Danville man hopes testimony helps to change state law

By Carol Roehm
Commercial-News
July 3, 2016

http://www.commercial-news.com/news/local_news/danville-man-hopes-testimony-helps-to-change-state-law/article_c630de56-ef63-5736-9016-25c9da38aa5b.html

DANVILLE — A Danville man who says a teacher molested him 30 years ago hopes his experience will persuade state lawmakers to eliminate the statute of limitations for cases involving sexual abuse of children.

Doug Goff, 46, said he was a student at Danville High School at the time he was abused. Last fall he decided to report the details to officials only to be told it was too late to prosecute the alleged perpetrator.

After that, Goff turned his attention to changing the law that restricts the time in which child sexual abuse cases can be reported and legally pursued.

He testified May 25 before the House Judiciary-Criminal Committee in Springfield in support of House Bill 1128, which would remove all time limits on reporting and filing charges in felony sexual abuse cases if the victim was younger than 18 years old when the crime occurred.

“Mr. Goff contacted our office and offered his support,” said Annie Thompson, press secretary for Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office.

The measure has passed the Illinois House and is now before the Senate.

Goff also met with state Sen. Scott Bennett, D-Champaign, who introduced similar legislation — Senate Bill 3402 — in the Illinois Senate in response to laws that prevented the prosecution of former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert. Hastert was accused of sexually abusing teen boys more than 30 years ago while he was a high school wrestling coach in the 1960s and 1970s in Yorkville, Ill. He pleaded guilty to violating bank laws in connection with hush money he paid to one victim and was sentenced in April to 15 months in federal prison for bank fraud. Hastert, however, avoided legal consequences from the sexual abuse allegations because Illinois’ statute of limitations had run out.

“If people can’t be held accountable for their actions,” Goff said, “then I can help change the law and help victims in the future so they don’t have to go through what I’ve been through.

“In my heart,” he added, “I had to forgive him (the abuser) and move on.”

Present state law requires victims to report cases of criminal sexual abuse within 20 years after they’ve turned 18. The law was last changed in 2003, when the time limit for reporting sex crimes involving children was extended from 10 years to 20 years.

In 2013, then-Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation eliminating the statute of limitations for child sex crimes occurring before the victim turned 18 in limited situations. That law applies only to future cases where corroborating physical evidence exists or when a mandatory reporter such as a teacher fails to report the abuse.

The change in the law, however, does not apply retroactively, leaving some victims, including Goff, with no recourse.

Goff said he was sexually abused by a teacher in the 1980s at Danville High School.

“I was embarrassed,” he said. “I didn’t tell anyone. I put the whole thing out of my mind.”

After graduation, Goff lived in other parts of the country but returned to Danville last fall, which prompted him to recall the incident. When Goff approached Danville District 118 officials about the incident, he was told the statute of limitations had expired.

The Commercial-News filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the school district, but none of the material contained a reference to the incident. A public records request to the Danville Police Department was denied, and the decision upheld by the Illinois Attorney General’s Office.

Dianna Kirk, District 118’s human resources director, said there now is specific protocol in place when dealing with reports of inappropriate conduct by school district personnel.

“If something is brought to our attention, it goes straight to our legal counsel,” she said “Legal counsel then takes the information to the authorities.”

Ellyn Bullock, Goff’s attorney, said she’s represented many students who have been the victims of sexual abuse at schools.

She criticized what she called “passing a pedophile” — problem teachers and other personnel moving from school district to school district without knowledge of their abusive behavior record following them.

“Because of the serial nature of child sexual abuse, it is foreseeable that perpetrators who are rehired will hurt additional children,” Bullock said. “This is the heart of the issue for me as an attorney and for Mr. Goff as a now-adult survivor of the predations ...”

Bennett, whose Senate district includes much of Vermilion County, said his bill lifting the statute of limitations on sex abuse crimes will likely be merged with the House-passed bill before a final vote by the Illinois Legislature.

Last month, Bennett was appointed to lead a bipartisan subcommittee of the Senate’s Criminal Law Committee that will evaluate the statute of limitations for felony criminal sexual abuse and sex crimes against children.

The subcommittee plans to schedule hearings on the proposed legislation this summer, possibly in a couple of weeks, but hasn’t done so yet because legislators have been focused on the state budget, Bennett said.

Bennett, who was an attorney before being appointed senator to fill the vacancy created when Mike Frerichs was elected Illinois treasurer, said the subcommittee will take some time to study and assess the pending legislation to figure out whether the proposed changes to the law are fair.

“We’re going to make sure we’re doing it thoughtfully,” he said. “I used to prosecute cases in Champaign County before I was a senator.

“We want to do it in a way that protects everyone’s rights,” he said of changing the law. “We don’t want people to be railroaded 40 years from now after key people are dead.

“We do need to find ways to better protect our children,” Bennett added. “At times, victims of abuse need time to find courage to address these horrific crimes.

“Whether it’s Bill Cosby or Hastert, or someone not as high profile, victims don’t think people will believe them if they come forward,” he said. “But it was those high-profile stories getting attention in the media that has made the difference between getting a bill passed or letting it die.

“Our goal is to give them the option to confront their abuser when they are ready.”