Thomas Finnerty is suing St. Mary’s Seminary and the Associated Sulpicians who run it, alleging child sexual abuse over years by a seminarian at St. Mary’s. Attorneys Michael Belsky and Catherine Dickinson, of Schlachman, Belsky, Weiner & Davey, P.A., are representing Finnerty. His alleged abuser, who is now dead, went on to be convicted in New Jersey as a priest for sexual offenses against minors.

Right now, survivors can file civil claims three years after realizing they were victimized or until their 28th birthday, whichever is later. Legislation proposed last year in the Michigan House would give them until they turn 52, or seven years after discovering they were a victim. That legislation has stalled.

A West Michigan man is speaking out and sharing his story of childhood abuse nearly three decades later. For victims who don't come forward immediately, the statute of limitations for civil claims can expire. If that happens, it can make the process of getting justice near impossible for those victims. 38-year-old Nicholas Fish, a father of four, said it’s his children who inspired him to push for legislation in Lansing to create more hope and opportunities for victims of sexual assault. “I just ask for a fair outcome. I’m not doing it for just myself, I could care less, there's...

- The suit prompted a major newspaper investigation into Southern Baptist sexual abuse and seven other men to come forward with allegations against Paul Pressler, an influential conservative activist and former Texas judge. - Rollins said weaponized religious language to justify his predations — were so traumatizing that he unconsciously developed a sort of Stockholm syndrome that, coupled with the drug and alcohol addictions he blamed on the trauma, made it impossible to recognize himself as a victim until decades had passed. Thus, Rollins argued, his statute of limitations should have begun when he realized he had been...

A brief filed earlier this year by lawyers for the Executive Committee, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Lifeway, an SBC publisher, argues that a Kentucky law that changed the statute of limitations for making civil claims over abuse—and allowing survivors to sue third parties such as churches or police—should not be applied retroactively.