Child Victims Act filings describe decades of alleged sexual abuse connected to New York schools. A review identified at least 1,973 complaints involving a school, educator or district personnel, with alleged abuse dating from the 1950s through 2018 and reported in locations ranging from school grounds to teachers’ cars and overnight trips.
The 74’s review of court filings and cases in all 62 New York counties produced a searchable database of school-related complaints. The Child Victims Act, passed in 2019, extended the criminal and civil statutes of limitations for child sex abuse claims and created a lookback window for adult survivors to sue alleged childhood abusers and the institutions that employed them. Read The 74’s investigation.
The lookback period led to nearly 11,000 complaints filed between 2019 and 2021, involving more than 14,000 people who came forward, according to The 74. School-related complaints accounted for more than 18% of the state’s Child Victims Act cases—nearly one in five.
Where filings were concentrated
New York City’s five counties accounted for 5,285 Child Victims Act cases. The allegations were not limited to the city: Hamilton County, with a population of about 5,000, had one case.
The 74 also mapped the cases statewide. Its review included allegations involving public, private, residential and religious schools when the alleged perpetrator had access to a child through a school employee role. It excluded cases involving solely student-on-student abuse in residential settings, while including residential-setting cases that implicated adults.
Allegations of institutional failure
Some filings described adults dismissing or ignoring complaints, and accused abusers quietly resigning and moving to other schools. These allegations raise questions about how schools respond when concerns about staff conduct are reported.
New York City schools’ complaint framework
In New York City, Chancellor’s Regulation A-830 sets out an anti-discrimination and complaint-review framework for the Department of Education, according to the New York City Department of Education.
The 74 said it contacted schools, districts and living people named in its reporting at least twice.
Many cases remain pending
Despite the volume of filings, many cases have yet to be resolved. Nearly 63% of Child Victims Act cases beyond their initial filing were still pending as of February 2026, according to the New York State Office of Court Administration. In some counties, 75% to 80% or more of cases remained unresolved.
The backlog comes as survivors continue to pursue claims under laws that reopen or extend filing deadlines. CHILD USA, which tracks revival-window and age-limit laws nationwide, says New York is one of at least 30 states with such laws and that the vast majority of survivors who eventually disclose abuse need decades to come forward.
