TOPEKA (KS)
Topeka Capital-Journal [Topeka KS]
March 30, 2023
By Andrew Bahl
When Sen. Cindy Holscher was 5 years old, she did what most young children would do on their family farm: play with animals, spend time with family and enjoy a few blissful months off from school.
But one day, things turned much darker.
A farmhand entered a barn while Holscher was playing with kittens and their conversation began innocently. Quickly, however, the man suggested playing a game “like Simon says” that involved showing private parts.
“Of course, my parents had warned me of stranger danger,” Holscher said. “This wasn’t a stranger. This was someone I knew.”
The man lured her in, Holscher said, saying he played the game with one of her friends. At the decisive moment, however, a screen door slammed, causing the man to flee and saving Holscher from joining the estimated 1 in 10 children who are sexually abused before their 18th birthday.
“If it has taken me this long, over 47 years, to speak about the abuse that almost happened, can you please understand why it takes years, often decades, for victims of sexual abuse to come forward?” Holscher asked.
The story, which Holscher hadn’t previously told publicly, capped an emotional afternoon of debate, as lawmakers took a long-awaited move to end the state’s criminal statute of limitations on child sex crimes and increasing the window for survivors to sue their attackers in a civil case.
The move comes after weeks of advocacy efforts, with abuse survivors coming to the Statehouse daily to petition legislators for action.
Last week, a compromise was reached and the Kansas Senate approved it on a unanimous vote Wednesday.
“I have never been more proud to be a part of this Senate,” said Sen. Usha Reddi, D-Manhattan, herself an abuse survivor.
Bill extends civil lawsuit window, abolishes criminal statute of limitations
Reddi was abused by her father, a prominent physician in the community, for six years as a teenager.
Initially, she said, she hesitated about coming forward because she feared her mother could be deported back to India or she wouldn’t be believed by law enforcement.
Later in life, Reddi obtained a videotaped confession and provided it to police in Virginia, leading to an arrest and, eventually, a conviction.
That move alienated her from her mother and family in India — a price Reddi said she was finally ready to pay as an adult. Research shows this experience is common. The average length of time before victims are comfortable stepping forward is 21 years.
For Reddi, the bill’s impacts were clear.
“What you are doing with this is removing the predators off the street,” she said.
The legislation would give child sex abuse survivors an unlimited window to pursue criminal charges against their abusers going forward. They would have until the age of 31 to file a civil case, an increase of the current cap of 21 years of age.
And if there is a criminal conviction, there would be a three-year window for a survivor to file a civil case.
The language is an agreement between survivors’ groups and legislators of both parties and was blessed by both Senate President Ty Masterson, R-Andover, and Sen. Kellie Warren, R-Leawood and chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Warren also emphasized the importance of language that would make it easier to sue governmental agencies who employ or shield abusers and increase the amount in damages they can be forced to pay out.
“Why should they deserve protection against some of the worst things that can be done to another person?” Warren asked.
Vote marks historic moment for Kansas Senate
The bill is the first of its kind to be considered in the Legislature, despite years of advocacy efforts.
Survivors hoped their efforts would be boosted by the release of a Kansas Bureau of Investigation report into child sex abuse by Catholic clergy, though they emphasize that abuse occurs in a wide range of venues in society.
The bill has earned the backing of the Kansas Catholic Conference, with executive director Chuck Weber saying in a statement last week that it gives survivors “more tools in seeking justice for the abuse that has been inflicted upon them.”
Holscher recounted the stories of nearly a dozen abuse victims on the Senate floor, with a handful of survivors present in the Senate gallery during floor debate.
“This abuse robs children of their innocence and prevents them from growing into the people they were meant to be,” she said. “If you’re lucky, you get support from family and friends and possibly therapy to help you cope. But for many survivors every day is a hellish struggle. For many, it is unbearable.”