Eliminate Statute of Limitations for Serious Sex Crimes

By Lindsay Cohen
KOMO
March 8, 2017

http://komonews.com/news/local/wa-lawmaker-eliminate-statute-of-limitations-for-serious-sex-crimes

[with video]

For Dan Griffey, a public battle has a very personal story behind it.

Griffey, a state representative from Mason County, is sponsoring House Bill 1155, which would eliminate the statute of limitations for certain felony sex offenses, such as child rape and molestation.

"I don't think that a monster should have a free moment from fear of prosecution," Griffey said. "They should fear prosecution their entire life."

Griffey's fight is deeply personal. His wife, Dinah, survived years of sexual abuse at the hands of a relative. Part of the abuse happened when she moved to South Seattle.

"[The neighborhood] was nowhere near as scary as the man living in my home, I can tell you that much," she said.

The abuse started at age 8 in the shower.

"He started coming in and just washing me off ,and it just wasn't right. I knew something wasn't right, but I didn't want to say anything," she recalled.

Her mother later found holes drilled into the bathroom ceiling to provide a view of whoever was showering.

"He took any opportunity he got. A lot of it was small stuff -- just brushing up against me," Dinah Griffey said. "When I was about 10, he started giving me alcohol. I had some one night, and I woke up later, and he was on me."

It took years for her to have the courage to talk about the abuse. When she finally approached investigators, they told her the statute of limitations was running out.

She had just five days.

"[I felt] hopeless -- and not for myself because I was safe. I was finally safe, but I felt hopeless for all those people I knew he was after," she said.

Her husband's bill would allow prosecutors to bring charges anytime someone committed certain felony sex crimes -- including sexual exploitation of a minor and voyeurism.

Griffey tried to pass a similar bill two years ago, but was stymied by a short legislative session, he said Wednesday. This time around, the bill sailed through the House by a vote of 98-8. It now moves on to the Senate.

"There are some fears from prosecutors that we might be giving some folks false hope," Griffey said. "I don't believe we're giving them false hope."

"Tell someone early, but if not -- if we find some DNA evidence -- we're going to go after that person," he continued, "and not let the monsters have a moment's free peace."

Dinah Griffey said she recently got a call from a woman in her 80s thanking her husband for introducing the bill. The woman was abused as a child and hadn't told a soul until now.

"I thought, you know what? I can be there for someone else. Nobody can stop me. Nobody can stop me from helping other people," Dinah Griffey said. "I don't care what laws are in the way. We can always find a way to love one another and be there for each other."