Grassroots statute of limitations reform efforts — that are ready to protect children and provide an avenue to justice for victims of childhood sexual abuse — are pending in state legislatures across the United States right now. But unless you and other voters take a moment to make your legislators aware of your support for the Child Victim’s Act, the special interests will win again. Documents will stay hidden. And worse yet, child molesters will continue to fly under the radar of law enforcement and hurt more and more children.

Children are vulnerable in states across the country because sexual predators and institutions are holding on to very dangerous secrets. Justice is being denied to victims because too many courthouse doors remain locked by archaic and arbitrary state statutes of limitation.

The encouraging news is that at this moment, versions of the eponymous Child Victim’s Act of Delaware are pending in several states, including Pennsylvania, New York, Minnesota and Massachusetts. In fact, even California, the original civil window success story that inspired legislators and advocates in Delaware to create the Child Victim’s Act in 2007, is considering a new version of the law it enacted a decade ago. Notable too is that a version of civil window in Delaware’s Child Victim’s Act is in effect now in Hawaii and the law is already exposing decades of shocking abuse and institutional cover up.

Protecting children is our responsibility as adults. The good news is that we have a proven tool to uncover decades of dangerous secrets and long-hidden documentary evidence. This powerful tool is the civil window of the Child Victim’s Act.

I urge you to visit Child Victims Voice’s reform partner and join the grassroots movement to protect kids at the new and improved SOL REFORM Web site.

PLEASE TAKE THESE SIMPLE ACTION STEPS:
1. Go to http://www.sol-reform.com
2. Hit state button
3. Hit “contact representative” tab on left
4. Input your ZIP code, and your elected representatives will pop up — go to your state representative and send a short note asking for his or her support for the SOL bills pending in your state.

Matthias Conaty
Founder, Child Victims Voice
Web: http://www.childvictimsvoice.com
Twitter: @matthiasconaty
E-mail: childvictimsvoice@gmail.com

Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. Yeshiva University

Marci A. Hamilton
Paul R. Verkuil Chair in Public Law

PHONE: 215-353-8984
FAX: 215-493-1094
E-MAIL: hamilton.marci@gmail.com

MEDIA ADVISORY

October 18, 2012

Comment by Professor Marci A. Hamilton
on Behalf of Over 20 Child Advocacy Organizations

In Support of Boy Scout Survivors of Sex Abuse on Release of “Perversion Files”
Sadly, Many Will Be Unable to Obtain Justice

“The Boy Scouts of America is just the latest organization whose failure to report abuse has led to justice denied.”

The Oregon Supreme Court ordered the release of the Boy Scouts’ “perversion files” in Jack Does I-VI vs. Corp. of the Presiding Bishop of the Church of Latter Day Saints, Corp. of the President of the Church of Latter Day Saints and Successors & The Boy Scouts of America, et. al (Or. June 14, 2012), available athttp://media.oregonlive.com/portland_impact/other/S058601%5B1%5D.pdf . These files establish that the Boy Scouts knew about predators, but instead of protecting children by going to the authorities, they kept their identities secret and let them abuse more children.

Marci Hamilton, one of the nation’s leading experts on child sex abuse in institutional settings, states, “The Boy Scout files, like the Philadelphia Grand Jury Reports on abuse in the Philadelphia Archdiocese and the grand jury report on abuse by Jerry Sandusky, document how yet another institution has covered up child sex abuse. They kept records and knew more than anyone else in the country about the recidivism of abusers, yet, they did not go to the authorities. They enabled perpetrators and endangered one child after another. Internal records and investigations are never enough. Nor is sending the perpetrator away, with no notice to the authorities and the next community at risk.

Sadly, the statutes of limitations for the vast majority of the Boy Scout survivors in many states likely have expired, making it difficult to prosecute or sue the perpetrators, or to bring the organization to account for endangering children. The Boy Scout’s perversion files are another stark reminder to our elected representatives that laws in many states favor the organization, aid the predator, and put children at risk.

Right now, there are untold numbers of hidden child predators who are preying on one child after another, because the statutes of limitations have been configured to give them that opportunity. It is a fact that approximately 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 5 boys are sexually abused. Thus, there is an iceberg of victims across the country, including many Boy Scout victims, who have no access to justice.

