About the Child Victim’s Act of Delaware
The Child Victim’s Act of Delaware has exposed molesters who were still working with children; it has aided law enforcement in the arrest of a predator and it has put communities on notice that very dangerous men live among them. Abuse and cover-up have been rooted out in Delaware’s private and public schools, Boy Scout troops, gymnasiums, athletic fields, families, religious denominations and neighborhoods. A victim of a police officer and even a sitting judge were finally able to come forward thanks to this law.

About Child Victims Voice
Founded by survivor-advocate Matthias Conaty in early 2007, Child Victim’s Voice coalition successfully advocated for an amendment to Delaware law, the Child Victim’s Act, to allow child victims of sexual abuse in the state of Delaware the chance to be heard in a court of law by removing the statute of limitations during a now completed two-year window. The Child Victim’s Act also abolished the civil statute of limitations on these crimes in the future.

Child Victims Voice brought together a diverse coalition of citizens, including law enforcement officials, health professionals, youth-serving nonprofits, child advocacy groups, survivors of childhood sexual abuse, leaders of various religious denominations and a bipartisan list of legislative co-sponsors.

Who supported it
Coalition to support the Child Victim’s Act (Senate Bill 29)
American Academy of Pediatrics Delaware Chapter
American Association of University Women (Coastal-Georgetown branch)
Associated Builders and Contractors [DE]
Bethel Baptist Church (Wilmington, Delaware)
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Delaware
Carl Schnee, Esq. Former U.S. Attorney
Charles F. Gallagher III, Deputy District Attorney, Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office
Child, Inc.
Children & Families First
Christopher A. Coons, New Castle County Executive
Common Cause of Delaware
Concord Presbyterian Church, Wilmington, Del.
ContactLifeline, Inc.
Daybreak Counseling Services
Dee’s Gift
Delaware Association for Children of Alcoholics
Delaware Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Delaware Governor Dale E. Wolf
Delaware Governor Russell W. Peterson
Delaware Governor Sherman W. Tribbitt
Delaware Nurses Association
Delaware Ecumenical Council on Children and Families
Delaware Mental Health Counselors Association
Delaware State Dental Society
Delaware State AFL-CIO
Delaware State Fraternal Order of Police
Doris Schnee, LCSW
Dr. Carol A. Tavani, neuropsychiatrist
Dr. Michael F. Whitworth
Dr. Richard Gartner, author, psychologist, past president of National Organization on Male Sexual Victimization
FixtheLaw.org
Foundation To Abolish Sex Abuse, Inc.
Fritz Ackerman, pastor, Concord Presbyterian Church
Girls Incorporated of Delaware
J. Roy Cannon, CADC, LPCMH, ACS — Counseling Resource Associates, Inc.
Jack A. Markell, Delaware State Treasurer
Jewish Family Services
James and Susan Kallstrom, former Assistant Director of the FBI
James L. Ford III – Mayor of Lewes
James M. Walsh, PhD, LPCMH
Jesus House Prayer & Renewal Center
Joseph and Lori Ozdowy, plant manager, DaimlerChrysler Newark Assembly Plant, Newark, Del.
Joseph W. Mitchell, president, Mitchell’s Inc. (Mitchell’s Trains, Toys & Hobbies)
Judge Louis Freeh, former FBI Director
Lawrence M. Sullivan, Esq.
Lieutenant Governor John Carney
Limen House for Men
Limen House for Women
Marilyn Van Derbur, former Miss America, incest survivor, advocate for all victims of child sexual abuse
Martha H. Ireland, Ph.D., RN, CS, CEDS — ADE, Inc.
Matthew P. Denn, Delaware’s Insurance Commissioner
Matthias B. Donelan, M. D., associate professor of surgery, Harvard Medical School
Members of Ocean View Presbyterian Church
Michael P. Walsh, Sheriff Of New Castle County
National Eating Disorders Association
PA-C.A.R.E.S. (Pennsylvania Child Abuse Reporting and Enforcement Strategy)
Prevent Child Abuse Delaware
Prison Ministries of Delaware, Inc.
Professor Marci A. Hamilton, Constitutional law expert
Progressive Democrats for Delaware
Rabbi Sanford Dresin, president of the Rabbinical Association of Delaware
Reginald C. Irby, executive director of Limen House for Men
Rescue & Recovery International, Inc.
Rev. Jonathan Baker, senior pastor, Aldersgate United Methodist Church, Wilmington, Del.
Reverend Thomas P. Doyle, O.P., author, canon lawyer
Richard and Bernard Kenny, owners of The Kenny Family ShopRites of Delaware
Richard T. Christopher, president of Patterson-Schwartz Real Estate
Sara E. Whitworth, RN
Sexual Abuse Prevention Network
Sister Jeanne F. Cashman, OSU, executive director of Sojourners’ Place
Sister Maureen Paul Turlish SNDdeN, victims’ advocate
SNAP (Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests)
SOAR, Inc. (Survivors of Abuse in Recovery, Inc.)
Sojourners’ Place, Wilmington, Del.
Stop Child Predators.org
Supporting K.I.D.D.S.
Susan O’Connor, RN
The Police Athletic League of Delaware, Inc.
The Presbytery of New Castle
Ulster Project Delaware
Voice of the Faithful Affiliate of New Castle County
Voice of the Faithful Coastal Delmarva
Wayne A. Smith, former House majority leader
Women’s Democratic Club of Delaware
YMCA of Delaware
YWCA Delaware

