Two Adult Victims Act lawsuits will proceed in state Supreme Court.

State Supreme Court Justice Grace Hanlon ruled against the county’s motion to dismiss the cases in a joint ruling issued recently. Both Jimi Sobczak and Kaitlin Hawley say their abuse occurred at the hands of Jeffrey Swan, a longtime employee of the Sheriff’s Office who resigned in April 2014 after he was indicted on charges he had sexual contact with a female inmate. Swan later pleaded guilty to a charge of third-degree criminal sex act and was sentenced to 10 years probation.

The women filed their lawsuits under the Adult Victims Act, which was enacted in May 2022, allowed alleged victims of sexual abuse for which the statute of limitations has lapsed to file civil suits for a one-year period ending Nov. 24, 2023.

Attorney Meghan Hayes of Webster Szanyi in Buffalo argued on Chautauqua County’s behalf that there is no exception in the General Municipal Law waiving claim timelines for Adult Victims Act cases. When the state Legislature passed the Child Victims Act, it changed Section 50 of the General Municipal Law to waive the typical claims deadlines for Child Victims Act cases. There is no such change for the Adult Victims Act. The record on similar arguments was split in similar cases in Rockland and Wayne counties.

Hanlon ruled against the county’s motion to dismiss the cases in their entirety, saying the state Legislature’s intention was clear despite not specifically waiving notice of claim deadlines for cases that typically have to be filed before someone sues a government entity.

“I believe the notice of claim is not required for, one, a plain reading of the statute; two, from reading the supporting bill jacket, and also from the legislature’s previous legislation regarding children where they explicitly excluded it,” Hanlon said in her decision from the bench according to a transcript filed by the court. “They obviously, from their legislative intent, wanted these claims to be revived in a certain period of time. I think the defendant’s interpretation of the ASA is strained. So I am going to deny both …”

There was a brief discussion in court whether or not Hanlon would have to recuse herself since she had prosecuted one of the women in the case that sent her to the county jail in the first place. Hanlon brought up the issue in open court before saying she wasn’t going to recuse herself from the case.

Konstantin Yelisavetskiy, the attorney representing the woman, didn’t disagree with Hanlon’s decision.

“No, your honor, I don’t think there’s a conflict,” Yelisavetskiy said. “From what I can tell, this is a sexual abuse stemming from that incarceration. However, the fact that your honor has prosecuted her or is involved in her prosecution, we tend to credit the court when they say that the court doesn’t have a conflict.”