Under the current statute of limitations in many states–which halt criminal prosecution and civil cases long before most victims are ready to come forward — those who caused the abuse or created the conditions for the abuse are being given a free ride.

The Boy Scouts of America is just the latest organization whose failure to report abuse led to justice denied. Now is the time for every state to look hard at its SOLs and to give child sex abuse victims a chance at justice.”

These organizations from across the country support SOL reform for child sex abuse victims:

Elliot Pasik, Esq., President
Jewish Board of Advocates for Children, Inc.
Long Beach, NY

John Salveson, President
Foundation to Abolish Child Sex Abuse (FACSA)
Bryn Mawr, PA

Pamela Pine, PhD, MPH, Founder
Stop the Silence
Glenn Dale, MD

Linda Walker, Founder
Child Protection Project
Los Angeles, CA

Sally Berenzweig, Med, MA
Cherie Benjoseph LCSW, Cofounders
KidSafe Foundation
Coral Springs, Florida

Maureen Martinez, President
Justice4pakids
Philadelphia, PA

Anne Barrett Doyle
Terence McKiernan, Co-Directors
BishopAccountability.org
Waltham, MA

Cardozo Advocates for Kids
Cardozo Law School
New York, NY

The White Tower Healing Foundation, Inc. and
Kevin T. Mulhearn, P.C.
Orangeburg, NY

Klarissa Oh, Executive Director
OAASIS: Oregon Abuse Advocates & Survivors in Service
Portland, Oregon

Tim Echausse, Director
LI SNAP
Long Island, NY

Roxine Behrens, President
Tree Climbers, Inc
Clarksburg, MD

Victor Vieth
Executive Director
National Association for the Prevention of Sexual Abuse of Children
St. Paul, Minnesota

k.Dee Ignatin, Executive Director
Americans Against Abuses of Polygamy
San Antonio, Texas

Wendy Murphy, JD
Womens’ and Children’s Advocacy Project
Center for Law and Social Responsibility
Boston, MA

Ben Hirsch, President
Survivors for Justice
New York, NY

Steve Doell, President
Crime Victims United of Oregon

Vivian Farmery, MSW , Founder and Director
JustTell
New York, NY

Matthias Conaty, Survivor-Advocate
Child Victims Voice
Wilmington, DE

Jeffrey R. Dion, Deputy Executive Director
National Center for Victims of Crime
Washington, DC

Rev. Anthony Evans, Leader
National Black Church Initiative
Washington, D.C.

Chris Anderson, Vice President
MaleSurvivor
New York, NY

“Among the difficult realities of child sexual abuse is that victims might need years, even decades, to come to terms with their abuse.

It isn’t until they deal with the emotional trauma of what happened to them that they then are ready to confront their abuser.

Unfortunately, our justice system is not set up to deal with this all-too-common occurrence.

Instead, there is a statute of limitations in place that only gives victims a certain amount of time to file a complaint, either civil or criminal.

If they come forward after that time period has expired, they are barred from going forward. We have seen this most prominently with accusations against priests in the Catholic Church.

This system not only does not allow victims to seek the justice they deserve, but it also protects the sexual abuser, whose identity otherwise might never become public.

This can mean allowing them to continue abusing others.

In the case of the allegations against former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, attorneys have heard from one man who can’t press charges against Sandusky because he missed the statute of limitations cutoff by a mere nine months …”

READ THE FULL EDITORIAL:

Editorial: “Pa. statute of limitations should be altered”

“Hawaii significantly strengthened its protections against child sexual abuse last month when Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed a measureextending the statute of limitations for civil lawsuits filed by child victims. At least as important, it opens a one-time two-year window to allow victims to file suits against their abusers even if the time limit had expired under the old law.

Like similar laws in California and Delaware, the Hawaii measure recognizes some wrenching realities. It can take many years, even decades, before child abuse victims are emotionally ready to come forward and tell their stories in court. But by then, they may be barred from suing by the statute of limitations. For example, many suits against the Catholic Church have been blocked because the church’s covering up for pedophile priests made it hard for victims to come forward until long past the time limit for bringing civil claims.

“Imagine Earl Bradley times 10.

That is the reality of child abuse in Delaware, where more than 1,000 cases of suspected sexual abuse are investigated every year.

Nationally, one of every four girls and one in six boys are sexually abused before they turn 18 …”

View the documents.

Click here for WDEL video of press conference

Delawareonline video of press conference: