OKLAHOMA
News 9
BY JESSI MITCHELL, NEWS 9
OKLAHOMA CITY – Gov. Mary Fallin signed a bill into law last week, giving child sex abuse victims longer to come forward, but critics say an amendment to the bill may actually be detrimental to some of the victims.
HB1470 was part of the Hidden Predator Act, meant to increase protections to child sex abuse victims. A paragraph was added, however, that protects the employer of the abuser, and some attorneys fear that clause is unconstitutional.
In March, Rep. Kevin McDugle (R-Tulsa) opened up for the first time about being molested by his youth minister. McDugle shared how hard it was to talk about the incident for decades and urged his colleagues to allow victims up to the age of 45 to come forward.
“That one night, for me, took me 35 years to get to a point that I could actually openly talk about it,” McDugle said. “I’m a Marine Corps veteran, a drill instructor, so it’s not a story that I wanted to tell.”
When the act passed through the legislature the bill’s author Rep. Carol Bush (R-Tulsa) commended voters in support of the bill in a letter, stating, “The Legislature has done right by the victims of these crimes, and I’m humbled to have played a part in extending the statute of limitations.”
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