More than 450 sue Archdiocese of Baltimore over sexual abuse ahead of deadline

BALTIMORE -- More than 450 people have sued the Archdiocese of Baltimore over sexual abuse claims ahead of the deadline, according to our media partner The Baltimore Banner.

The final day survivors can file a lawsuit against the church is Friday, May 31.

Survivors have until Friday to file a proof of claim, or an Official Form 410. People can but do not have to submit a sexual abuse claim supplement by that date, according to the Banner.

"It's important that you fill it out and get it in the queue," Paul Jan Zdunek, chair of the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors, which represents the interests of survivors in the case, told the Banner. "You can always go back to amend it."

The Child Victims Law, which went into effect in October 2022, eliminated the statute of limitations, just after the archdiocese filed for bankruptcy.

The Maryland Attorney General's Office released a 450-page report last year that identified 156 priests, deacons, Catholic teachers and seminarians within the Archdiocese accused of assaulting over 600 victims.  The incidents detailed in the report date back to the 1940s.

Eight survivors opened up recently about the sexual abuse they endured at the hands of Catholic clergy during an emotional hearing in the Archdiocese of Baltimore's bankruptcy case.