NEW YORK
WNYC
Friday, May 18, 2012
By Fred Mogul
The recent focus on the problem of childhood sexual abuse in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community may help spur a Queens legislator’s attempt to make it easier to prosecute or sue alleged sex offenders. But her bill is getting push back from religious leaders who worry it could open a floodgate of lawsuits that would bankrupt yeshivas and other institutions.
Assemblywoman Margaret Markey wants to extend the statute of limitations on sexual abuse cases, which currently only allows victims to pursue perpetrators in criminal or civil court for five years after they turn 18 – in other words, until age 23.Markey has proposed doubling that to ten years – extending the statute of limitations to age 28.
“This legislation is to identify pedophiles and hold them accountable, and to identify those who have protected them,” Markey said, “And only by doing that can we protect children.”
Markey’s bill also allows a limited-time-only complete suspension of the statute of limitations, so that people of all ages would have one year to bring suit against alleged abusers, once the law goes into effect. After those initial 12 months, people would be limited to one decade from their 18th birthday to make criminal or civil complaints.
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