Child sexual abuse deadline extended - but not for claims against Rochester priests

By Steve Orr
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
May 12, 2020

https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2020/05/12/child-victims-act-extended-but-not-rochester-diocese-abuse-claims/3114787001/

The Roman Catholic Diocese Rochester offices on Buffalo Road in Rochester. Photo by Max Schulte and Shawn Dowd

The one-year window for filing lawsuits over past acts of child sexual abuse has been extended by five months — except for claims against the Rochester diocese for misconduct by its priests.

New York's Child Victims Act, approved by the state Legislature in early 2019, carved out a one-year period for reviving old child sexual abuse claims that had been barred the statute of limitations. That one-year window was to close Aug. 13.

But in an executive order prompted by the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Friday extended the window for five months, to Jan. 13. The pandemic forced closure of the state's courts in late March and ended filing of new lawsuits. It is not yet known when state courts will reopen.

The extension does not apply, however, to legal claims alleging past child sexual abuse by Catholic priests, brothers, deacons, nuns and other leaders in the Rochester diocese.

Those claims are being brought in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, where the diocese filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors in September.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Paul Warren agreed to set an Aug. 13 deadline for filing such claims with his court. The deadline was made the same as that for the Child Victims Act before it was extended, to avoid confusion.

Whether Warren will be asked to extend the bankruptcy claim deadline, and whether he will agree, is not yet known.

One distinction is that bankruptcy court has remained open amid the pandemic, relying on virtual court sessions and emailed paperwork. People have continued to file abuse claims electronically and by postal mail.

Lawyers who represent abuse claimants did raise the novel coronavirus issue with Warren in April, writing that the disruption in daily life caused by the pandemic could interfere with people's ability to file claims. The filing noted that elderly claimants might be unable to file claims electronically and would have difficulty meeting with their lawyers.

That notice, which did not ask Warren to take any action, was filed before Cuomo extended the Child Victims Act deadline.

The Buffalo diocese also has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, though the judge handling that case has not yet set a deadline for claims.