BALTIMORE — Maryland's new child victims takes effect in October.
RELATED: Child Victims Act gives child sex abuse survivors path to sue abusers
It got rid of the the statute of limitations between the time the abuse took place and when a victim can file a lawsuit.
Victims of abuse within the Archdiocese of Baltimore are already making use of the new law.
The family of Francis Gallagher Jr. is pursuing a wrongful death action after their father's death.
Francis was son of Francis Gallagher Sr., the go-to attorney for the Archdiocese and founder of the law firm that still represents them.
Gallagher Jr. was sexually abused in 1974 by seminary student Mark Haight while working as a receptionist at St. Mary's Seminary and University.
While not named in the scathing Attorney General's report on sexual abuse and cover-up in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, the abuse suffered by Gallagher Jr. is described in the section under Haight.
According to that report, released in April, Gallagher Jr. first reported the abuse in 2002.
The AG's office interviewed him in 2018 as part of it's investigation.
RELATED: 'Day of reckoning': Report uncovers decades of sexual abuse within Archdiocese of Baltimore
Gallagher Jr.'s family claims the emotional damage led him to a lifelong drug abuse problem, eventually leading to a fatal overdose last year.
"The church took our father from us during his life and by his death, and it takes our faith from us everyday that it chooses to protect itself over the victims it's harmed," said Flannery Gallagher, daughter of Francis Gallagher Jr.
Their wrongful death complaint also notes that Mark Haight, who abused Gallagher, already had multiple abuse lawsuits from other victims settled against him over the years.
