SOUTH DAKOTA
The Daily Republic
By VERONICA ZARAGOVIA
Associated Press
A House committee on Monday rejected a bill that would have eliminated the time limit for victims of childhood sexual abuse to file civil lawsuits against perpetrators or institutions, despite emotional testimony from victims during a two hour hearing.
Several cried loudly by the elevator after members of the House Judiciary Committee voted to kill the bill 9-4.
A number were American Indian and said they were abused by Catholic clergy at churches or boarding schools.
“I went through a lot of suffering when I was 7-10 years old,” said Isadore Zephier, a member of the Sioux Tribe who asked committee members to picture what happened to him. “Imagine yourself sodomized or performing oral sex on a priest for three, four years constantly.”
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