Issue

Tort claims—child sexual abuse—retroactive alteration of expired statutes of limitations—applicable to enablers of abuse

Summary

The Supreme Court, having held in a companion case (McKinney v. Goins) that the revival provision of the SAFE Child Act–allowing victims of child sexual abuse to file otherwise time-barred tort claims during a specified two-year period–was facially constitutional, affirmed the decision of the Court of Appeals that the provision resuscitated claims against parties who allegedly enabled abuse, as well as direct abusers. Given that North Carolina has not recognized a distinct child sexual abuse tort, instead permitting victims to sue for common law torts–such as those grounded in negligence, the statute of limitations for which is found in N.C.G.S. § 1-52–the provision's plain text ("reviv[ing] any civil action for child sexual abuse otherwise time-barred under G.S. 1-52") applied to negligence-based causes of action brought against a Roman Catholic order and diocese (together, defendants) by a man who alleged he suffered sexual abuse as a child by a clergyman employed and supervised by defendants. The revival provision's use of the phrase "for child abuse" identified only the category of tort addressed and did not restrict the theory of tort liability a plaintiff could pursue.

Summary from the North Carolina Reports digest (official subject index). Read the opinion →