Abuse Survivors Press for Statute Bill

By Chaim Levin
The New York Jewish Week
July 25, 2017

http://jewishweek.timesofisrael.com/abuse-survivors-press-for-statute-bill-2/

In a bid to turn up the pressure on Agudath Israel of America over its policies towards sexual abuse victims, activists and abuse survivors protested Sunday in front of the Novominsker shul in Borough Park, the second such protest this summer.

About 30 protesters — including at least 10 of whom said they were abused as children — spent nearly three hours demonstrating their frustration with Rabbi Yaakov Perlow, one of the leaders of Agudah. The charedi umbrella group is one of a few organizations in the Jewish community that has strongly objected to the Child Victims Act, a bill that would increase the statute of limitations for sex crimes committed against minors in New York State. Other groups opposed to the bill include the New York State Catholic Conference and the Boy Scouts of America; they argue that increasing the statute of limitations would expose them to potentially crippling legal bills.

Currently, a victim of childhood sexual abuse can bring charges or a lawsuit until the age of 23. The bill would extend that period until a survivor’s 28th birthday for felony criminal charges and until age 50 for civil cases. It also includes a one-year window to revive old cases.

Upper West Side Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal introduced the bill in the Assembly, where it passed. Midtown state Sen. Brad Hoylman sponsored it in the Senate where it was never voted on, marking the 11th year in a row that the bill has stalled.