Assembly passes Child Victims Act again, setting up another tough fight in the Senate

By Glenn Blain
New York Daily News
May 01, 2018

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/assembly-approves-child-victims-act-straight-year-article-1.3966474

Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan (R-Smithtown) and fellow Republicans have shot down previous versions of the Child Victims Act. Photo by Hans Pennink

(L-R) Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal and state Sen. Brad Hoylman have fought for passage of the Child Victims Act. Photo by Anthony DelMundo

ALBANY — The state Assembly approved a bill Tuesday to make it easier for child sex abuse survivors to seek justice as adults — and put pressure on the Senate to do the same.

Voting 124-9, the Assembly approved the Child Victims Act, marking the second consecutive year the Democrat-controlled chamber approved the bill. The measure, however, remains stalled in the GOP-controlled Senate.

“The CVA will ensure that adults who were sexually abused as children have a path to justice, and it will help make every New Yorker safer,” said Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal (D-Manhattan), who sponsored the bill.

Senate Republicans have said they will discuss the bill, but have not committed to passing it. A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan (R-Suffolk County) did not respond to a request for comment.

“Senate Republicans continue to oppose the Child Victims Act at their own peril,” State Sen. Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan), a sponsor of the Senate version of the bill. “This will be an election issue.”

The bill would let prosecutors bring criminal cases any time up to a victim's 23rd birthday, and allow civil lawsuits against abusers any time up to a victim's 50th birthday.

Public institutions would be treated the same as private institutions under the law. Currently, child victims have 90 days from the time of an incident to file notices of claim against school districts and other local or state government entities.

The bill also contains a look-back provision — vehemently opposed by the Catholic Church, the Orthodox Jewish community, the Boy Scouts of America and the insurance industry — that allows victims to reopen old cases.

“The Catholic Conference supports meaningful reform of the statute of limitations in cases of child sexual abuse that applies equally to all and is aimed at preventing abuse and on punishing offenders,” said Catholic Conference spokesman Dennis Poust. “(The Assembly’s bill) focuses on new civil lawsuits for cases that are decades old, provides cover for public schools and municipalities to avoid such lawsuits, and does little to help prosecutors bring criminal charges against pedophiles.”