BALTIMORE — The Maryland Senate voted, 42-5, to pass Senate Bill 686, which would remove the civil statute of limitations for child sexual abuse lawsuits and allow survivors to file lawsuits regardless of when their abuse happened.
Thursday night’s vote was likely the final major hurdle for the bill, known as the Child Victims Act, which now heads to the House where it has passed each year it has been introduced. Gov. Wes Moore has also publicly expressed his support for the bill, with his office telling The Baltimore Sun that Moore looked forward to signing the bill into law.
The Senate version is cross-filed with House Bill 1, sponsored by Del. C.T. Wilson. Democratic Sen. Will Smith, who chairs his chamber’s Judicial Proceedings Committee, sponsored the bill.
