"Look Back Law" Could Revive Thousands of Florida Child Sex Abuse Cases

By Danielle Waugh
WPEC CBS 12
December 13, 2019

https://cbs12.com/news/cbs12-news-i-team/look-back-law-could-revive-thousands-of-florida-child-sex-abuse-cases

(CBS12) — Thousands of survivors of childhood sexual abuse in Florida could soon have a window of time to file civil lawsuits against their abusers, even if their statute of limitations already expired.

Lauren Book, a state senator from Broward County, announced legislation this week that includes a one year look back window for child sex abuse claims.

"I think there is a strong will [to pass this legislation] because of the things we have seen in our state: Jeffrey Epstein, and several other cases," Sen. Book said.

Sixteen other states and Washington D.C. already have some form of a look back law, according to statute of limitations reform advocacy group CHILD USA.

The thinking behind these pieces of legislation is that it often takes child victims many years to report the abuse they suffered and, in many cases, the statute of limitation expires before they're ready to come forward.

New York is one of the most recent states to adopt a look back window through the Child Victims Act.

The new law allowed Epstein accuser Jennifer Araoz to sue the convicted predator's estate.

In an op-ed for the New York Times, Araoz wrote: "For years I felt crushed by the power imbalance between Epstein, with his enablers, and me. The Child Victims Act finally offers a counterweight...I hope more states pass similar laws so that more survivors who endured abuse, assault and rape as a child can know what wrestling back their power feels like."

Jack Scarola, a West Palm Beach-based attorney who represents multiple Epstein accusers in Florida, believes there are many more women like Araoz in South Florida.

"It would not surprise me if there were 50, 60, 70 [Epstein] victims in Florida who have not yet come forward," he said.

Scarola says he represents one Florida Epstein accuser who cannot file a lawsuit due to the statute of limitations expiring.

"It was a tough realization [for her]," he said. "There is little to gain, and much to lose by coming forward at this time."

If Florida lawmakers pass Book's look back window legislation, it could provide a path forward for Scarola's client and many other survivors of child sex abuse.

One of them is Ashley Foster.

"Everybody should be able to...get justice for what happened to them," she said.

Foster was abused by a family member when she was 13.

It took her years to gain the courage to speak to Boynton Beach police about the abuse.

She was crushed to learn the statute of limitations expired in her case just days before she reported it.

"That shocked me at first, and then I was just really upset," Foster said. "That's not right."

In 2010, Florida lawmakers passed a statute of limitation reform law for child sex abuse crimes.

But the law was not retroactive, so victims like Foster are stuck in legal limbo.

"We've been silenced for too long," Book said. "We feel very strongly about making sure we have that time so anyone can file a suit if they so choose."

If Book's bill becomes law, advocates from CHILD USA expect at least 1,000 civil claims to be filed in Florida.

In California, a look back window lead to 1,200 claims and in Delaware there were 1,100, CHILD USA, founder Marci Hamilton said.

These laws have faced strong opposition in other states, mainly from the Catholic Church.

According to a joint legal study, the church spent more than $10 million over the last eight years opposing statute of limitation reform laws in eight states.

In New York alone, the report found Catholic lobbying groups spent nearly $3 million fighting the Child Victims Act.

The CBS12 News I-Team reached out to the Catholic lobbying group in Florida, the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops, to ask if they would oppose Book's bill.

A spokesperson told us they are still reviewing the bill, and added in a statement: "In some states, state Catholic conferences have opposed 'window' bills; in others, they took no position."