Surge of Child Sex Abuse Lawsuits Overload Baltimore Court

Many of the childhood sexual abuse survivors rushed to file their lawsuits over the past few weeks, before new damage caps under the Maryland Child Victims Act went into effect.

A judge in Baltimore, Maryland has put more than 1,250 child sex abuse lawsuits on hold, since the city’s circuit court has become overwhelmed amid a surge of new claims filed over the past few weeks, before new caps on damages go into effect that may limit the amount of financial compensation survivors can obtain from their abusers or entities that enabled the attacks.

Chief Judge Audry J.S. Carrión, administrative judge of the Baltimore Circuit Court, issued an administrative order (PDF) on Monday, placing a stay on all lawsuits filed under the Maryland Child Victims Act (CVA), which was originally passed in October 2023, but amended earlier this year to limit damages and attorneys fees in any cases brought after May 31, 2025.

While the Baltimore City sexual abuse lawsuit stay means that proceedings in hundreds of individual claims are temporarily halted, it does not prevent the filing of new claims. Instead, the pause is designed to give the Court time to determine how it will best handle the massive surge in claims, which could put a considerable tax on the city court’s resources.

Judge Carrión indicated that she is waiting for guidance from the Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure, which meets next on June 26, and the Maryland Supreme Court, before allowing the cases to continue.

 So far, it is the only Maryland court to issue such a ruling.

The Maryland Child Victims Act gave survivors a new chance to come forward and hold their abusers accountable, regardless of how long ago the abuse occurred. The law allows Maryand child sexual abuse lawsuits to be filed against both individual perpetrators and the organizations that enabled their conduct, such as churches, schools and government agencies that failed to stop the abuse or actively covered it up.

“The decision to stay these cases is in large part due to ongoing discussions about possible ways to manage these cases collectively for pretrial and discovery purposes,” Judge Carrión wrote. “In reaching the decision to temporarily stay these cases, the Court has weighed the understandable desire of parties to proceed with litigating these cases as well as the need for consistency, efficiency, and fairness.”

The influx of cases is believed to be a result of new limits on damages, as the result of legislation passed earlier this year. The legislation slashed the maximum amount of damages that state institutions could be held liable for from $890,000 to just $400,000. In addition, liability against private institutions was capped at $700,000, down from $1.5 million.

The restrictions came as a response to the CVA, which removed the statute of limitations from all child sexual abuse civil lawsuits. While the Maryland legislature broadly supported and passed the CVA, it soon became apparent that the state itself was being hit with a huge amount of liability, which lawmakers said could have caused significant damage to the state budget.

Several lawmakers who supported the bill urged survivors to file before the deadline, with some even apologizing for the impact the proposal may have.

The caps go into effect on lawsuits filed on June 1 and later, which led to an influx of claims being filed in the city court by May 31 to beat the deadline.

State Institutions Targeted by CVA Lawsuits

The first waves of child sexual abuse lawsuits brought after the law was passed primarily targeted large private institutions, like the Catholic Church. However, then the state began to see claims of child sexual abuse filed against its own juvenile justice system and various school districts.

About a year after the new law was passed, more than 100 juvenile detention child sex abuse lawsuits were brought against Maryland by individuals who say they were sexually assaulted as wards of the state.

At least three new CVA lawsuits were filed against Baltimore City Public Schools on Friday, alleging that the district failed to stop sexual abuse of children by special education teacher Alvin Hunt, which claim he sexually assaulted three girls during the late 1970s and early 1980s. One of the victims became pregnant.

The lawsuits claim teachers witnessed Hunt’s inappropriate behavior, failing repeatedly to report it. Hunt was allowed to keep his job for an additional 20 years, even though one of his victims had given birth after reportedly being drugged and raped at his home.