The Minnesota House could vote today (May 1st) on an overdue measure to allow victims of childhood sexual abuse more time to pursue justice through civil courts.
The Minnesota Child Victims Act would relax the civil statute of limitations, which is unduly narrow and protective of sexual predators. The Senate is considering a similar measure.
Sadly, those lobbying hardest to defeat the needed change include associations of schools, churches and child-care centers. They represent the very kinds of institutions that have dominated headlines for failing to protect children from sexual predators.
Is there really a need to remind the public that former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky was convicted on 45 counts of child sexual abuse just last summer? Or that a Missouri Catholic bishop is still on the job after being convicted last year of a criminal misdemeanor for failing to report abuse?
Under current Minnesota law, individuals abused as children have until age 24 to file suit, which is a stricter standard than in many states. The age limit doesn’t take into account that it can take some victims decades to come to terms with the abuse they suffered. Another consideration: “The states that have very restrictive statutes of limitations tend to have more sex-abuse scandals,” said Jeff Dion of the National Center for Victims of Crimes.
The House measure would eliminate the statute of limitations in future civil cases and allow a three-year window to file on past cases. Lawmakers should support this compromise measure and resist amendments that come up with new age limits, weaken institutional liability or introduce onerous standards of proof.
The Senate version would eliminate the civil statute of limitations altogether, as has been done in four states. That’s a better approach because it would allow victims to seek justice when they are able.
Opponents include the Minnesota Child Care Association, the Minnesota Association of School Administrators, the Minnesota Religious Council (lobbying for Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran and United Methodist churches) and others.
They say the changes proposed could hurt taxpayers, divert funds that could be used for children’s programs, and be impossible to defend because of missing witnesses and evidence.
The rhetoric is misleading. Civil suits would still have to meet existing standards of evidence and burden of proof. As far as hurting children: Let’s not forget that institutions have spent millions battling suits involving known predators and trying to prevent the release of evidence showing their complicity in covering up abuse.
Child sexual abuse isn’t a partisan issue. The list of supporters for eliminating or expanding the civil statute of limitations includes abuse survivors, victim advocacy groups, county attorneys, law enforcement officials and others. They know that Minnesota’s existing law is outdated because it insists that childhood sexual trauma can be dealt with by age 24.
The Minnesota Child Victims Act, particularly the Senate’s version, acknowledges that recovery doesn’t fit neatly on a timeline.
It’s time to change the statute of limitations to reflect modern realities. And it should be done in a way that doesn’t provide more wiggle room for institutions to escape accountability.
In doing so, victims who chose to come forward will get their day in court to seek justice against their perpetrators. And, if more victims come forward, there’s a possibility that more sexual predators will be identified before they do harm.
That’s a public safety goal that no one should oppose.
Dear Sen. Klein– please support the Child Victims Act. NY is losing the battle between predators and kids, and we need you to be a leader to protect NY’s children!
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Wednesday, May 1st, the Minnesota Child Victims Act will be considered for final passage by the Minnesota House. Follow the bill on the Calendar for the Day. Amendments may be offered to bill before its final passage. Watch our House actions live Here. — The bill here: H.F. 681 —
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Here is my answer to them: 7th Day Adventists oppose SB 131 SOL reform because it does not cover public schools or extend criminal SOLs. When will they propose bills to cover those arenas? GREAT IDEAS! I fully support such total elimination. It is not “unfair” to enact good laws for private and public arenas separately. I encourage CA to take up all possible means of helping all of the children in CA. But opposing SB 131 helps no children.
SB 131 – Legislative Alert
Legislative Alert
April 22, 2013
SB 131 – OPPOSE
SB 131 would retroactively eliminate the civil statute of limitations against private schools and private employers in claims involving childhood sexual abuse. The bill is being vigorously opposed by the California Association of Private School Organizations (CAPSO). Seventh-day Adventist schools are affiliated with CAPSO.
SB 131 discriminates against the overwhelming majority of sex abuse victims, discriminates against private employers, breaks faith with previous legislative efforts to change the statute of limitations and does nothing to prevent abuse, enhance criminal penalties or extend the criminal statute of limitations against actual perpetrators of abuse.
SB 131 discriminates against victims, because it only covers incidents of abuse that may have taken place in private schools, not public schools, so the 92 percent of California children who attend public schools aren’t covered.
