Child sexual abuse victims to have more time to bring civil suit under bill signed Wednesday

By Barbara Hoberock
Tulsa World
May 10, 2017

http://www.tulsaworld.com/homepagelatest/child-sexual-abuse-victims-to-have-more-time-to-bring/article_ad240d71-7a00-5d62-95a8-bced0f26e80b.html

Bush

OKLAHOMA CITY — Gov. Mary Fallin on Wednesday signed a measure giving victims of sexual abuse until age 45 to bring a civil suit against the perpetrator.

The current age is 20, said Rep. Carol Bush, R-Tulsa, the House author of House Bill 1470.

Bush said it often takes a long time for survivors of child abuse to heal enough to talk about what happened to them.

“It gives some sort of closure on a bad chapter of their lives so they can move on,” Bush said.

Sen. David Holt, R-Oklahoma City, is the Senate author. He said research shows that child sexual abuse victims normally do not want to talk about the crime until they are in their 40s.

The bill “better provides for justice to be done.”

The Legislature passed and Fallin signed a similar law, House Bill 1468, for criminal cases, Holt said.

Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said the extended time to report is important.

"We have learned many things over the course of time regarding child sexual abuse. One thing is that disclosure is a process which may take many years to accomplish due to the violation of trust that these children endured," he said.

"I supported the elimination of a statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse in criminal cases because society has an interest in removing predators in its midst. In the majority of instances, the delayed reporting of abuse will not result in charges being filed because there would be a lack of credible evidence to back up the victim's story. However, if significant credible corroborating evidence could be developed, then why not at least give law enforcement a chance to investigate the allegations."