NEW YORK
The Daily Gazette
Mark Mahoney | June 17, 2017
New York state lawmakers have left a lot of important matters until the last minute before they end this year’s legislative session later this week.
If they do anything, they need to pass the Child Victims Act and give victims of child sex crimes more time to get the justice they deserve.
The Assembly earlier this month passed a bill (A5885/S6722,S6575) that would do just that.
Child sex abusers have long been protected in New York by a relentlessly early statute of limitations that often does not give a traumatized victim enough time as an adult to remember and report the abuse.
Under current law, there is a five-year statute of limitations for bringing criminal charges in certain sex-related felony crimes involving minors.
Right now, the clock on that five years starts when the victim turns 18. The new law would keep the same five-year statute of limitations, but would start the clock when the victim turns 23 years old. That means victims could be 28 years old and still have charges brought. The clock on the 2-year statute of limitations on certain misdemeanor sex crimes would also start at age 23, giving victims another five years —until they reach age 25 — to bring charges.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.