Guest column: Fix child sex abuse law | Columnists | journalstar.com - Lincoln Journal Star

When Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson released his report detailing 57 Catholic Church officials from three dioceses who abused 258 victims – that we know of – along with a cover-up, there was collective a gasp felt across the state.

The Lincoln diocese immediately offered “reparations for offenses,” a stark departure from the days when it was the only diocese in North America to oppose The Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, or, the Dallas Charter.

The Grand Island Diocese, whose low number of cases in the report belie poor record keeping, not a lack of cases of abuse, held a “Mass for Healing and Reparation” in April before the report even came out. In 2018, when the Attorney General’s investigation first started, the former bishop of the Archdiocese of Omaha acknowledged the “pain, betrayal and suffering” of victims.

These are classic “making no amends non-apologies.” To be clear, we are talking about the sexual assault, rape and sodomy of children, something not mentioned in any of these acts of contrition offered by our three Nebraska dioceses. While I can appreciate these attempts on the part of Catholic officials, they are wholly inadequate in the face of the crimes they are meant to assuage. Victims need justice much more than they need apologies.

As Peterson stated in his press conference, the state’s statute of limitations is an impediment to that justice. His frustration and emotion were palpable. I am sure victims felt the same.

So, what is the law in Nebraska for crimes and civil wrongs against children?

The criminal statutes of limitations for most sexual felonies against children have been eliminated but not for misdemeanors. On the civil side, Nebraska law eliminated the statute of limitations against the perpetrator but gives victims of child sexual abuse until age 33 to file a claim against other defendants, those being the institutions, organizations and other bad actors, that covered it up and failed to protect children, often knowingly.

Age 33 may seem reasonable, but it is not. The science of traumatology and delayed disclosure makes it clear that victims take much longer to come forward. In fact, the average age a victim of child sexual abuse discloses is age 52.

Nebraskans love their children as much as anyone else, but nationally, other states are doing a better job of protecting them than Nebraskans are. This must change.

Across the country, there is significant movement to reform statutes of limitations for child sexual abuse. Many state legislatures are extending or eliminating the limitations and reviving barred claims with age extensions and revival window legislation. Window legislation opens a set period of time for victims who were previously barred from filing suit to have their day in court.

Given that the predator and wrongdoers silence victims, it seems only fair to give them the time and voice that was stolen from them. Since 2002, 24 states, D.C., and Guam, passed laws that revived expired civil SOLs. In addition, 10 states eliminated some civil SOLs. Thirty-seven states, the federal government, and D.C. extended the civil SOLs, and seven states extended and eliminated at least some civil SOLs. Some states have enacted second and third windows; those include Delaware, Hawaii and California. In 2021, Kentucky, Arkansas, Nevada, Colorado, Louisiana and Maine have passed revival legislation.

Our civil justice system has a longer reach and can go where our criminal system cannot. For starters, criminal laws cannot be applied retroactively. The Supreme Court in Stogner v. California made this clear. So, that leaves only one option for victims – revive the civil laws. Yet, it does more than give victims the justice, accountability and healing they so deserve. It does something of equal or greater importance for society – it exposes hidden sexual predators and bad actors, and in doing so, it makes our children safer.

One in five girls and one in 13 boys will be sexually assaulted before the age of 18. Those numbers don’t lie; that means that over 13% of children will be sexually assaulted, many repeatedly, as minors. The abuse is usually by someone they know – coaches, camp counselors, teachers, doctors, religious leaders and, most frequently, family. That is true for the author of this opinion; I was sexually abused by someone I knew, and at one time trusted.

For the sake of our children, we must make real effective steps towards repairing the harm; we can start by fixing our laws.

Kathryn Robb is executive director of CHILD USAdvocacy, based in Philadelphia. Robb is a lawyer, legislative advocate and law instructor who has been involved in child sex abuse legislation across the country for over 16 years.

source: https://journalstar.com/opinion/columnists/guest-column-fix-child-sex-abuse-law/article_7afa9ef9-26a6-54c4-92e8-0e393259b497.html

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