VERMONT/NEW YORK
WNYT
[with video]
By: Abigail Bleck
BENNINGTON and ALBANY–Mark Lyman lives and breathes the Statute of Limitations in New York. Both as an advocate for people who have been sexually abused and as a victim himself. Prosecutors in the Empire State have a five year window after a sexual abuse victim turns 18 or five years after it is reported–whichever comes first.
“A significant number of people go into their 30s, 40s and even 50s before they decide to come forward or even remember of the sexual abuse,” explains Mark Lyman of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, in Albany.
Vermont, however, accomplished what New York has not. Just this week in Montpelier, the House and Senate increased the statute of limitations for sexual abuse against a child from 24 years to 40.
“This is clearly having an effect on our ability to protect today’s children and really to do something about it,” says Christina Rainville, Bennington County’s Chief Deputy State’s Attorney and the prosecutor who helped legislators draft the bill.
Rainville believes the change was necessary because children are often too fearful to report abuse at the hands of an authority figure. They also don’t always realize–or remember–that it occurred, especially with young children. And for those who do, reliving the pain necessary for a successful prosecution isn’t always possible.
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