In addition, the law provided a one-year window after its enactment that allows people to file a civil suit at any age regardless of when the alleged abuse took place.

Many attorneys are reluctant to take on such cases against individuals, since the likelihood of being able to recover damages is small. Jane Doe A.R. I was represented by attorneys Michael Della, of Long Island, and Kristen Gibbons Feden, who prosecuted Bill Cosby and is now with a firm in Philadelphia.

In the decision handed down late last week, Nassau County Judge Leonard D. Steinman said that the years of abuse had caused the woman to develop severe and lasting psychological disorders and to suffer emotional distress, anxiety and depression that continue to this day.

“Plaintiff has been unable to participate in a normal, healthy romantic relationship — she has never dated — and though plaintiff is a highly educated and intelligent woman, she cannot maintain continuous employment” and receives disability payments, the judge wrote.

“Copperman’s abuse has robbed plaintiff of a normal, healthy and happy life,” the judge wrote in his decision. “The psychological scars resulting from the abuse are permanent.”