NEW YORK
Legislative Gazette
By JACKIE DAVIS, Gazette Staff Writer
More than 60 Assembly members are asking their leader for a chance to vote on the Child Victims Act as the session winds to a close.
Backed by 62 Assembly members, the Child Victims Act aims to eliminate criminal and civil statutes of limitation for those who have been sexually abused. A one-year “window” would also allow older victims who wish to revive their cases in civil courts where a previous statute of limitation has expired.
“There is no limit on what is a life-time of suffering and anguish for so many victims of child sexual abuse,” said Assemblywoman Margaret Markey, the bill’s sponsor and long-time champion. “That is why there should be no limit on the ability of victims and society to prosecute abusers and no limit on holding accountable those institutions and organizations that have deliberately protected and hidden pedophiles.”
According to a recent FBI study, one in five children are abused before the age of 18. Of these crimes, only 10 percent of the abuses are reported. Many times the child knows and trusts the predator. Current New York law states that a victim of childhood sexual abuse has within five years after their eighteenth birthday to report the crime. If adopted as law, the Child Victims Act would allow victims to report the abuse and seek legal action whenever they are ready.
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