PENNSYLVANIA
Philadelphia Magazine
By Joel Mathis | April 7, 2015
A new bill in the Pennsylvania Senate would give childhood victims of sexual abuse until the age of 50 to file a civil lawsuit against their abuser.
Sen. Rob Teplitz, a Democrat who serves Perry and Dauphin counties, introduced the bill Monday, saying it addressed one of the few remaining issues left over from the state’s Task Force on Child Protection that made recommendations in the aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky scandal at Penn State. The current statute of limitations gives childhood victims of abuse until the age of 30 to file a civil claim; the statute of limitations for criminal charges in such cases is already age 50.
That rule is “arbitrary and archaic” Teplitz said in a sponsorship memorandum.
The Task Force on Child Protection, though, quite explicitly declined to recommend an extended statute of limitations. Its findings did otherwise lead to 23 new laws passed by the Pennsylvania Legislature.
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