Editor’s Note: This story contains discussions of rape or sexual assault that may be disturbing. Reader discretion is advised. If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, you can find help and discreet resources on the National Sexual Assault Hotline website or by calling 1-800-656-4673.
(NewsNation) — More than 3,500 people have filed lawsuits against Maryland state agencies since 2023, alleging they were victims of sexual abuse in incidents that, in many cases, date back several decades.
The complaints have been filed since the enactment of the Child Victims Act, which was passed in 2023 and lifted the statute of limitations on lawsuits filed against public and private entities. All of the lawsuits include allegations of sexual assault that victims say took place involving schools, religious institutions and state and local agencies, Stateline reported.
As part of the Child Victims Act, victims may seek damages against state and local government agencies of up to $890,000 for each instance of alleged abuse, the report said. Victims can seek awards of up to $1.5 million in suits filed against private institutions.
Many of the victims who have sued Maryland state agencies allege that they suffered sexual abuse while they were being held in juvenile detention centers, the report indicated. Stateline reported Maryland is negotiating out-of-court settlements but that there are at least 29 pending legal complaints that include hundreds of other plaintiffs.
Maryland Matters reported in February that the cases that the state is working to settle out of court could add up to $3.1 billion or more in damages.
The Maryland cases are part of a bigger trend of victims of alleged sexual abuse who say they were abused by juvenile correctional officers and other staff members in more than a dozen states. Lawsuits have been filed in states such as California, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, the report said.
Child USA, a not-for-profit organization that tracks child victim lawsuits, found that more than 12 states have changed their laws involving the statute of limitations for sexual abuse cases since 2020. The organization found that an additional 15 states are currently considering legislation that would give victims of sexual assault more time to sue.
In Maryland, the results of the lawsuits facing state agencies could potentially damage the state, which is facing a $3 billion budget gap for fiscal year 2026, the Stateline report indicated.
“This is potentially an enormous liability for the state,” David Romans, a legislative budget analyst, told the House Appropriations and Senate Budget and Taxation committees in January.
The Maryland Supreme Court ruled in a 4-3 decision last month that the Child Victims Act is constitutional and that the state legislature acted within its power when it passed the law in 2023.
Three defendants in the lawsuits, including the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, the Key School and the Board of Education of Harford County, argued that the law ran afoul of another law that was passed in 2017, Maryland Matters reported.
The 2017 law established a timeline limit for lawsuits alleging sexual assault to be filed. However, since the passage of the Child Victims Act, more plaintiffs have filed claims involving a number of public and private institutions.
In a statement provided to Baltimore CBS News affiliate WJZ News, the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services said it takes all allegations of sexual abuse in state care “with the utmost seriousness.”
“We are working hard to provide decent, humane and rehabilitative environments for youth committed to the Department,” the agency said, adding that all of the claims made in the lawsuits involve allegations of abuse that reportedly took many decades ago.