Today on Midday, a discussion about the the Child Victims Act becomes law in Maryland. The law allows survivors of sexual assault in Maryland the right to sue the Archdiocese of Baltimore and others for civil damages, regardless of when the abuse they suffered took place.
Prior to the law, survivors of sexual assault were ruled out of suing alleged abusers once they were past age 38. What will be the effect of the new law that wipes out the statute of limitations in these cases? The Child Victims Act of 2023 goes into effect on October 1st.
Two survivors of abuse by employees of the Archdiocese of Baltimore join us to discuss the new law and its consequences. Teresa Lancaster was a student at Archbishop Keough High School in the early 1970s. Her story is one of the central elements of the Netflix documentary, The Keepers. We are also joined by Tony Petrowski, who was abused as a middle school student at St. Elizabeth’s Catholic School on Lakewood Avenue in Baltimore.
Jonathan Schochor is the Founding Partner and Chairman with Schochor, Staton, Goldberg and Cardea, a law firm in Baltimore that represents victims of sexual assault.
RAINN is the nation's largest anti-sexual violence organization. RAINN created and operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline (1 800-656-4673) in partnership with more than 1,000 local sexual assault service providers across the country.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, help is available.
