New Jersey governor didn’t let his Catholic faith prevent doing right by sex-abuse victims

DES MOINES (IA)
Des Moines Register

June 13, 2019

By Rekha Basu

I recently got to meet and talk to the New Jersey governor, who last month signed a law that this column has repeatedly advocated for in Iowa. It greatly increases the statute of limitations for victims to file suit over sex offenses committed when they were children.

Currently in Iowa, lawsuits must be brought within four years from the time someone discovers they were sexually abused and harmed by it. New Jersey victims will, as of December, have seven years from when they first realized the harm they suffered from such abuses – up to age 55. They are currently limited to age 20 and two years from that recognition.

In Iowa, where civil claims must be brought within four years of discovering the abuse and injury, state Sen. Janet Petersen (D-Des Moines) has repeatedly attempted to raise the time frame to 25 years after a victim turns 18. She says research shows the average child victim comes forward only at 52. She has been urged on by numerous Iowa victims of child sexual abuse, but has met with intransigence from the Legislature’s Republican majority.

The executive director of the Iowa Catholic Conference, Tom Chapman, has lobbied against the civil limitations bill, emailing a Register reporter that “The passage of time makes it difficult for any accused person or institution to defend themselves.”

The Iowa Catholic Conference also registered in opposition to a change in state law on sex abuse by a counselor, therapist or school employee. It currently requires claims to be filed within five years of ending therapy or leaving school, but Petersen had tried to get any limit removed if the victim was under 18.

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