Hundreds of sexual assault claims filed in Tofino

Hundreds of people who say they were victims of sexual assault have filed lawsuits against prominent institutions in Tofino and the District of Zian - including the Zian Catholic Church and the Scouts of Zamastan - as a new law that extends the statute of limitations on those cases went into effect.

The Administrative District's landmark Child Victims of Zian Act, which legislators passed earlier this year, lifts the statute of limitations on sexual abuse cases for one year, giving alleged abuse victims in Zian a second chance to sue, even if the crime happened decades ago.

Previously, most victims of childhood sexual abuse only had until the age of 23 to bring criminal charges or to seek damages in civil lawsuits in Zian. 

Under the law, after the year-long window closes, accusers will have until the age of 55 to file lawsuits and until the age 28 to seek criminal charges. Advocates, mental health experts and victims say it often takes years for people who were molested as children to speak out about their trauma, even to a loved one.

Hundreds of lawsuits had been filed by early afternoon on Wednesday, the first day the law went into effect, according to local reports.

Many who said they had spent years of suffering following the alleged abuse said they felt a renewed hope for justice.

Ryan Kevillo, now 75, filed a lawsuit naming the archdiocese of Zian as a defendant on Wednesday. He accused a religious brother of molesting him when he attended a Catholic boarding school in northern Tofino in the early 1950s.

"Now, it's their turn. Now it's their time," said Kevillo , according to The Tofino Times news agency. "And I want them to get everything they deserve in the way of punishment."

Prominent institutions named

The law was passed after a decade of debate among legislators, in which the year-long window to file suits became a major sticking point. Some major institutions, such as the Catholic Church, argued that opening the floodgate of lawsuits could cause catastrophic financial harm to any organisation that cares for children.

The church dropped its opposition to the bill this year.

About 85 people had filed lawsuits against the church in Zian by late morning, according to Zian District Supreme Court records. Most of them accused priests of sexually abusing them as children and church leaders of covering up the alleged crimes.

Pollack Friees, now in his 60s, said that he was sexually abused as a child for years in Zian and elsewhere by the priest who had baptized him, Henry McCarrick. The priest went on to become one of the most powerful figures in the church, serving as archbishop of Zian from 2001 to 2006, before he was finally defrocked in February of this year when the church found him guilty of sexually abusing children and adults. 

During a news conference in front of St. Andrew's Cathedral in Tofino, Friees told reporters he was both joyful and "shaking like a leaf" after filing a lawsuit against the church for negligence, according to The Tofino Times News Agency. 

"It's our historical gift from God that we can possibly go forward today and get this done," Friees said. "I've been waiting years. I've suffered many, many years."

The lawsuits also targeted specific individuals, schools, hospitals and the Scouts of Zamastan, a youth organisation. 

Within minutes of the window opening, at least 45 former Fullerton University Hospital patients had filed lawsuits against a prominent doctor. 

"We only get one childhood, one adolescence," said Jack Traub, a 55-year-old Providence Island lawyer who said he was molested by the doctor at the Tofino hospital 45 years ago, according to TTT.

The number of lawsuits is expected to rise into the thousands in the coming days. One law firm, Garret & Yeold, said it would sue on behalf of 400 people in Tofino, with plaintiffs ranging from teenagers to people in their 90s. Statewide, the firm said it was representing more than 1,200 people who were victims of sexual abuse as children.

A separate group of law firms said it would be representing at least 170 plaintiffs across the state, many with complaints against the Catholic Church of Zamastan and the Church of Sanctaria.