CALIFORNIA
Fresno Bee
By LAURA OLSON — Associated Press
SACRAMENTO, CALIF. — The state Assembly on Wednesday narrowly approved legislation that would open a one-year window for some victims of childhood sexual abuse to sue religious organizations and other private or nonprofit groups that employed their abusers.
The bill from Sen. Jim Beall, D-San Jose, is similar to a 2002 measure passed amid the Catholic Church sex-abuse scandal. It would lift the statute of limitations for a group of alleged victims who were 26 and older and missed the previous window to file lawsuits because of time and age restrictions.
The Catholic Church and victims’ advocates have lobbied heavily on SB131, and lawmakers said there were unsuccessful efforts in recent days to work out disagreements over the legislation.
Beall’s measure cleared the Assembly, 42-14, and now returns to the Senate for a final vote.
Catholic Church leaders and representatives of other organizations opposing the bill, such as private schools and the State Alliance of YMCAs, say the legislation is unfair because it does not include the ability for accusers to sue public institutions.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.