New California law opens temporary window for reporting sexual assault claims

A law allowing adult victims of sexual assault to revive legal claims, AB 250, took effect in California on Jan. 1. 

In October 2025, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 250, creating a two-year window to report sexual assault claims that are past the statute of limitations. The law applies to those who were sexually assaulted after age 18, offering an opportunity for them to sue private entities that engaged in a cover-up of previous allegations against the perpetrator. 

California’s statute of limitations for sexual assault against adults is 10 years after the incident or three years after resulting injury was discovered. AB 250 opens a temporary window until Dec. 31, 2027 for claims to be revived that otherwise would have been time-barred before Jan. 1, 2026. 

“It’s a tight window for people to decide that they want to rip up their whole life to try to get justice of some kind, at least civil justice,” said clinical professor Alyssa Burgart, who also teaches a class in the law school on campus sexual assault. 

Under the new law, an adult survivor’s claim is revived if they allege they were sexually assaulted, a private entity is legally responsible for the damages and the entity tried to cover for the perpetrator in the past. AB 250 excludes public sector defendants. 

The law defines a cover-up as “a concerted effort to hide evidence relating to a sexual assault that incentivizes individuals to remain silent or prevents information relating to a sexual assault from becoming public or being disclosed to the plaintiff.” This includes non-disclosure agreements. 

“Presumably, there will be a temporary increase in cases that are older than the 10-year statute of limitations,” Burgart said. “There will be a big push to try to get people who do have claims to use this opportunity before it expires.”

In 2021, Newsom signed a similar bill, AB 3092, reviving claims of sexual assault by a UCLA physician. This law gave former patients a year to file charges against the physician, James Heaps, even if their claims were outside the statute of limitations.

According to the The Daily Bruin, UCLA officials knew of sexual assault accusations against Heaps but “did not immediately take action.” 

“A number of universities and hospital systems allowed perpetrators to continue to practice despite being aware of serious accusations of sexual assault,” Burgart said.

She likened AB 250 to New York’s Adult Survivors Act (ASA) from 2022, which also opened a one-year window for expired claims. 

“That opportunity in New York was critical for a number of survivors to bring civil suits against perpetrators, even though their cases were past the statute of limitations,” Burgart said. 

ASA allowed journalist E. Jean Carroll to bring a civil lawsuit against President Donald Trump for an allegation of rape. Trump was found liable for sexual abuse and defamation, and the court awarded Carroll $5 million in damages.  

Another look-back window in 2023 allowed survivors to sue former gynecologist Robert Hadden for sexual assault that Columbia University allowed to continue for decades. 

“This bill makes sure survivors aren’t silenced by cover-ups or arbitrary deadlines,” said California Assembly Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, who authored AB 250, in a press release on her website. “If someone was assaulted or harassed by their employer or the employer hid the abuse, they deserve a path to justice,” Aguiar-Curry said.

The SHARE Title IX and Title VI Office offers support and resources to the Stanford community related to sexual violence. Students can also learn about their rights with free consultations from Associated Students of Stanford University’s (ASSU) Legal Counseling Office.

“Stanford is unwavering in its commitment and ongoing efforts to prevent sexual harassment and sexual violence in our community, and to comply with the law (including AB 250, when applicable),” University spokesperson Angie Davis said in an email to The Daily. “Stanford works diligently to prevent this type of misconduct, and in the unfortunate instances when it does occur, Stanford takes its responsibility to redress the actions with the utmost seriousness.” 

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