Federal Court Upholds Maryland’s Child Victims Act

Last week the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland rejected a constitutional challenge to Maryland’s Child Victims Act—a landmark law that gives survivors of child sexual abuse the opportunity to seek justice regardless of how much time has passed since their abuse. This includes allowing survivors to sue alleged abusers and the institutions that protected them.

The case in question was brought by eight men who allege that they were sexually abused while working as “Ring Boys” for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in the 1980s and 1990s. The survivors allege that the abuse occurred when they were minors, and that WWE and its leadership knew and failed to protect them.

WWE sought to prevent the case from moving forward by arguing that the Child Victims Act violates the U.S. Constitution. The federal court rejected that argument, allowing the survivors’ case to move forward.

This is a victory for survivors across the state.

MCASA, survivors of abuse, and other advocates championed Maryland’s Child Victims Act, leading to its enactment in 2023. For people who were sexually abused as children, it can take years to process the trauma and decide how to move forward. Survivors should not lose their access to justice simply because the trauma they experienced prevented them from coming forward within a certain timeframe.

MCASA honors the bravery of the survivors in this case, and the many who have suffered needlessly at the hands of those who were meant to protect them. All survivors deserve to be heard and believed.