Abuse in youth detention lawsuit in North Carolina

Survivors of abuse in North Carolina's juvenile-detention facilities are believed, and recent reform has reopened the courthouse doors. The SAFE Child Act (S.L. 2019-245) extended the civil statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse, allowing survivors to file until age 28, and created a revival window that permitted previously time-barred claims to proceed. Survivors may ask to proceed under a pseudonym to protect their privacy. Because North Carolina applies a strict pure contributory-negligence rule to ordinary negligence, survivors' claims are often framed around intentional misconduct and deliberate indifference, to which that defense does not apply. Survivors can reach the RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) for confidential support.