Markey Would Allow More Time To Pursue Child Sexual Abuse Cases
BY JOHN TOSCANO

"We have a responsibility to past and future generations of children to ensure that predators are identified, stopped and punished. This legislation helps to do that more effectively."

Taking hope from a bill which passed the state legislature in the last session and was signed into law, Assemblymember Margaret Markey said she will try again in the 2008 session to have legislation passed by both houses to extend the statute of limitations to pursue criminal and civil cases of child sexual abuse.

Markey (D- Maspeth) noted, "At present, New York state law enables predators to avoid the consequences of their crimes- it unreasonably shields them from criminal prosecution and civil action. And worse, our present law permits abusers to continue their predatory actions and assault new victims."

She continued: "We have a responsibility to past and future generations of children to ensure that predators are identified, stopped and punished. This legislation helps to do that more effectively."

The problem with the existing law in child sexual abuse cases, she explained, is that, when the crime is not reported to law enforcement agencies, the criminal statute of limitations is not applied until the victim reaches age 18. (The statute of limitations is the period of time within which a person can be brought to trial for a certain crime.)

Markey's bill would add five years to the statute, extending the victim's threshold age to 23 for both criminal and civil actions to be brought.

The Markey bill also provides a one-time, one year window for victims of any age to seek civil damages in past instances of child abuse.

"This window would enable many older victims to get the justice they had previously been denied under the current restrictive law," she explains.

Similar legislation extending the age at which the statute of limitations begins and providing for a one-year window in old cases has now become law in California and Delaware, she pointed out.

Markey's bill was approved by the Assembly in 2005, 2006 and 2007, but the companion bill failed to get state senate approval and final passage.

She takes as a hopeful sign that the senate version of the current bill, sponsored by Senator Stephen Saland, a Poughkeepsie Republican, has already attracted some support for the next session.

More important, one hopeful sign for success in enacting this legislation in 2008 was the passage of a bill that passed both houses and was then signed into law by Governor Eliot Spitzer.

That bill, Markey said, eliminated the statue of limitations in first degree rape, child abuse and sexual assault cases. "Passage of that law sets an important precedent for this change in the statute of limitations we seek to enact in the upcoming session," Markey said.

Markey summed up: "Sex crimes, particularly those committed against children, are among the most heinous and deeply disturbing in our society. They leave lifelong scars and have multiple victims.

"As the general public becomes more and more aware of the terrible human tragedy at the root of this issue, it is important for victims of sexual assault to have the opportunity to get justice for the wrongs done against them. This legislation gives abuse victims their day in court."