Catholics, Aclu Push Back As Michigan Bills to Protect Children from Sex Assault Advance

By Kathleen Gray
Detroit Free Press
February 27, 2018

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2018/02/27/bills-aimed-protecting-children-sexual-assault-against-children-pass-amid-concerns-retroactive-provi/379622002/

A Senate panel unanimously passed a package of 10 bills Tuesday geared toward protecting children from sexual assault, but the vote belied some concerns about the bills from both the Michigan Catholic Conference and the American Civil Liberties Union.

Included in the bills is an extension of the statute of limitations for both civil and criminal cases of sexual assault against children to 30 years beyond a person’s 18th birthday. And the sticking point for the two groups is that the bill makes that extension retroactive for civil cases back to 1993.

“There are constitutional implications on the retroactivity on the statute of limitations,” said Kimberly Buddin, an attorney with the ACLU of Michigan. “This makes illegal an act which was legal when it was committed. ... And the Supreme Court has held that increasing statute of limitations retroactively is a violation.”

While the Michigan Catholic Conference supported the bulk of the bills, David Maluchnik, spokesman for the conference, said it still has concerns about the retroactivity.

Larry Dubin, of UDM law school. (Photo: Larry Dubin, None)

“We don’t think that does anything to protect children today or going forward,” he said. “There are concerns that it could create new classes of victims. But the bills were just dropped this morning. We need to take a closer look and until we know the impact of the totality of the bills, then we’ll share our concerns with elected officials.”

The Catholic Church has struggled with its own sexual abuse scandals across the country and in Michigan with priests accused of and some convicted of molesting young boys and girls.

Larry Dubin, a law professor at University of Detroit Mercy, said he was also concerned about the increased penalties for child pornography charges and asked the senators to include an exception for people with developmental disabilities such as autism. He told lawmakers that his adult son is autistic, has problems making social connections and instead retreats to his computer. His son was arrested and charged with possessing child pornography.

“He relies on computer skills to learn about the world without having to interact with people,” Dubin said. “They worked out a plea agreement where he pleaded guilty and had to register as a sex offender even though he’s never been involved sexually with anyone.”

Dubin said he’s been contacted by 80 families with similar situations who have become victims of a very harsh criminal justice system.

“They’re not criminals. They don’t have criminal intent,” he said. “What he did was related to autism and he would never hurt anyone.”

The Senate panel was unmoved by the argument and passed the increased child pornography penalties.

The current package of bills was written after the sexual abuse scandal surrounding former Michigan State University sports doctor Larry Nassar came to light and more than 250 girls and young women came forward to say they were molested by Nassar during what was supposed to be medical treatment.

The package of bills would:

Extend the statute of limitations for civil and criminal sexual abuse claims to 30 years after a person's 18th birthday;

Increase the penalties for possessing child pornography to five years in prison;

Expand the number of people who are mandated to report complaints of sexual abuse to include coaches and athletic trainers and increase the penalties to $1,000 and two years in prison for failing to report cases.

Clarify the law to ensure that governmental entities, including universities and colleges, do not have immunity from civil or criminal cases of sexual assault.

Senators enthusiastically supported the bills after hearing from some of Nassar’s victims and quick passage is expected in both the full Senate and the House of Representatives.

“I’m a Spartan and I can’t believe that a highly trained coach wouldn’t report this,” said Sen. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge. “They know what they need to and if they can’t, they belong sitting in a cell next to Larry Nassar.”

Nassar was found guilty of sexual assault in both Ingham and Eaton counties and was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison. He also was found guilty of federal charges of possessing child pornography and has begun to serve a 60-year sentence on those charges in a federal prison in Tuscon, Ariz.

Contact Kathleen Gray: 313-223-4430, kgray99@freepress.com