More than 400 lawsuits have been filed in New York as part of a new child sex abuse law that expands the ways that survivors can use the legal system to address the damage, CNN.com reported. The New York Child Victims Act, which was signed into law on February 14, created a one-year period when any adult survivors of child sexual abuse can sue an abuser or a negligent institution, no matter how long ago the abuse took place. That period began on Wednesday. In New York City, 169 cases were filed, said Lucian Chalfen, a spokesman for the New York Unified Court System, said in an email. Another 258 cases were filed outside of New York City. In all, 427 lawsuits have been filed, he said. The state court system was expecting so many lawsuits that 45 judges have been set aside to deal exclusively with the influx of cases, Chalfen said.
