(MA)
Abuse Survivors Coalition [USA]
October 6, 2026
By Abuse Survivors Coalition
For Immediate Release: October 6, 2026
Last week, the Attorney General of Massachusetts came out in favor of legislative reforms to help victims of child sexual abuse seek justice. Unfortunately, Governor Maura Healey, while expressing support, stopped short of saying she will sign legislation to eliminate the statute of limitations for civil claims of child sexual abuse and the $20,000 charitable immunity cap for these cases. The members of the Abuse Survivors Coalition (ASC) want Governor Healey to fully commit to supporting survivors, and pledge to sign into law any of the reforms suggested by AG Andrea Campbell should they be passed into law.
The AG recommended several changes to state law, including:
- “Eliminating the $20,000 charitable immunity cap for civil claims involving child sexual abuse;
- “Eliminating the statute of limitations for civil claims involving child sexual abuse; and
- “Creating an indefinite lookback period to give survivors whose civil claims have already expired an opportunity to seek justice.”
The ASC wholeheartedly supports these reforms, as well as the proposal to release victims from historical non-disclosure agreements. We hope that Governor Healey will soon come out strongly in favor of these proposals and the others.
Survivor of clergy sexual abuse in the Catholic Diocese of Albany, New York, and ASC Massachusetts Contact, Myra Russell, explains why these changes are so important. “It can often take survivors decades to find the courage to speak up about their abuse. Yet when victims are ready to report, they often find that they are unable to pursue justice. Criminal and civil statutes of limitations are long expired, and in Massachusetts, with a $20,000 charitable immunity cap, even those survivors within the statute do not make attractive clients to plaintiff attorneys, who work on cases without taking money from the victims, instead collecting a portion of any recovery.
Why is it important that survivors can pursue justice when they are ready? The ASC reminds everyone that those who sexually abuse children do not usually stop, even as they age. When the names of the perpetrators become public, today’s children become safer.
Even revealing the names of those who are deceased serves an important purpose. It helps survivors who may be struggling alone and in silence know they were not the only ones abused by their perpetrator. It can also help families who lost a child to suicide, or substance abuse, understand why that happened.
Myra and the ASC encourage Massachusetts voters who want to see today’s children protected to contact their state senators and representatives, as well as Governor Healey, and urge them to support these important changes. All public officials should act to protect boys and girls and to help survivors and family members of victims heal.
It seems to us to be a no-brainer.
CONTACT: Myra Russell, ASC Massachusetts Contact, ASC Operations Team, (russellmyra@outlook.com, 518-982-9844)Susan Vance, ASC Operations Team, ASC TN Contact (susan.vance@ascoalition.org, 865-748-3518)
(The Abuse Survivors Coalition is a survivor-led, peer-run organization dedicated to supporting individuals affected by abuse and advocating for accountability within institutions where abuse has occurred. ASC is informed by decades of collective experience in survivor support, advocacy, and public education. The organization focuses on facilitating peer support, sharing information about available survivor resources, and engaging in advocacy efforts centered on survivor-led principles. Survivors remain the central priority of the ASC’s work. Our website is: www.ascoalition.org)