in court. In November, Egan, now 65, won an $18 million lawsuit against her former brother-in-law, the man she says sexually assaulted her in the 1960s and 70s, in from the age of 11.

Now, however, the three-year legal window that allows elderly victims like Egan to sue for damages against their childhood sexual abusers is about to close in California. California Assembly Bill 218 temporarily overturned the statute of limitations for victims of childhood sexual abuse to file claims. It opened a three-year window for victims abused in the 70s, 60s and earlier to take legal action and sparked a flood of high-profile lawsuits.

Many recent civil cases against major organizations such as the Boy Scouts of America, the Catholic Church, SeaCoast Grace Mega Church in Cypress, and prominent celebrities such as boxer George Foreman were filed during this period known as the “rollback” window name. Victims have been able to seek redress in cases dating back decades.

This lookback window is expected to close on December 31, 2022.

AB 218 signed into law: the rollback window

On October 13, 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law AB 218. Drafted by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, the new law allowed victims of childhood sexual abuse to file civil claims for damages. within 22 years of adulthood or within 3 years of finding that childhood abuse caused psychological trauma in adulthood. This was a broad extension of the statute of limitations for victims. For victims over 40, the law created a three-year ‘look back window’, giving them until the next New Year’s Eve to sue, regardless of when the alleged crime occurred. .

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

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

A former Los Angeles County assistant district attorney, Dordulian’s DL Law Group handled nearly 100 cases during the three-year period, defending victims of sexual abuse, he said.

“Just this week we had several new callers with allegations of childhood sexual abuse,” he said. “I don’t believe there should be a statute of limitations for survivors of childhood sexual abuse. If there is to be one, it should align with the science and the studies that teach us that the statute of limitations should be after the child turns 51, to cover most survivors.”

These stories can remain silent unless something changes, he argues. Some cases, like Egan’s, resulted from alleged abuse by a family member. As she discovered, finding a lawyer willing to take on a decades-old case was a hurdle she almost didn’t overcome. His road to justice was costly, but worth it, Egan said.

Winning a civil lawsuit against her alleged childhood sex abuser

In November, Egan was awarded over $18 million in damages in his case. She doesn’t know if she’ll get a dime from the prize, but through the legal process, she said she won something even more valuable: her voice.

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

In her decision, Mackey said Gordon “essentially tore Egan’s life apart and robbed her of the opportunity to pursue a fulfilling career, to be the wife and mother she wanted to be, and to be the person she wanted to be. she wanted to be,” according to court records.

In a letter to the court, Gordon claimed there was no money to send to Egan. “There really is next to nothing that creditors can access,” Gordon wrote. “In a nutshell, my planner said I’m uncollectible.”

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

She is among thousands of victims of childhood sexual abuse who have pushed for passage of the Child Victims Act and the associated look-back window that allowed survivors to sue perpetrators, which the statute of limitations either passed or not.

Egan’s case, filed in New York, was one of nearly 10,000 civil lawsuits filed during the window that opened in 2019. New York was among 24 states that instituted such lookback windows, including California, where Egan now resides.

On the last day of New York’s lookback window, Manhattan Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, a champion of the law, said “the number of people who have filed complaints shows how badly the problem of abuse sexual abuse of children has been ubiquitous”.

Egan first found the courage to confront her past after a conversation with her husband when he asked her why she never swam with him in their new backyard pool, she told patch.

“(My husband) would come in the pool and I would come out,” she said. “He never really registered why.”

However, a five-page sworn statement explained her memories of sexual abuse suffered, including a strong memory of Gordon in their swimming pool.

Egan was 14 when she dove into her sister’s above-ground pool in her first bikini. “When I swam alone a few times he would put on his bathing suit and join me,” she wrote.

His assault turned his love of swimming, which “should have been fun, into horrible recurring abuse,” Egan said.

Although the pool abuse happened decades before, the memories of abuse were so fresh they affected her current life and marriage, she said. That moment of clarity began her journey toward finding both healing and justice for the childhood that was stolen from her, according to Egan.

In an email written by Gordon in 2002, submitted to the court as evidence, he allegedly admitted to sexually abusing Egan and offered to pay for her therapy and all “expenses due to what I did to you”. He offered to send a monthly check for $325, she said. Gordon’s checks never arrived and therapy bills went up, she said.

Egan said that when she decided to act, she faced challenges.

While attorneys have given a lot of attention to high-profile cases against the Boy Scouts of America and the Catholic Church, according to Egan, she struggled to find legal representation for a family case.

Although the New York lookback window closed in August 2021, Egan’s case, like many, was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“A lawyer was in over his head and my case went nowhere,” she said. “He gave me my deposit back.”

Next, Egan met attorney Peter J. Scagnelli of Albany, NY, who “hit the ground running,” she said. “I was lucky to find Peter and move this case forward.”

During the court proceedings, Egan’s psychologist, Dr. Jean Ghanem-Ybarra, said she still suffered from both chronic post-traumatic stress disorder and major depressive disorder. Ghanem-Ybarra, told the court how ‘many simple things, like shopping or going to a restaurant or the cinema, are extremely difficult for her, and physical intimacy causes terrifying flashbacks of her abuse,’ documents show judicial.

She is still working on the long-term effects of violence, she says.

“Through the passage of the Child Victims Act, I can now ask this court to give voice to my abuse,” she said in her victim impact statement to the court. “I ask you to help me regain a sense of worth, power and a sense of justice.”

Egan hopes new laws will be drafted to eradicate statutes of limitations on child sex crimes, especially as the lookback window on child sexual abuse in California is about to close. 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.”

For Egan, the decision was not about money. Still, Egan and his lawyer said they are not stopping their quest for restitution.

“Anything — even having him write my name on a check for $5 every day of his life would be vindication,” she said.

“I feel more relieved than ever in my entire life,” she added. “He was found responsible and I was heard. But I’m not done fighting yet.

Countdown to the close of the lookback window

As for Californians seeking justice, attorneys are available to file claims for child sexual assault victims of any age through Dec. 31, 2022. After that, things will change a bit, according to Dordulian. As of January 1, 2023, the statute of limitations for survivors of childhood sexual abuse means most will be able to sue until the age of 40.

“It’s a huge improvement over what we had before, which only allowed victims of childhood sexual abuse up to the age of 26 to file a complaint,” he said. declared.

Yet even that is limiting as many survivors won’t be ready to tell their story until they reach their 40s or 50s.

“I think we need to take a page from the new federal law that was passed that completely eliminated the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse in civil cases,” Dordulian said. “I hope California will pass similar legislation and allow survivors who have evidence of abuse to file their claims when they are ready, whenever.”

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