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	Repeal Statute of Limitations on Child Sex Abuse By Gerhard Schwab Pacific Daily News February 25, 2011 http://www.guampdn.com/article/20110225/OPINION02/102250316 As a social work professor and as a Catholic Christian, I strongly support legislative efforts to remove the statute of limitation for the prosecution of sexual child abuse. Social sciences have created strong evidence that victims of sex crimes who are under the age of the majority rarely are equipped to report their abuses to the appropriate public authorities within the given time periods of legal statutes of limitations. We also know from several social sciences that the emotional pain of being sexually abused will never simply "go away." Victims only can learn to live with and manage the painful memories related to the sex crimes during their childhood and youth. Throughout their entire lifespans, victims of sex crimes may re-experience the pains of their abuses whenever events in their environments break the locks of psychological defense mechanisms -- such as suppression into subconscious levels of awareness. Only with help from others and only through lifelong efforts can victims of sex abuse learn to emotionally "heal" by accepting and controlling the lasting memories of their abuses. It is certain that the repeal of the statute of limitation for sex crimes, and hence the opportunities for victims of sex crimes to report their past abuses to appropriate authorities, will significantly improve opportunities for victims of sex crimes to better and more successfully cope with their memories and to more freely live their lives in the future. From my Catholic Christian point of view, I contend that the human dignity of every victim of a sex crime and the value of social justice mandate that victims of sex crimes are given the opportunity to report sex abuses and seek help regardless of when the sexual abuse occurred. Over the past century, the Catholic Church has built an extensive body of Catholic social teachings that clearly places the human dignity of every person at the center of ethical considerations and moral judgments regarding current social issues. Although this body of church doctrine does not specifically address the legal issue of statutes of limitations pertaining to sex crimes, a careful and comprehensive reading of these papal documents leads one to conclude that the social teachings of the Catholic Church fully and strongly support the intent of Bill 33 to appeal the statute of limitations pertaining to sex crime involving children. For us Catholics, it is more important that victims of sex crimes are provided with legal opportunities and protections than for legal regulations -- such as statutes of limitations -- to maintain institutional conditions that allow sex abuses to remain unreported.
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