The past week has been a monumental one in New York. The dwindling of the Adult Survivors Act prompted thousands to come forward with abuse allegations.
The law created a one-year window for survivors (who were 18 and older at the time of an offense) to file lawsuits against their alleged abusers regardless of the statute of limitations. What resulted was over 3,000 suits filed and some prominent figures in Hollywood named as defendants.
Now, The Shade Room’s Justin Carter is sifting through the suits for TSR Investigates.
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More Details Regarding The Adult Abuse Survivors Act & The Institutions Under The Spotlight
According to CNN, Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul signed the act into law in May 2022 with an expiration date of November 23, 2023. Carter adds that since then, “hospitals, government agencies, [and] even prisons” were named defendants in resulting lawsuits.
TRIGGER WARNING: This portion of the article contains content related to sexual assault.
According to Carter, Alexandria Johnson is one of the plaintiffs behind a corresponding lawsuit. Johnson was reportedly serving time in Rikers Island prison when four correctional officers allegedly raped her. A year later, in 2015, Johnson reportedly survived another rape while four months pregnant.
“My water broke at 11:30 at night the day after I was raped,” Johnson recalled, per The Associated Press, adding that her baby soon after passed away. “I feel that he’s just been forgotten — he had to die in that hospital all alone; nothing’s been done for him.”
Mia Wheeler, another abuse survivor, shared her experience with ABC News. According to Wheeler, a corrections officer sexually assaulted her at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility.
“He would walk past my cube if nobody was there, and if it was mealtime, he would come in and say, ‘Hey, you know what time it is,” Wheeler said, then adding further context. “That it was time to have sex or time for me to perform a sex act on him.”
Carter reports that before 2019, sexual abuse survivors “generally had one year” to file a suit against their alleged abusers in New York. The passage of The Adult Survivors Act gave alleged victims an opportunity to seek justice for their alleged experiences.
Here Are Celebs Named In The “Bombshell Sex Abuse Lawsuits”
Carter adds that attorneys for the institutions above have denied the allegations. This is similar to attorneys for celebs such as Jamie Foxx, Cuba Gooding Jr., Russell Brand, and Sean Combs, who have also been named as alleged assailants in “bombshell sex abuse lawsuits.”
To date, Sean Combs has become a defendant in at least three separate sexual abuse lawsuits filed within the past two weeks. The lawsuits, in totality, accuse the 54-year-old of rape, sex trafficking, and physical abuse.
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Watch as Carter walks viewers through each suit and even speaks with a former federal prosecutor for more insight.
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