California AB 218: What Child Sexual Abuse Survivors Should Know

AB 218, the California Child Victims Act, is a law that gives survivors of childhood sexual abuse more time to file civil lawsuits in California. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed it on October 13, 2019, and it took effect on January 1, 2020. If you experienced abuse before age 18, the law changes the deadlines for seeking accountability from those responsible.

Bills like the Child Victims Act exist to protect survivors because many don’t come forward for years. It’s not your fault, and as a child, you might not have understood what happened or feared you wouldn’t be believed.

Under AB 218, survivors generally have until age 40 to file a claim, or up to five years after discovering that the abuse caused psychological harm or illness, depending on the case details. It also opened a three-year window beginning January 1, 2020, for certain claims with deadlines that had already expired. That temporary window has closed.

The law covers claims against the person who committed the abuse and against people or institutions whose actions or failure to protect you may have contributed to it. Depending on the facts, this may include schools, churches, youth organizations, foster care providers and daycare centers. However, an institution’s involvement alone does not establish that it is legally responsible for the abuse.

Survivors may be eligible to recover up to triple damages if their abuse resulted from a cover-up by a private institution.

California passed the Child Victims Act to give childhood sexual abuse survivors more time to process their trauma and hold both abusers and negligent institutions legally accountable. Lawmakers passed the bill as a response to growing national and statewide awareness of widespread childhood sexual abuse and institutional cover-ups. The New York Child Victims Act is a similar law that provides victims with more time to file a claim.

If you experienced sexual abuse before age 18 in California, you may be able to file a civil lawsuit under the deadlines expanded by AB 218. In most instances, survivors of abuse that occurred before 2024 have until age 40, or five years after realizing the connection between the abuse and subsequent psychological harm, to take legal action. Consulting an attorney can help clarify how these rules apply to a specific situation.

The discovery rule may allow you to file after age 40. The rule is a deadline based on when you recognized, or reasonably should have recognized, the connection between the abuse and your psychological harm. Remembering the abuse and recognizing its connection to your harm are different questions under this rule.

These filing rights remain in place for abuse that occurred before January 1, 2024. They are separate from AB 218’s temporary three-year window for older claims. That window closed in December 2022, but it didn’t end your ability to file a claim if you still meet the ongoing deadline and other legal requirements.

A separate law, AB 452, removed the filing deadline for childhood sexual abuse that happened on or after January 1, 2024. The date of the abuse determines which deadline rules apply.

If you were abused as an adult in California, AB 2777, known as the Sexual Abuse and Cover Up Accountability Act, may allow you to file a lawsuit against private businesses and organizations that may have contributed to your abuse. Additionally, AB 250 may give some adult survivors of workplace sexual assault an extended deadline to file a civil lawsuit until December 31, 2027.

AB 218 opened a temporary three-year filing window that ran from Jan. 1, 2020, through Dec. 31, 2022. During this period, survivors could bring certain childhood sexual abuse claims even if previous deadlines had passed. This included claims involving abuse from decades earlier, when survivors had already aged out under the old rules.

That specific filing window is now closed, and you can no longer use it to bring an otherwise expired claim. But the window’s closure doesn’t necessarily mean you can no longer file a claim.

Most survivors of abuse that happened before 2024 may still have time to file a lawsuit under AB 218 in 2026. For abuse occurring before January 1, 2024, the age-40 and five-year discovery rules remain part of California law. These are continuing rules, separate from the temporary window.

You may still have legal options if your claim meets the applicable deadline and other legal requirements, even though you did not file during the temporary window.

However, a new bill signed by California’s governor on Sept. 30, 2026 — SB 577 — changed the discovery deadline established by AB 218 to three years instead of five for claims against public entities. This affects cases for abuse that occurred before Jan. 1, 2024. Most provisions of SB 577 take effect on Jan. 1, 2027.

If you’re interested in filing a claim, Consumer Notice provides free case reviews to help you understand your eligibility and legal rights.

AB 218 refers to childhood sexual abuse as “childhood sexual assault.” Generally, this involves unwanted sexual contact, assault or exploitation by an adult in a position of trust or authority over a minor. Sometimes abuse can happen between minors. Legal interpretations can vary based on specific case details. The bill does allow lawsuits against individuals and institutions who may have contributed to the abuse.

The bill allows civil lawsuits against both individual perpetrators and a wide range of public and private institutional defendants where abuse occurred or where organizations enabled, ignored or covered up the misconduct. These include:

If the childhood abuse didn’t occur in one of the institutions listed above, you should still contact a lawyer to learn about your legal options. They can help you determine if you can file a lawsuit under AB 218.

When and where the abuse occurred indicate that you might have a claim under AB 218. To evaluate a claim, lawyers will typically look at whether you were under 18 at the time of the abuse, signs of abuse you may have experienced and where the abuse happened.

Sexual abuse symptoms are different for children and adults, but they can manifest as mood disorders, behavioral issues and physical injuries.

If a person experienced abuse as a child and they never received the care or support needed to address the abuse, they may develop mental and behavioral problems as an adult.

Under AB 218, individuals who experienced sexual abuse or exploitation by an adult in a place of authority or by another minor before age 18 in California may have a claim, subject to specific legal requirements and deadlines.

The abuse may have occurred in a number of private or public institutions, such as a school, medical office, camp, sports program, foster care or after-school program.

AB 218 gives childhood sexual abuse survivors 22 years after they turn 18 and five years after they discover they were psychologically harmed by the abuse to come forward and file a claim. However, the new SB 577 changed the discovery deadline established to three years instead of five for claims against public entities.

If you want to learn about your legal options, there’s no obligation to file a lawsuit, and a case review by a compassionate and respectful lawyer is free.

California AB 218 (the Child Victims Act) generated many lawsuits and multi-billion-dollar settlements across public school districts, local governments and religious institutions after it opened up a window for past claims.

No California sexual abuse settlement is guaranteed, and your potential settlement amount could be different based on the facts of your case. Your lawyer can tell you what you may be able to expect when it comes to a settlement in your case.