Gary Astridge of Tonawanda had a long day of traveling, and admitted he was a bit emotional discussing the news: the Child Victims Act passed in the New York State Legislature on Monday.

Astridge, 62, first publically revealed last March his story of being abused over several years by a Catholic priest when he was a child in the 1960s.

"He fondled me, and I just remember freezing and then getting up and running, turning around and looking at him and there he was with another little boy next to him and he was doing the same thing to him," Astridge said.

He accused a now deceased clergy member who taught at the former Cardinal Dougherty High School in Buffalo's Black Rock neighborhood. Astridge decided to go public with his ordeal after the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo released its initial list of accused priests in March.

"Enough is enough. I've been living with this all my life," said Astridge in March. "Every time this subject comes to the forefront, emotions just resurface."

Those feelings came out again on Monday along with the passage of the Child Victims Act. 

"Today is something that I'd never, ever thought I'd see in my lifetime," he said by phone while traveling out of town.

Astridge was pleased to see the statute of limitations raised for victims to seek some measure of justice in criminal and civil courts. 

"It's just disgusting. Those people should be held accountable just like anyone who did the things that they did," Astridge said.

Former priest James Faluszczak was himself a victim of abuse in Pennsylvania. He's now an advocate for survivors in the Buffalo area, and calls this a day of celebration. 

"This gives victims now an opportunity to seek restitution and redress and more than anything discovery to have their materials brought out into the public because it's not happening through the Diocese," Faluszczak said in Albany Monday.

Astridge applied to be part of The Diocese of Buffalo Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program, which has offered money to childhood victims of sexual assault. However, Astridge was deemed ineligible for any money because the priest he says molested him was part of religious order outside of the Diocese.

The Child Victims Act opens up the possibility he could still have file a lawsuit. There's one-year look back window where people like him who are outside the statute of limitations can sue for damages. 

While he's unsure if he'll take legal action now, Astridge says no amount of money can remove the scars he's been left with from the abuse.

"Those things have affected my life and a lot of people's so that's never going to be rectified," he said.