A pair of recent statutes in NY State opened a brief window to allow victims of sexual assault for whom the statute of limitations had lapsed to get their day in court. The most visible example of a victim benefiting from this legislative change was E. Jean Carroll. 

Like E. Jean, Hilda Onley was a victim of sexual abuse decades ago – in her case, as a 15-year-old girl at the hands of her house father at the New York State Training School for Girls. She had waited 65 years to get her day in court. The NY Child Victims Act, passed in 2019, gave her the opportunity she’d been waiting for.

In Hilda O. vs. The State of New York, we follow 81-year-old Hilda between deposition and court judgment, tracing her fight for justice.