Advocates, survivors seek immediate passage of Child Victims Act

By Brendan J. Lyons
Times Union
January 14, 2019

https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Advocates-survivors-seek-immediate-passage-of-13533083.php

Stephen. H. Erickson, the son of sexual abuse victim Stephen J. Erickson is joined by his mother, Margaret Sorokey, center, and Gary Greenberg, founder of Fighting for Children PAC, left, during a press conference to bring attention to the Child Victims Act on Monday, Jan. 14, 2019, at the Legislative Office Building in Albany, N.Y. The Child Victims Act expected to pass this month after being blocked by Senate GOP for years. Photo by Will Waldron

Jack Cesare, a Florida resident who was allegedly sexually abused by a Catholic school janitor in Albany as a boy, speaks during a press conference to bring attention to the Child Victims Act on Monday, Jan. 14, 2019, at the Legislative Office Building in Albany, N.Y. The Child Victims Act expected to pass this month after being blocked by Senate GOP for years. Photo by Will Waldron

Gary Greenberg, a New York businessman and founder of Fighting for Children PAC, center, speaks during a press conference to bring attention to the Child Victims Act on Monday, Jan. 14, 2019, at the Legislative Office Building in Albany, N.Y. Greenberg has waged a years-long effort advocating New York lawmakers to pass the Child Victims Act. He said he was raped as a 7-year-old boy by a hospital worker. The Child Victims Act expected to pass this month after being blocked by Senate GOP for years. Photo by Will Waldron

Gary Greenberg, a New York businessman and founder of Fighting for Children PAC, speaks during a press conference to bring attention to the Child Victims Act on Monday, Jan. 14, 2019, at the Legislative Office Building in Albany, N.Y. Greenberg has waged a years-long effort advocating New York lawmakers to pass the Child Victims Act. He said he was raped as a 7-year-old boy by a hospital worker. The Child Victims Act expected to pass this month after being blocked by Senate GOP for years. Photo by Will Waldron

Connie Altamirano, who said she was raped by her grandmotherÕs second husband as a toddler, broke down in tears during a press conference to bring attention to the Child Victims Act on Monday, Jan. 14, 2019, at the Legislative Office Building in Albany, N.Y. The Child Victims Act expected to pass this month after being blocked by Senate GOP for years. Photo by Will Waldron

Advocates seeking passage of the Child Victims Act are calling on state legislators and the governor to swiftly pass the legislation, which for years was blocked by Senate Republicans who lost control of the chamber in November's elections.

With Democrats now in control of both legislative houses, supporters of the CVA held an emotionally charged press conference on Monday at the Capitol, recounting harrowing stories of the abuse they suffered as children and urging lawmakers not to let the issue get caught up in the budget process.

"Here we are in a new Senate, in a new day, where we are speaking loudly and clearly," said Sen. James Skoufis, a freshman Democrat who won the seat formerly held by Republican Bill Larkin. "I'm committed with my colleagues here in making this a top priority — not in March when we're negotiating a budget, but now."

Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently indicated he would again include the Child Victims Act in his executive budget this year. But with Senate Democrats supportive of the measure, the advocates said there is no reason to wait. A spokesman for Cuomo on Monday agreed with that position, saying the governor would include it in the budget as a backstop but is ready to sign the bill if it passes the Legislature.

The proposed legislation would create a one-year period for alleged victims of sexual assault to file a lawsuit against their abusers or any organization that may have enabled the abuse. It would also extend the five-year statute of limitations for prosecution of felony sexual abuse crimes that currently begins when the victim turns 18. The statute of limitations for victims to file civil cases would be extended to age 50, rather than the current age cutoff of 28.

Gary Greenberg, a businessman and staunch advocate of the bill who said he was raped as a 7-year-old boy by a hospital worker, estimated that he has spent $375,000 of his own money lobbying for passage of the bill and supporting candidates who pledged to back it.

Greenberg noted that the legislation would not help him because his accused abuser is serving a 20-year prison term for unrelated crimes, and the hospital where the incident took place has closed.

"I tried to be a voice to the voiceless," Greenberg said. "This was not easy — to go around the state and hold rallies and tell people about the worst moments of your life. ... It has an impact on families; it isn't just the victim."

Margaret Sorokey, whose ex-husband, Stephen J. Erickson, died Dec. 21 following a battle with cancer, attended the event and recounted a difficult marriage that she blamed on the childhood rapes Erickson suffered at the hands of a former janitor for a Catholic school in Albany. He had kept it hidden from her until last year, three years after the couple divorced, she said.

"He suffered with this all his life without telling me," she said.

The couple's teenage son, Stephen H. Erickson, also spoke at the press conference and said he has struggled knowing that his father, while in middle school, could have been raped at such a young age.

"All my dad wanted was a normal life, but he was filled with trauma," Erickson said. "So he dealt with it the only way he knew how, which was holding it in."

Many religious and educational organizations that had long been criticized for covering up child sexual abuse cases decades ago had for years waged fierce opposition to the legislation, in part claiming that frivolous lawsuits could bankrupt them or overrun the court systems. The years that have elapsed since the alleged abuse took place could also make it difficult for those who are falsely accused to defend themselves, they said.

Greenberg, at Monday's news conference, noted that while child sexual abuse cases involving "a priest or a rabbi" often garner the most attention, most of the assaults are carried out by family members or someone close to a family.

Dennis Poust, spokesman for the state Catholic Conference, on Monday said the organization is in favor of passing the legislation but that it should not focus on a single institution such as the Catholic church.

"Our position is that it should pass; however, it should not focus on a single institution, but should help all survivors of childhood sexual abuse, whether their abuser was a government worker, public school teacher, counselor, health care profession, coach, foster parent, or member of the clergy," he said.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York, also has said a compensation program implemented by New York's dioceses should serve "as a model to help all victim-survivors." It has been used to pay more than $200 million to those who were barred from filing claims by the statute of limitations, Poust said.

In New York, anyone who wants to file a civil claim against a public agency, such as a school, has a limited window of time to submit the paperwork — sometimes as little as 90 days after an incident.