Sexual abuse claims against high-profile men poured in on Wednesday as a New York law that launched more than 2,600 lawsuits last year is expected to expire, with victims saying the special law gives them a chance for justice and healing.
The Adult Survivors Act, signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul on May 24, 2022, sparked high-profile lawsuits — including against the likes of Donald Trump and Bill Cosby — when it lifted the usual time limit for suing over alleged assaults sexual for a period of one year, which began last Thanksgiving and will end at the close of Thursday.
“I didn’t know that I would have a chance at justice,” Laurie Maldonado, who was allegedly abused by disgraced gynecologist Robert Hadden in 2012, told The Post.
“This policy has had a profound impact on my life.”
At least 2,600 claims – some on behalf of more than one person – have been filed in state courts under the ASA, although several others have also been brought to federal court.
The figure could also rise significantly as the “look back” window closes, with several lawsuits coming in as Wednesday’s deadline approaches – including one from Penthouse model Sheila Kennedy, who accused Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose of “violently” assaulting her sexually assaulted in a New York City hotel room in 1989.
Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. was also slapped with two lawsuits on Wednesday by two women who say he groped and forcibly kissed them in separate incidents in Manhattan — to which the “Jerry Maguire” actor pleaded guilty in 2022 to reduced harassment charges.
Also on Wednesday, model Minerva Portillo filed a lawsuit against renowned photographer Terry Richardson under the ASA, claiming he forced her to give him oral sex during a 2004 shoot and then published her photos in an art exhibition and in a 2006 book without her consent.
Laurie Maldonado is suing Columbia Medical Center and disgraced gynecologist Robert Hadden after the doctor allegedly sexually abused her two days before the birth of her child.
Lawyers representing sexual abuse survivors said that while the window opened by the ASA was too short, they were relieved that victims still had until 2025 to file sexual abuse claims under a little-known city law called the Gender-Based Violence Act.
Famous people, celebrities, doctors and state prisons are being sued
The ASA grew out of the Child Victims Act — which opened a two-year look-back period from August 2019 to August 2021 — to offer adult survivors the same avenues that have been given to victims of child abuse.
It gave many victims the opportunity to try to hold accountable the authority figures who allegedly abused them, and the institutions that allowed the abuse to go unchecked.
Sean “Diddy” Combs was sued under the ASA last week by R&B artist Cassie for allegedly abusing and raping her.Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
The law has also been used to bring claims against Trump, Cosby and other celebrities including hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, comedian Russell Brand and heavy metal singer Marilyn Manson — all of whom have been accused by various women of raping and abusing them, and has denied the allegations.
Under the ASA, hundreds of women are also suing the hospital for allegedly allowing Hadden – a leading gynecologist since convicted of sex trafficking – to abuse countless patients for more than a decade.
About half of state cases are brought by individuals who allege they were sexually assaulted while in state or city jails and prisons.
Trump’s accuser, E. Jean Carroll, notably won a $5 million judgment against the former president in May after she filed suit under the ASA on the day the look-back window opened last year.
Last week, Combs was sued in federal court under the law by R&B singer Cassie, who claims he raped and beat her for more than a decade. The couple settled the case the next day.
Donald Trump was found liable for the sexual assault of E. Jean Carroll in May after he sued under the ASA.via REUTERS Bill Cosby has been sued by several women who claim he sexually assaulted them. AFP via Getty Images
Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein was sued by actress Julia Ormond in October over allegations of sexual assault in 1995. She denies the allegations.
More than a hundred men have sued disgraced Manhattan urologist Darius Paduch for sexually abusing them under the guise of medical treatment. Paduch has a criminal case pending against him – which he has pleaded not guilty to.
One year is not enough time for the victim, the lawyer said
Lawyers who specialize in sexual abuse cases say the ASA’s one-year term is too short, especially compared to the CVA’s two-year term, extended by the outbreak, which has seen nearly 11,000 claims filed in the state.
“It is unfair to tell survivors of sexual abuse that they have one year to recover physically from the abuse, recover mentally from the abuse, find a lawyer, share the story of the abuse with a lawyer, whom they don’t know, and have the lawyer file all the cases within 12 months,” said Anthony T. DiPietro — who has filed hundreds of cases on behalf of Hadden’s alleged victims, including Maldonado.
“That is simply unfair and almost impossible in many cases.”
James Messerschmidt
Still, DiPietro, who prosecuted 785 ASA cases, said he and his clients are “grateful” to the state legislature for opening a “window of hindsight to give victims and victims a chance to come forward and find a path to justice.”
