NY window and SOL reform definitely needed for all survivors!
Editorial: Child sex abuse laws need reform
Note: The following editorial ran in The Journal News on Sept. 15, 2013.
She was 14 and a freshman at Green Meadow Waldorf School in Chestnut Ridge in 1980. Now 47, the woman said others seemed to accept the male teacher’s behavior, so back then, she kept quiet about the too-long hugs and inappropriate contact. (See Sunday’s report on lohud.com.) What made her speak out now? The aggressive response of Green Meadow when another former student, author Kate Christensen, recounted similar interactions with the same teacher. Christensen’s accusations were contained in her memoir, published this summer; within weeks of the book’s publication, the school banned the former teacher from campus and launched an investigation.
The approach taken by Green Meadow demonstrates a welcome shift in the way schools and organizations handle accusations of past child abuse — no longer covering up the past and adding to the stigma of secrecy, but admitting the need to help past victims heal and prevent future ones.
Now, New York needs to take the same approach in its laws, and give childhood victims of sex abuse a chance at justice, even decades later. The proposed “Child Sexual Abuse Reform Act,” which has been introduced in the Assembly, is a good place to start.
The Assembly bill — there is currently no matching Senate legislation — would amend criminal procedure law, penal law, social services law and civil practice law and rules to extend certain statutes of limitations on reporting sexual offenses against children. It would also expand who meets reporting requirements.
“This is a pretty far-reaching bill. The most important part, in my opinion, is extending the statute of limitations,” bill co-sponsor Assemblyman James Skoufis, D-Woodbury, told the Editorial Board. The crime is heinous no matter if someone reports it a day after or years after, and the (perpetrator) should be punished.”
The legislation draws from recommendations in a 2002 Suffolk County Supreme Court Special Grand Jury Report on the investigation into the Diocese of Rockville Center. The report states that prosecution was often stymied by New York statutes. “In some cases the Grand Jury finds that the Diocese procrastinated for the sole purpose of making sure that the civil and criminal statutes of limitation were no longer applicable in the cases,” the report states, later stating that “… The Grand Jury concludes that the conduct of certain Diocesan officials would have warranted criminal prosecution but for the fact that the existing statutes are inadequate (and need) significant modifications to address the many issues pertaining to child sexual assault.”According to the bill’s description, “This legislation will punish those who perpetrate this crime as well as those who would hinder its prosecution and provide a forum whereby survivors of these horrific crimes truly realize that the law is on their side by giving them an opportunity for justice and closure.”
The bill has lingered in committee for several years. The Legislature should thoroughly discuss the proposed Child Sexual Abuse Reform Act and find ways to make it better and modernize New York’s laws, rather than shunt a tough topic to die in committee.
David Finkelhor, director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire, told The Journal News that many institutions are now run by people with modern attitudes about the effects of abuse and who are not afraid to confront painful issues that were once hushed up. That’s the stand Green Meadow has taken.
“To heal something, you have to look at it square. You have to look at it openly and honestly,” said Green Meadow co-administrator Eric Silber told staff writer Mareesa Nicosia. We can hope that other institutions will adopt a similar approach, to help victims heal and get justice. And we can craft legislation to ensure it.