‘hidden Predator’ Bill for Child Sex-abuse Victims to Sue in Georgia Advances

By Beau Evans
Rome News Tribune
February 23, 2021

https://www.northwestgeorgianews.com/rome/news/politics/hidden-predator-bill-for-child-sex-abuse-victims-to-sue-in-georgia-advances/article_878a42d8-7615-11eb-bfc5-6b46807845b9.html

A Georgia House subcommittee approved legislation that would prohibit local governments from adopting building codes based on the source of energy to be used.

Legislation to extend the statute of limitations for Georgians who were sexually abused as children to sue their abusers years later as adults advanced in the state House of Representatives on Tuesday.

Sponsored by Georgia Rep. Heath Clark, R-Warner Robins, the bill would extend the deadline for victims to bring suits against their childhood abusers to age 52, a steep increase from age 23 under current state law.

The bill would let victims sue their alleged abusers up to a year after realizing that past abuse has led to present-day trauma. Research shows adults often tend to recognize the impacts of childhood sex abuse decades after it happened.

Controversially, the bill would also give victims a four-year window to sue public and private organizations like the Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts of America for harboring predators on staff who abused them as children.