Sexual Assault Victim Pushes for New "Time's up" Bill

News 12 Connecticut
April 11, 2019

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/AbuseTrackerArchive/2019/04/#159676

A New Canaan man who is a victim of sex abuse is urging lawmakers to push a bill that would eliminate the statute of limitations for child sex crimes.

Mark Fuller, of New Canaan, says he was a 19-year-old student at Notre Dame University when a priest sexually abused him. Fuller's case was detailed in the massive Pennsylvania grand jury report in 2018.

He says when victims of sexual abuse come forward, they often hit road blocks.

"If it's been past the statute of limitations, it's no longer a crime. No harm, no foul. And so, what it does is, bring more depression. Not only was I abused then; I'm getting it again now," Fuller says.

Victims like Fuller would also get more time to sue their attacker under the Time's Up Act. It would give child sex abuse victims unlimited time to prosecute, and they can sue until they're 56 years old.

However, not everyone is supporting the bill. Connecticut's chief public defender says this "will make it impossible for (the) accused to receive due process and a fair trial."

The bill is now headed to the full state Senate.