SB 131 discriminates against private schools by forcing them to deal with an unworkable legal and business climate where they face unknown liability of an unknown duration under conditions where the passage of time–30, 40 or 50 years or more–make mounting an effective defense next to impossible.
SB 131 breaks faith with assurances given by the Legislature 10 years ago when it enacted SB 1779 (Burton), a one-time, one-year lifting of the statute of limitations for all of 2003 that allowed any victim of sexual abuse—regardless of how long ago it occurred—a second chance to file a lawsuit. Under the circumstances, reviving claims a second time may have been understandable, but SB 131 would revive claims for an unheard of third time, and only against private schools and private employers like us.
Finally, SB 131 fails both victims and private schools by ignoring the actual perpetrators of sex abuse, and doing nothing to strengthen criminal penalties against abusers or extend the criminal statute of limitations.
Please take time to contact the Judiciary Committee member and tell them why you oppose this bill.
Judiciary Committee Members:
Senator Joel Anderson 916-651-4036 senator.anderson@senate.ca.gov
Senator Ellen Corbett 916-651-4010 senator.corbett@senate.ca.gov
Senator Noreen Evans 916-651-4002 senator.evans@senate.ca.gov
Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson 916-651-4019 senator.jackson@senate.ca.gov
Senator Mark Leno 916-651-4011 senator.leno@senate.ca.gov
Senator William Monning 916-651-4017 senator.monning@senate.ca.gov
http://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpg00SOL Reformhttp://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpgSOL Reform2013-04-29 03:15:172013-04-29 21:05:28CA SB 131 -- Response to Seventh Day Adventists
Horace Mann Action Coalition Response to Bronx District Attorney Investigation into Sexual Abuse at the Horace Mann School
For release on April 26, 2013
The Horace Mann Action Coalition is grateful to the Bronx District Attorney’s Office, the NYPD, and the Bronx Special Victim’s Squad for investigating the multiple cases of sexual abuse that took place at the Horace Mann School for over three decades. The investigation confirmed the existence of “a systemic pattern of alleged abuse beyond what was outlined in the original New York Times Magazine article.” The District Attorney’s Office concluded that at least 12 separate abusers committed everything from acts of child endangerment to “actual instances of sexual contact, sexual intercourse and criminal sexual acts,” ranging from 1962 to 1996.
Sadly, the archaic nature of New York State’s statute of limitations makes it impossible for any individual or institution to be prosecuted for these crimes. It is for this reason that HMAC supports Assemblywoman Marge Markey’s Child Victims Act (A1771), which would completely eliminate statutes of limitations in the future, and provide a oneyear window for old civil cases, in order to give justice to victims and expose abusers.
Most disturbingly, the District Attorney’s Office found a pattern of administrative failure to take sexual abuse seriously at Horace Mann. The report concludes “that throughout the almost four decade period of sexual abuse at Horace Mann, there were instances of abuse coming to the attention of school officials without law enforcement being notified.” Indeed, HMAC has documented at least eighteen cases in which sexual abuse was brought to the attention of Horace Mann teachers, administrators and board of trustee members. In each case, the student who reported the abuse was told that pursuing the accusations might hurt his chances at attending the college of his choice, or that Horace Mann wouldn’t consider a case for which the student had no “video or audio” evidence. It is tragic to consider how much suffering might have been avoided had even a few of the accusations been investigated.
Those who have believed Horace Mann’s assurances that such behavior was a thing of the past will be disappointed to learn that it wasn’t until September 2012two months after the New York Times Magazine article that first brought the reports of sexual abuse to the school’s attentionthat “Horace Mann added to their ‘Family Handbook’ a new ‘Policy on Reporting Child Abuse of Students by School Employees.’” What was the school’s policy before September 2012? Did it have such a policy? The District Attorney’s report does not say.
What the report does make clear is that the Bronx District Attorney’s Office judged Horace Mann’s September 2012 policies on reporting sexual abuse by employees inadequate. In what way did they believe it to be inadequate? The District Attorney’s Office felt that Horace Mann’s policy needed to be “amended to highlight the importance of immediate notification to law enforcement.” Was the school’s reluctance the reporting sexual abuse to law enforcement? Or was it reluctant to report sexual abuse in a timely fashion? Perhaps both. The report doesn’t say.
