Matt Smyth’s secret was revealed in his senior year of high school with a knock on the front door of his family’s Fallbrook, Calif., home.
Two plainclothes sheriff’s detectives were investigating reports that Smyth’s former assistant scoutmaster — the one who’d driven kids to Boy Scout meetings, chaperoned camp-outs and hosted fishing outings on his bucolic property — had molested several boys.
To the shock of his parents, Smyth shared that he’d been a victim, too. But the bombshell stayed close to home for decades. Smyth never heard from the investigators again, and he moved on — or tried to.
More than 40 years later, Smyth is finally ready for his day in court, and a public reckoning.
The 55-year-old, who still lives in Fallbrook, is among potentially thousands of Californians who are preparing to file sexual abuse lawsuits under a new state law that allows victims more time to report allegations of abuse and to take legal action.
Under existing law, victims of child sex abuse have until age 26 to file a lawsuit, or three years from the time of discovery that psychological injury was caused by sexual abuse suffered as a child.
The new law, which was sponsored by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) and takes effect Jan. 1, raises the statute of limitations to 40 years of age, or up to five years after discovery. The law also opens a three-year window that allows victims of any age to sue on previously expired claims.
The new law, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last week, is expected to result in an avalanche of litigation aimed at indelible institutions such as the Roman Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts of America, as well as local school districts, foster care agencies, hospitals and youth sports organizations.
“We’re trying to make our clients whole,” said Andrew Van Arsdale, a San Diego-based attorney representing hundreds of former Boy Scouts, including Smyth. “There’s no amount of money you could pay these guys to make them go through what they went through again. This is at least a good faith effort to do everything in our power to heal that wound, close that circle and get them the help they need.”
California joins New York and New Jersey, which passed similar laws this year, and other states such as Maine, Delaware and Utah, which have completely abolished civil statutes of limitations in these kinds of cases.
The cumulative effect is increasing the pressure on national organizations that are potentially facing a sustained onslaught of high-figure payouts, as well as prompting questions about how court systems can manage such a large volume of cases fairly and efficiently.