Child Victims Act Advocate ‘trying to Keep the Issue Alive’ with 12 Primary Endorsements

By Kenneth Lovett
New York Daily News
September 9, 2016

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/child-victims-act-advocate-issue-alive-article-1.2786219

Gary Greenberg says he'll back more candidates before the November elections. (JEFFERSON SIEGEL/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)

The upstate investor who created a political action committee to advocate for child sex victims is backing candidates in 12 state primaries this coming Tuesday.

Gary Greenberg, who was sexually abused as a child, has used the Fighting for Children PAC he created earlier this year to help fund and support the different candidates who support the Child Victims Act that remains bottled up in the Legislature.

Greenberg has held three rallies across the state — including one in New York City Thursday for Marisol Alcantara and Carmen de LaRosa. Alcantara is involved in a four-way Democratic state Senate primary in upper Manhattan, while de LaRosa is challenging incumbent Democrat Assemblyman Guillermo Linares in the same area.

Greenberg was also supposed to hold a rally in Rochester Friday for Rachel Barnhart, who is challenging incumbent Democratic Assemblyman Harry Bronson. The Rochester rally, however, was cancelled after a local assemblyman committed suicide earlier in the day.

Greenberg held a previous rally in Cohoes, where he had been abused as a kid, and in Mount Kisco near Gov. Cuomo’s home.

“We’re trying to keep the issue alive and out in the public’s eye,” he said.

The primaries are important because in many cases the winners will decide who might take office in January when the Child Victims Act will become an issue again.

After the primaries, Greenberg said he plans to meet with Senate Democratic Campaign Committee Chairman Michael Gianaris, who hails from Queens. The Senate Dems as a conference support the Child Victims Act.

And Greenberg said he will back more candidates and hold more rallies in advance of the November elections.

“We’re not going anywhere,” he vowed.

Different versions of the Child Victims Act would either extend or eliminate the time limit that a child abuse victim can bring a case against their attacker. Under current law, a person has until their 23rd birthday.

The bills would also provide a one-year window to revive old cases and treat public and private institutions the same. Currently, someone abused at a school or other public entity must file a notice of intent to sue within 90 days of the incident occurring.

The bills did not come to the floor of either the Senate or Assembly for a vote before the Legislature concluded its annual session in June. Cuomo has promised to make the issue a priority next year.