Over 200 Clergy Sex Abuse Lawsuits to be Filed Wednesday in New York Under Historic Child Victims Act
Names of Dozens of Perpetrators to be Released Publicly for The First Time
New Law Gives Survivors a Chance at Justice With One-Year Window
(New York) – On Wednesday in New York City and throughout the State of New York, the law firm of Jeff Anderson & Associates will over 200 lawsuits under New York’s new Child Victims Act (CVA) on behalf of survivors who were sexually abused as children by clergy members in New York.
“This is a momentous time for courageous survivors who have waited so long for justice in New York,” said attorney Jeff Anderson of Jeff Anderson & Associates, who represents child sexual abuse survivors in New York and throughout the United States. “They now have an opportunity to take back power stolen from them when they were kids and start to heal.”
These courageous survivors are able to file the lawsuits under the CVA’s one-year window provision, which gives survivors of child sexual abuse one year to bring lawsuits in cases that were previously barred by the statute of limitations, no matter when the abuse occurred. The one-year window takes effect Wednesday. The CVA was signed into law in February 2019.
Anderson said his firm is also filing lawsuits on behalf of survivors of abuse by various other perpetrators, including Boy Scout leaders, teachers, doctors and clergy of various denominations. Most of the lawsuits will name as defendants the institutions that enabled the perpetrators.
Anderson and his firm, along with several survivors, prominent Catholic whistleblower Siobahn O’Connor, and lawyers from firms partnering with Jeff Anderson & Associates in New York, will hold press conferences in each New York diocese Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to announce and discuss the lawsuits and the CVA.
Defendants named in the lawsuits include each Catholic diocese in New York and various religious orders. Here is a breakdown of lawsuits filed by Jeff Anderson & Associates and its partner law firms by the New York Catholic diocese as well as scheduled press conferences:
| Diocese/
Archdiocese |
Lawsuits Filed | Press Events |
| Albany | Over 20 | Wednesday, 2:30 p.m. (ET)
Jeff Anderson & Associates & Attorney Cynthia LaFave Hilton Albany |
| Brooklyn | Over 2 | Wednesday, 9:30 a.m. (ET)
Jeff Anderson & Associates Millennium Hotel |
| Buffalo | Over 80 | Tuesday, 3:00 p.m. (ET)
Jeff Anderson & Associates and Attorney Steve Boyd The Law Offices of Steve Boyd |
| New York | Over 45 | Wednesday, 9:30 a.m. (ET)
Jeff Anderson & Associates Millennium Hotel |
| Ogdensburg | Over 10 | Thursday, 2:30 p.m. (ET)
Jeff Anderson & Associates and Attorney Cynthia LaFave Location TBD |
| Rochester | Over 25 | Wednesday, 2:00 p.m. (ET)
Jeff Anderson & Associates and Attorney Steve Boyd Hilton Garden Inn Rochester NY Downtown |
| Rockville Centre | Over 15 | Wednesday, 1:30 p.m. (ET)
Jeff Anderson & Associates Long Island Marriott |
| Syracuse | Over 5 | Thursday, 10:00 a.m. (ET)
Jeff Anderson & Associates and Attorney Cynthia LaFave Courtyard Marriott Armory Square Syracuse |
Jeff Anderson & Associates has released reports on clerical sexual abuse in New York dioceses that contain the names, photographs and assignment histories of hundreds of clergy members accused of child sexual abuse.