NEW YORK
New York Daily News
BY
STEVE JIMENEZ
SPECIAL TO THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Wednesday, June 14, 2017
Three weeks ago, my father passed away peacefully after a year-long bout with pancreatic cancer; he lived to be 95. A crucial element of his peace was hearing from me at his bedside that Gov. Cuomo would soon introduce his version of the Child Victims Act to the state legislature.
My father had followed the bill’s progress for a decade and was relieved to know that the Governor was standing with survivors, advocates, and families — leading us in our final push for justice. And Gov. Cuomo is not alone in Albany: other leaders on the front line include Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, and Senators Brad Hoylman and Jeffrey Klein.
My father was a devout Catholic who had fought in two wars before he turned twenty — the Spanish Civil War and World War II; he had a finely-tuned moral compass and sense of justice. (Please listen up, Senate Majority Leader Flanagan!)
Like my mother, he felt terrible regret about failing to protect me from the predator who had sexually assaulted me for four years — my favorite teacher at Holy Name elementary school in Brooklyn. At the time, my father traveled frequently for work; my mother also worked full-time. It never dawned on them that this teacher they trusted — with whom I played hockey in the winter and went to Coney Island all summer long — was forcing me to engage in sexual acts.
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