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  Abuse Victims Rally behind House Bill
Measure Would Allow Reporting of Crime up to 30 Years after Child Becomes Adult

By Jessica Fender
The Advocate [Louisiana]
May 12, 2005

Sexually abused children would have more time to bring charges against their abusers under a bill that a House committee advanced Wednesday after emotional testimony from victims, dozens of whom attended the hearing.

House Bill 17 would extend the statute of limitations from 10 to 30 years after a child's 18th birthday. Supporters said the step would give victims more time to come to terms with coming forward.

Abuse victim John Connelly told the committee that he suffered at the hands of a relative for four years spanning from when he was 12 to when he got physically strong enough to fend off the attacker.

"I kept it to myself for years because I was embarrassed, ashamed, and I wanted to forget about it," Connelly said. "I thought I would take it to my grave."

It's too late for Connelly to bring charges, and even if HB17 passes, it won't be retroactive. The bill next heads to the House floor.

Many states have either extended the time to report sex crimes against children beyond what Louisiana now allows or have no statute of limitations at all, though each has its own sets of caveats, according to Stacie LeBlanc, director of Legal Advocacy for Children's Hospital in New Orleans.

She said that many have rules requiring plaintiffs in older cases to produce evidence other than their own testimony.

Dr. Scott Benton of Children's Hospital said there is often pressure from within the family -- and most cases involve someone the child knows -- to keep quiet about abuse. Boys are especially reluctant to report mistreatment for fear of being labeled a homosexual, he said.

"Most victims delay in reporting, some as much as 30 and 40 years," Benton said. "It's often someone they know, love and respect. … And there's social rejection of being a victim of a sex crime."

The sole opponent to speak out against the bill, Lennie Perez, a Baton Rouge lawyer who testified for the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He argued that waiting too long to levy charges could deteriorate or distort evidence that the accused could use as defense.

He said awareness about sexual abuse is high thanks to media reports, and victims have more places to turn.

"It's out of the closet." Perez told the committee. "I can understand that a person in the 1960s or 1970s … saw that they had no help. That situation does not exist today."

Benton sees about 1,000 children a year at the Audrey Hepburn Children at Risk Evaluation Center and disagreed in an interview after the meeting.

He said nationally about one in four adult women reported some sort of sexual abuse during their childhoods. For men, the report rate was about one in 10, he said.

Benton added that "Louisiana has one of the highest rates of child sexual abuse in the nation."

Members of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests filled the committee room Wednesday wearing around their necks photos of themselves as children at the time of the abuse.

Michael Kuczynski of New Orleans wore a photo of himself as well.

He told the committee that it's taken years of therapy to deal with being raped and beaten at the hands of a high-school gym teacher, and he still suffers "violent" panic attacks.

"This is the human face of child sexual abuse," Kuczynski told the committee. "You hear the figures all the time. … All of these victims are not numbers, not statistics."