Last day to bring sex abuse claims under Adult Survivors Act sees down-to-the-wire spike of high-profile filings including Mayor Adams, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs

The Adult Survivors Act: High-Profile Filings on Final Day

The final day to file time-barred sex abuse claims under the Adult Survivors Act saw a down-to-the-wire spike of high-profile filings on Thursday. These filings included rap mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, who was sued for the second time in a week, and more cases against Robert Hadden. Additionally, Mayor Adams himself was named in a lawsuit accusing him of sexually assaulting a former colleague in 1993. The allegations against Mayor Adams have not yet been disclosed, and he denies the alleged attack.

Mayor Adams Faces Lawsuit

Mayor Adams was added to the Manhattan Supreme Court docket a few hours after lawsuits appeared against actor Jamie Foxx and Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose for alleged sexual assaults. Both Foxx and Rose deny the accusations. The Adult Survivors Act has provided sexual abuse victims over 18 with the ability to sue individuals and institutions for the harm they suffered, no matter how long ago, for one year starting on Thanksgiving.

Combs and Hadden Cases

Among the last cases filed under the Adult Survivors Act was a lawsuit against Sean “Diddy” Combs. Joie Dickerson-Neal sued Combs for allegedly sexually assaulting and drugging her in 1991 when she was a student at Syracuse University. Combs settled a rape and sexual assault case brought by R&B singer Cassie Ventura on Friday. Another notable case involved Robert Hadden, a disgraced gynecologist, with more cases filed against Columbia University’s board of trustees by Hadden’s former patients.

Majority of Cases in Jails and Prisons

Data provided by state court administrators shows that the majority of the more than 2,500 suits filed under the Adult Survivors Act have alleged abuse in jails and prisons. These claims continued to grow on the final day, including a suit filed by a former detainee at Bedford Hills correctional facility who alleged she was repeatedly raped, assaulted, and battered by a former correctional officer in 1985.

Impact of the Adult Survivors Act

The passage of the Adult Survivors Act followed years of lobbying efforts by advocates who pushed lawmakers to recognize trauma research that shows sex abuse victims commonly need more time to process their experience than the statute of limitations allows. The legislation has resulted in dozens of headline-grabbing cases, including E. Jean Carroll’s sexual assault case against Donald Trump, which she filed under the Adult Survivors Act and won.

Future of the Adult Survivors Act

Starting Friday, people who wish to bring claims for most types of sexual misconduct will have five years from the date of the alleged incident. Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, who co-sponsored the Adult Survivors Act, is exploring the possibility of creating another temporary lookback window or a permanent one. City residents can still pursue claims for crimes of violence motivated by gender that fall outside the statute of limitations using the City Council’s Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law until it expires in March 2025.

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