The Supreme Court of Maryland on Monday upheld as constitutional the state’s Child Victims Act, which took effect in 2023 and eliminates time limits for lawsuits to be filed by people who were sexually abused as children.

Already, roughly 3,500 claims have been filed, and settlement payments from Maryland could top $3 billion — at a time when the state is facing a similarly sized budget shortfall.

“Today’s Supreme Court decision to uphold the Maryland Child Victims Act is a monumental victory for survivors of childhood abuse and for justice itself. For too long, outdated statutes of limitations have denied survivors their day in court, prioritizing silence over accountability,” David Schappelle, who says he was abused as a 9-year-old at a Catholic Church in Gaithersburg, wrote in a statement responding to the ruling.

“As someone who has carried the weight of abuse for years, this law represents hope — hope that those responsible for these horrific acts will finally be held accountable, and hope that no survivor will ever feel like their voice doesn’t matter.”

The law had been challenged by attorneys for the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, the private Key School in Annapolis and the Harford County Board of Education, which were accused in lawsuits of facilitating or helping to cover up child sexual abuse in the past.

During a hearing before the state’s high court in September, the lawyers argued that a 2017 precursor to the Child Victims Act precluded lawsuits against individuals who themselves were not the perpetrators of abuse, giving them a sort of permanent immunity that was constitutionally protected through a so-called “statute of repose.”

Supporters of the act said the earlier law contained a “statute of limitations” that could be legislatively changed, however.

The Maryland justices agreed Monday, finding that the Child Victims Act superseded the earlier law.

“Accordingly, the Child Victims Act of 2023, which eliminated that 2017 statute of limitations, did not retroactively abrogate vested rights in violation of the Constitution of Maryland and the Maryland Declaration of Rights,” a court filing reads.

Nancy Andryszak Fenton has said she was sexually abused from 1969-’70 by a public school teacher in Maryland. She called the Supreme Court ruling “excellent news [that] reaffirms the right of survivors to pursue justice in court.”

When the Maryland General Assembly passed the Child Victims Act, survivors of childhood sexual abuse heralded it as a landmark achievement, cementing their right to hold their tormentors accountable in civil court on their own schedules. Most survivors don’t come to grips with what happened to them until they’re well into adulthood — an average age of 52, according to some studies.

The act’s biggest champion, Democratic Del. C.T. Wilson of Charles County, said last month that he was concerned about the financial implications for Maryland.

“My goal was to never bankrupt the state,” Wilson told Spotlight on Maryland, a partnership between The Baltimore Sun and FOX45, which first reported the potential for billions in liabilities for the state.

“It’s unfortunate because it puts a bad spin on a heart-felt fight,” Wilson said. “It was never about money but that seems to be what it’s all about.”

Wilson first championed the legislation in 2015, sharing his own story of abuse by his adoptive father. When he began the fight, the cutoff to file a lawsuit was age 25; in 2017, he negotiated an extension to the age of 38; and in 2023, he won the war, removing the age limit with the passage of the Child Victims Act.

On Monday, Wilson said the court’s decision is “beyond a sigh of relief. … I really feel like I can close this chapter of my life.”

Wilson reiterated to The Baltimore Sun Monday that the fight for the bill’s passage for him was never rooted in financial compensation.

“There’s no amount of money that’s going to undo the damage that’s been done,” he said.

He added that he had “no qualms” with potential legislation to put guardrails on payments, if needed.

Since the Act was implemented in 2023, thousands of claims have been filed, many of them against Maryland institutions. Department of Legislative Services fiscal analyst David Romans said at a briefing last month that some of them date back to the 1960s, and the majority of the filers against the state were at some point housed within the Department of Juvenile Services facilities.

The state could be liable for up to $890,000 per occurrence of abuse.

Senate President Bill Ferguson’s office declined to comment Monday.

Last month, he said legislators understood there could be a cost, but that the price survivors paid was also high.

“I think the victims in these cases have borne this cost for years and decades, and so we have to find some way to compensate for those pains and do it in a way that is practical for the state — that is real — and it’s going to cost money.”

Attorney Jonathan Schochor brought the lawsuit against the Washington diocese that was among the cases under review by the Supreme Court.

Monday’s ruling “affords all children of Maryland no statute of limitations on coming forward whenever they can,” he said.

Teresa F. Lancaster was among those abused as a student at Baltimore’s now-shuttered Archbishop Keough High School in the late 1960s and early ‘70s. Her story was featured in the Netflix documentary “The Keepers.”

She has been seeking justice for victims of childhood sexual abuse since the 1990s, and was interviewed by the Maryland Attorney General’s Office as part of their investigation into widespread abuse within Maryland’s Catholic Church.

When told of the state Supreme Court’s ruling Monday, she said her “life’s goal has been accomplished … children will be protected now.”

Schappelle agreed.

“This ruling isn’t just about my case or the countless others it affects. It sends a clear message: Maryland will not tolerate abuse, and it will stand with survivors in their pursuit of justice. I am profoundly grateful to the lawmakers, advocates, and fellow survivors who fought tirelessly to make this law a reality,” he wrote in his statement. “Let today mark a turning point — not only for those who have been silenced but for future generations who deserve a world where truth and accountability prevail.”

Hannah Gaskill and Jean Marbella contributed.

Contact Tricia Bishop at tbishop@baltsun.com.