MISSOURI
Ozarks First
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The state legislature is being asked to remove the time limits in which a person can be prosecuted for sex crimes against children. Two bills have been filed to address these restrictions.
A Senate committee is considering Sen. Scott Sifton’s (D-Affton) measure, which removes the statutue of limitations of child abuse prosecutions. A House bill sponsored by Cody Smith (R-Carthage) has not been assigned to a committee.
Jason Lamb with the Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys says the state must remove those barriers for people to report such crimes.
“There is no more difficult case to prosecute than a child abuse case. Yet, they are among the most important cases to prosecute,” says Lamb. “In no other type of case does the victim rely so much on the state, on the system as a whole, to speak for them.”
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