In light of these conclusions, board of trustee chairman Steve Friedman and Headmaster Tom Kelly should take the action HMAC and others have been calling for since June 2012. It should officially and unambiguously acknowledge that sexual abuse took place, it should officially and unambiguously apologize to those who were victims of sexual abuse at Horace Mann, and it should cooperate with an independent investigation into the conditions that allowed decades of sexual abuse by multiple abusers to occur.
We are confident that the District Attorney’s report is the beginning, not the end, of this investigation. The Horace Mann Action Coalition Support Fund has retained Judge Leslie Crocker Snyder to supervise the investigation, and raised funds to support it. We hope that Horace Mann alumni, as well as anyone who is concerned about the sexual abuse of children, will consider making a donation to the investigation. For more information go to http://www.hmactioncoalition.org/
For information contact Robert Boynton, robert.boynton@nyu.edu
###
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NYC prosecutor: Sex abuse at elite school existed, but statute of limitations has passed
By Associated Press,
NEW YORK — A systemic pattern of suspected sexual abuse existed at an elite New York City prep school from the 1970s until the mid-1990s, but the statute of limitations to prosecute them has expired, prosecutors said Friday.The Bronx district attorney’s office and the New York Police Department launched an investigation into allegations of abuse at The Horace Mann School after a New York Times Magazine article last summer that said the academy was plagued by teachers who sexually abused children in the 1970s.
A hotline was set up for victims, and more than 30 calls came in mostly in the first few months after the June report, prosecutors. More than 60 interviews were done, with investigators traveling to California, Colorado and Vermont to speak to people about allegations of abuse. During their 10-month investigation, they identified more than 25 victims and more than 12 suspected abusers.
Horace Mann is one of New York City’s most prestigious private schools — and one of the most expensive, with an annual tuition of $39,100. Its alumni include media mogul Samuel Newhouse, O.J. Simpson lawyer Barry Scheck and Food Network chef Alex Guarnaschelli.
The Times article was written by Amos Kamil, a 1982 Horace Mann graduate. In it, former students — mostly identified only by letters in their names — accused at least three now-deceased teachers of repeatedly molesting them and other pupils. They described an atmosphere at the tony school where the social lines between teachers and students were routinely blurred and then taken advantage of by pedophiles.
Some former students spoke out publicly after the article. Part of the article is Kamil’s personal recollections of his time at Horace Mann. He doesn’t claim to have been abused himself but describes questionable interactions with some teachers, including being taken out for a drunken evening by a pair of faculty members at age 17 and being subjected to “long, creepy touches” by a swimming coach.
Attorney Gloria Allred said she represents 25 former students — three women and 22 men — who allege they were abused. She previously said most of the former students have reached settlements with the school. She said Friday that no civil lawsuits are pending.
“The District Attorney’s conclusions, once again confirm to us, that we were correct in urging Horace Mann to conduct an immediate, independent and transparent investigation into what is clearly the worst case of child abuse in an American school in recent history,” she said in a statement. “Now more than ever, the school must take immediate action to get to the truth and release it in a public report. To date, as far as we know, the Horace Mann Board of Trustees has not yet made a decision to approve an independent investigation.”
School officials didn’t immediately return a call for comment on Friday. Following the article, the board of directors at the school said the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children would review the school’s policies, provide training for faculty and staff, and develop prevention programs for students.
Bronx prosecutors said school officials also changed their policy on reporting child abuse by school employees to highlight the importance of immediate notification to law enforcement.
Prosecutors said Friday that they found a pattern of abuse that went even further than what was alleged in the article. They said they found instances of abuse from the 1970s up until 1996:
“The reported abuse ranges from what may be characterized as inappropriate behavior to child endangerment, actual instances of sexual contact, sexual intercourse and criminal sexual acts.”
But to date, all the instances of reported sexual abuse occurring between 1962 and 1996 are beyond the state’s statute of limitations, which for all felonies is five years and for misdemeanors is two years. The statute of limitations for child sex crimes is more forgiving but has still passed, prosecutors said. The district attorney’s office says laws forcing private school workers to report cases of sexual abuse to authorities must be changed.
“We remain available to provide the services which our crime victim’s assistance unit offers. We also remain available to continue to receive information from victims of sexual abuse at Horace Mann, as well as from all victims of sexual abuse,” the office of Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson said.
___
Associated Press Writer Karen Matthews contributed to this report.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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GO MN!!
