After nearly twenty years of discussed reform, in May of 2019, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed S477/A3648, a bill allowing the victims of sexual assault more time in which to file lawsuits against their abusers. The bill had previously passed almost unanimously in the State Assembly and Senate before being signed by Governor Murphy and coming into effect on December 1, 2019. The purpose of the legislation was to expand the current two-year statute of limitations for sexual assault cases to seven years in a majority of cases. Additionally, the law allows adults who were victims of sexual assault as children the ability to file lawsuits against individuals or institutions, even non-profits, until either the age of fifty-five or until seven years after they “discover” that they have suffered emotional and psychological injuries stemming from their abuse, whichever is later. Lastly sexual assault victims whose statute of limitations had previously tolled are granted a supplementary two-years in which to file suit.
This bill was originally proposed following New Jersey’s five Roman Catholic diocese disclosure of approximately two hundred priests accused of sexual abuse. Moreover, the Boy Scouts of America released a list of approximately fifty former leaders accused of sexual violence against children. As such, on the first day in which the law came into effect over fifty civil suits were filed against the Catholic Church of New Jersey, the Boy Scouts of America, and other organizations for sexual assault claims dating back decades.
New Jersey has followed a nationwide trend of states evaluating and reforming their statutes of limitations for sexual assault cases as they work to comprehend the effect of the related trauma and delayed reporting associated with such cases. In fact, prior to Governor Murphy’s signing of the bill, over eighty percent of states had already altered their statutes of limitations for sexual abuse since 2002.
This expansion of the statute of limitations and grace period for those whose statute of limitations had already tolled will remarkably increase the amount of sexual assault cases filed throughout New Jersey. As such, insurers of these entities must be on notice that not only will there be a marked increase in claims, but that claims for which statutes of limitations had tolled and cases have been closed can now be reopened and brought to suit.