Senate

Sponsors:
Senator Karen E. Peterson (SB 29 author): Voted YES, with no amendments.
Senator David B. McBride: Voted YES, with no amendments.

Co-sponsors:
Senator Liane M. Sorenson (Senate Minority Whip): Voted YES, with no amendments.
Senator David P. Sokola: Voted YES, with no amendments.
Senator George H. Bunting: Voted YES, with no amendments.
Senator Patricia M. Blevins (Senate Majority Whip): Voted YES, with no amendments.
Senator Dorinda A. “Dori” Connor: Voted YES, with no amendments.
Senator Charles L. Copeland (Senate Minority Leader): Voted YES, with no amendments.
Senator Margaret Rose Henry: Voted YES, with no amendments.
Senator Nancy W. Cook: Voted YES, with no amendments.
Senator Catherine L. Cloutier: Voted YES, with no amendments.
Senator Robert I. Marshall: Voted YES, with no amendments.
Senator Steven H. Amick: Voted YES, with no amendments.

Non-sponsors who voted for SB 29:
Senator Thurman Adams (President Pro Tempore): Voted YES, with no amendments.
Senator Anthony J. DeLuca (Senate Majority Leader): Voted YES, with no amendments.
Senator Harris B. McDowell: Voted YES, with no amendments.
Senator F. Gary Simpson: Voted YES, with no amendments.
Senator John C. Still: Voted YES, with no amendments.
Senator Robert L. Venables: Voted YES, with no amendments.

House
Main sponsors:
Representative Deborah Hudson
Representative Gregory F. Lavelle

Co-sponsors:
Representative Terry R. Spence (Speaker of the House)
Representative Robert F. Gilligan (House Minority Leader)
Representative John L. Mitchell
Representative Helene M. Keeley (House Minority Whip)
Representative Bruce C. Ennis
Representative Michael P. Mulrooney
Representative James Johnson
Representative Diana M. McWilliams
Representative Melanie George Marshall
Representative Teresa Schooley
Representative Bethany A. Hall-Long
Representative John A. Kowalko
Representative Valerie Longhurst
Representative Hazel D. Plant
Representative V. George Carey
Representative Richard C. Cathcart (House Majority Leader)
Representative Gerald W. Hocker
Representative Clifford G. “Biff” Lee (House Majority Whip)
Representative Pamela S. Maier
Representative Nick T. Manolakos
Representative Joseph E. Miro
Representative Daniel B. Short
Representative Robert J. Valihura
Representative Gerald L. Brady
Representative J. Benjamin Ewing
Representative Vincent A. Lofink