Wave of Sexual Assault Allegations Filed as New York Law Expires

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Facts

  • A wave of high-profile sexual misconduct allegations poured in over the last few days just as a New York law that opened up a one-year window to report sexual abuse, regardless of the statute of limitations, was set to expire.1
  • New York City Mayor Eric Adams, celebrity actor and singer Jamie Foxx, and Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose were prominent names who saw last-minute claims against them. Some of the allegations go back decades and would have fallen outside the statute of limitations if not for last year's law.2
  • N.Y. Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the Adult Survivors Act into law on May 24, 2022, which opened a one-year period for people to sue over an alleged sexual assault. The window opened on Thanksgiving of 2022 and ended Thursday.3
  • An unidentified woman filed a summons in Manhattan court on Wednesday claiming that Adams sexually assaulted her in 1993 while both worked for the City of New York. The NYPD’s transit bureau and the Guardian Association of the NYPD are also among the defendants.4
  • Former N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been sued for allegedly groping a former aide, and Sean Combs, the rapper known as Diddy, has been sued three separate times under the one-year window. Former Pres. Donald Trump was notably sued by E. Jean Carroll for a 1996 incident and was ordered to pay her $5M.5
  • The law that allowed civil lawsuits beyond the 20-year statute of limitations was prompted after the high-profile cases of Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby.6

Sources: 1Forbes, 2The Guardian, 3New York Post, 4Verity Lite, 5BBC News and 6Associated Press.

Narratives

  • Left narrative, as provided by CNN. Given that more than 2.5K sexual assault allegations have been launched since the Adult Survivors Act opened a one-year window to report sexual assault cases, Gov. Kathy Hochul should pass a law extending the window permanently. Sexual assault is a major problem in the US, and women especially must deal with trauma for decades before being able to tell their stories to the public. There should be no statute of limitations on sexual abuse.
  • Right narrative, as provided by Breitbart. Democrats are paying the price for their weaponization of the law as shown by the prosecution of Adams. It's nearly impossible and unfair to make a ruling on allegations that go back 30+ years and substantive evidence has appeared scant so far. The Democrats opened this can of worms and now they have created a high-profile legal mess. This legal window should never have been opened.