Pennsylvania Sexual Abuse Lawsuits

Pennsylvania proposed new bills to its Legislature which would improve the existing civil laws for survivors of sexual abuse. Below you will find Pennsylvania lawsuits news & updates, as well as additional information on Pennsylvania’s statute of limitations laws. These laws are important because they dictate how long a lawyer handling a Pennsylvania sexual assault case has to file a claim on behalf of a survivor. In addition, we’ve compiled a list of Pennsylvania settlements and jury awards received by sexual abuse and assault survivors and a list of Pennsylvania’s ‘credibly’ accused priests released by the dioceses.

Pennsylvania Statute of Limitations for Sexual Abuse & Assault

Pennsylvania was previously viewed as one of the least friendly states when it came to its statute of limitations laws (SOLs) for sex crimes against minors. However, over the past few years, the state has tried to provide more avenues to civil justice for survivors of sexual abuse through bills proposed to its Legislature. While not all of the bills have been passed into law, Pennsylvania continues to try and provide as much support for survivors as it can.

Criminal Statute of Limitations Laws for Pennsylvania

In 2019, Pennsylvania eliminated the criminal SOL for certain felonies, including trafficking, sexual servitude, rape, statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault, institutional sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, and incest. It also extended the criminal SOL for other felony and misdemeanor sexual offenses to age 55. Child USA, who has evaluated every state based on their criminal statute of limitation laws, gave Pennsylvania a Criminal SOL score of 3, on a 1-5 scale, where 5 is the highest. A score of 3 is defined as a criminal SOL eliminated for felonies only.

Civil Statute of Limitations Laws for Pennsylvania

In 2019, Pennsylvania extended the civil SOL for childhood sex abuse from age 30 to age 55. The one recommendation that was not passed into law involved adding a 2-year revival window that would have allowed older victims, whose claims were previously time-barred due to SOL, to file civil suits. Those opposed argued that doing so might be unconstitutional and therefore could open up the legislation to a lengthy court battle.

That said, advocates for this window did not give up. The new plan to avoid the unconstitutionality of the bill is to amend the constitution itself. While both the House and Senate approved the amendment, a blunder by the department of state prevented the bill from appearing on the May 2021 ballot. Now the earliest that victims could expect to see this particular bill added to the ballot would be in 2023. After the state department’s failure, proponents of a revival window then introduced another bill, titled ‘Gregory’s bill’, in honor of the author who openly shared his story of being a child sex abuse survivor. While the bill passed in the House on April 7, 2021, as of June 2021, State Republican leaders have declined to hold a final vote on the proposed legislation, again, claiming issues with the state’s constitution.

Child USA, who has also evaluated every state based on their civil statute of limitation laws, gave Pennsylvania a Civil SOL Age Cap score of 4, on a 1-5 scale, where 5 is the highest. A score of 4 is defined as a civil SOL age cap for survivors age 50 and older.

If you or someone you love was sexually abused or assaulted in Pennsylvania, contact us now. Those sexually abused as a minor may still have a claim against their abuser, no matter how long ago the abuse occurred. Even if the abuser is deceased, you may still have a claim against the organization responsible. Don’t wait to file your claim.