MARYLAND
WTOP
By Kate Ryan | @KateRyanWTOP
April 5, 2017 12:33 am
WASHINGTON — A Maryland lawmaker didn’t want to share his story of being sexually abused as a child — ever. And he didn’t want to have to do it for a third year in a row.
But Del. C.T. Wilson said he was willing to go through it all again if it meant he could get a bill passed so victims of child sexual abuse get more time to bring civil suits against their abusers.
Since Wilson first brought the bill to Annapolis two years ago, he said he has heard from hundreds of abuse survivors.
“The thing that they all have in common is they feel that nobody’s listening and that nobody cares,” said the Democrat representing the state’s 28th District.
But on Tuesday, Wilson stood alongside Gov. Larry Hogan as the governor signed HB 642 into law. It extends the time that survivors of child sexual abuse have to file civil cases against their abusers. They now have until they are 38 years old. The prior statute of limitations ran out when a survivor turned 25.
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