CALIFORNIA
Fresno Bee
By Christopher Cadelago — ccadelago@sacbee.com
A bill to extend the statute of limitations for some sex abuse victims narrowly passed the state Senate on Friday.
The vote was 21-8 in the 40-member house, the minimum required for passage. It now heads to Gov. Jerry Brown.
The bill, which was resurrected after failing last month amid fierce lobbying from the Catholic Church and others, would open a yearlong window for those excluded from a 2003 law that extended the time during which sexual abuse victims can file a civil lawsuit.
Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, punctuated the debate with moving testimony about his own struggles arising from the abuse he suffered from a member of his own family. Lara, who referred to himself as a “high-level survivor,” said he knows many of his legislative colleagues have been pressured by the church not to support the bill.
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