NEW YORK
Forward
Josh Nathan-Kazis
February 9, 2017
There’s a bombshell deep in this week’s New York Jewish Week story about a conference on sex abuse in the Jewish community: The powerful Orthodox umbrella group Agudath Israel of America is backing off its opposition to extending the statute of limitations for bringing claims against abusers.
For nearly a decade, advocates for sex abuse victims have fought to have New York State extend its statute of limitations for bringing civil and criminal charges against perpetrators. Today, child victims in New York have only until the age of 23 to bring civil or criminal claims, one of the strictest limits in the country.
Efforts at reform have been repeatedly stymied by the New York State Senate, due in large part to opposition by religious groups, including Agudath Israel. Today, Governor Andrew Cuomo is pushing a new reform bill that would extend the statute of limitations for civil claims 50 years, end any time limits on criminal charges, and would open a one-year window in which suits could be brought by otherwise ineligible victims.
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