Deal Reached to Expand Statute of Limitations for Sexual Abuse Lawsuits
By Matt Friedman
New Jersey victims of sexual abuse may soon have more time to file lawsuits against their alleged abusers. State Sen. Joe Vitale and Assemblywoman Annette Quijano (D-Union) said Thursday that state lawmakers have reached a deal after an effort to remove the statute of limitations entirely on civil sexual abuse cases spent years in legislative limbo. “I want to thank all of the advocates, many of them victims and survivors themselves, who have worked tirelessly to see this bill heard in front of the Judiciary,” Vitale (D-Middlesex) said in a statement. “Steadfast in their fight, and with great resolve, they recognize all victims deserve the same corridor to justice. They have had an immense amount of patience with me and my staff as we have grasped the weight of this issue over the last decade, and I will forever be in awe of their courage and bravery.” The bill also has the support of Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, making its passage into law guaranteed if lawmakers can muster the voters to pass it in the Assembly and Senate. "Victims of sexual abuse, especially those victimized in childhood, deserve to find doors held open for them as they seek justice against their abusers,” Murphy said. Currently, sexual abuse victims who are 18 or older have two years from the point when they realize the abuse has damaged them to file a lawsuit against their abusers or the institutions that harbored them. Under Vitale’s compromise proposal, which he said will have a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 7 followed by a vote in the full Senate on March 13, the window for victims to file lawsuits would expand to seven years as long as they’re under the age of 55. The compromise deal was first reported by NJ Advance Media. New Jersey’s statute of limitations for criminal sexual abuse was removed long ago. Vitale has long worked to repeal it for civil cases as well, but was unable to wrangle enough votes for passage, while the Church enlisted the help of one of Trenton’s top lobbying firms. “There wasn’t enough support to eliminate it entirely. That wasn’t because my colleagues didn’t think victims shouldn’t have access to justice, just that some of them thought there should be a level of predictability,” Vitale said in a phone interview, adding that the bill would get a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 7, followed by a vote in the full Senate on March 11. Vitale said he believes he has the votes necessary to pass the bill. But the effort started gaining momentum after a scathing grand jury report in Pennsylvania named hundreds of alleged abusers in the clergy. The New Jersey Attorney General launched a similar effort in New Jersey. The Church on Wednesday named 188 priests that had been credibly accused of abuse, more than half of whom are dead. Vitale said he’s confident he has the 21 votes to pass the compromise bill in the Senate.
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