Attorneys Susan Crumiller and Carrie Goldberg — of the Survivors Legal Project, which has handled about 24 ASA cases — said they would support the legislature to reopen the window for at least a year, working with state Sen. Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan ), who originally sponsored the ASA bill.
“A lot of people didn’t know about this window and still don’t know about it,” said Crumiller, adding, “unlike other types of offenses, sexual abuse and trauma is something that takes time to heal and it takes time for survivors even to identify what happened to them let alone decide to make a court.”
Attorney Mallory Allen — who has filed 194 claims against Paduch — said that many of the doctor’s alleged victims may not know that he has been publicly accused of abuse and may not yet know that they are not alone.
“I know that word about Dr. Paduch hasn’t reached the vast majority of his patients,” Allen said. “I’m sure we’ll be hearing about his patients for years to come and we sadly have to tell them the window is closing.”
“That’s a real tragedy,” he added. “I hope there will be more statutory reforms.”
Three victims talk about their chances of getting justice
Crumiller and Goldberg’s client, Gina Tron, 41, said she is a prime example who took almost a full year to decide whether to sue a man she claims kidnapped and raped her in Brooklyn in October 2010.
Disgraced urologist Darius Paduch has been sued by over a hundred men who claim he sexually abused them under the guise of medical treatment.Twitter / Darius Paduch
Tron, an adjunct professor and writer who now lives in Vermont, said he was reluctant to file suit but eventually changed his mind and brought suit last week.
“I know I’m going to kick myself” for not filing a case, Tron said. “Because this has haunted me for years and it has hurt me for years.”
“I want to be able to find justice for myself,” he added. “It won’t magically change the past but I think it will heal something and it will feel like closure or some sort of validation.”
One of Paduch’s alleged victims, Tucker Coburn, said it took him a long time “to come to terms” with being abused when he was just 18 in 2016.
When he finally filed a police report in 2020, he was told that his claim was outside the statute of limitations.
“I thought that would be the end of it,” Coburn, now 26, told The Post. “So, it’s really powerful to actually have the opportunity to make something out of it.”
Gina Tron said she struggled with whether to sue her alleged rapist but ultimately decided she had to try to take action for justice. Courtesy of Gina Tron
Coburn didn’t know about the ASA until he saw a Post story about the first lawsuit against Paduch — prompting him to take legal action in April.
Tron and Maldonado both said the ability to bring their cases has given them a chance to find justice and healing.
“I kept it for more than 10 years,” said Maldonado, a mother and Queens professor at Columbia University, adding that coming forward was “the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”
“You have a chance to go back and rewrite your story and you have a chance to make sure it never happens again to girls and women,” she said.
In Tron’s case, being able to file a civil lawsuit after a criminal case against her alleged rapist failed, “felt like a huge opportunity for justice.”
Tucker Coburn is suing disgraced urologist Darius Paduch for allegedly sexually abusing him when he was a patient at age 18. Tucker Coburn
“It gives me hope again that in the eyes of the law what happens to me matters and I matter,” he said.
For Coburn, one of the most meaningful things was seeing Paduch forced to stop treating patients, because just after the lawsuit was filed, the doctor was arrested and stopped working.
“My goal is to ensure that Dr. Paduch will not practice medicine,” he said. “What has happened over the past year has protected future patients from it.”
Victims with time-barred claims still have recourse under a little-known city law
While the ASA window is closing, New York City’s Gender-Motivated Violence Act allows victims of sexual abuse in the Big Apple to file lawsuits until March 2025 even though their claims are barred by the statute of limitations.
Disgraced gynecologist Robert Hadden has been sued by hundreds of women who say he sexually abused them while they were patients.AP
“The path to justice remains open, under the GMVA, for the thousands of victims and victims of sexual exploitation and abuse in New York City who have yet to come forward,” DiPietro said.
Crumiller said in some ways the GMVA is “better” than the ASA because under this law a victim can also pursue their attacker for legal fees to bring the case, if they win.
The Department of Corrections and Community Supervision said it “does not comment on possible or pending litigation.” But it emphasized the measures and initiatives implemented to prevent sexual abuse in prisons.
Through his lawyer, Rose denied ever meeting Kennedy.
Attorneys and representatives for Paduch, Hadden, Gooding and Richardson all did not respond to requests for comment.
Additional reporting by Kyle Schnitzer
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