/in Minnesota /by SOL ReformThe Minnesota House could vote today (May 1st) on an overdue measure to allow victims of childhood sexual abuse more time to pursue justice through civil courts.
The Minnesota Child Victims Act would relax the civil statute of limitations, which is unduly narrow and protective of sexual predators. The Senate is considering a similar measure.
Sadly, those lobbying hardest to defeat the needed change include associations of schools, churches and child-care centers. They represent the very kinds of institutions that have dominated headlines for failing to protect children from sexual predators.
Is there really a need to remind the public that former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky was convicted on 45 counts of child sexual abuse just last summer? Or that a Missouri Catholic bishop is still on the job after being convicted last year of a criminal misdemeanor for failing to report abuse?
Under current Minnesota law, individuals abused as children have until age 24 to file suit, which is a stricter standard than in many states. The age limit doesn’t take into account that it can take some victims decades to come to terms with the abuse they suffered. Another consideration: “The states that have very restrictive statutes of limitations tend to have more sex-abuse scandals,” said Jeff Dion of the National Center for Victims of Crimes.
The House measure would eliminate the statute of limitations in future civil cases and allow a three-year window to file on past cases. Lawmakers should support this compromise measure and resist amendments that come up with new age limits, weaken institutional liability or introduce onerous standards of proof.
The Senate version would eliminate the civil statute of limitations altogether, as has been done in four states. That’s a better approach because it would allow victims to seek justice when they are able.
Opponents include the Minnesota Child Care Association, the Minnesota Association of School Administrators, the Minnesota Religious Council (lobbying for Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran and United Methodist churches) and others.
They say the changes proposed could hurt taxpayers, divert funds that could be used for children’s programs, and be impossible to defend because of missing witnesses and evidence.
The rhetoric is misleading. Civil suits would still have to meet existing standards of evidence and burden of proof. As far as hurting children: Let’s not forget that institutions have spent millions battling suits involving known predators and trying to prevent the release of evidence showing their complicity in covering up abuse.
Child sexual abuse isn’t a partisan issue. The list of supporters for eliminating or expanding the civil statute of limitations includes abuse survivors, victim advocacy groups, county attorneys, law enforcement officials and others. They know that Minnesota’s existing law is outdated because it insists that childhood sexual trauma can be dealt with by age 24.
The Minnesota Child Victims Act, particularly the Senate’s version, acknowledges that recovery doesn’t fit neatly on a timeline.
It’s time to change the statute of limitations to reflect modern realities. And it should be done in a way that doesn’t provide more wiggle room for institutions to escape accountability.
In doing so, victims who chose to come forward will get their day in court to seek justice against their perpetrators. And, if more victims come forward, there’s a possibility that more sexual predators will be identified before they do harm.
That’s a public safety goal that no one should oppose.
Source: http://www.startribune.com/opinion/editorials/205478451.html
Action Alert for NY CVA!
/in New York /by SOL ReformWe are kicking off a campaign to contact NY legislators to support the Child Victims Act! (http://sol-reform.com/New_
Dear Sen. Klein– please support the Child Victims Act. NY is losing the battle between predators and kids, and we need you to be a leader to protect NY’s children!
Also, please call Sen. Klein, asking the same!!
Capitol Office:
518-455-3595
District Office:
718-822-2049
MN House to vote on window on May 1! MN voters call your reps!
/in Minnesota /by SOL ReformCA SB 131 — Response to Seventh Day Adventists
/in California /by SOL ReformSB 131 – Legislative Alert
Legislative Alert
April 22, 2013
SB 131 – OPPOSE
SB 131 would retroactively eliminate the civil statute of limitations against private schools and private employers in claims involving childhood sexual abuse. The bill is being vigorously opposed by the California Association of Private School Organizations (CAPSO). Seventh-day Adventist schools are affiliated with CAPSO.
SB 131 discriminates against the overwhelming majority of sex abuse victims, discriminates against private employers, breaks faith with previous legislative efforts to change the statute of limitations and does nothing to prevent abuse, enhance criminal penalties or extend the criminal statute of limitations against actual perpetrators of abuse.
SB 131 discriminates against victims, because it only covers incidents of abuse that may have taken place in private schools, not public schools, so the 92 percent of California children who attend public schools aren’t covered.
SB 131 discriminates against private schools by forcing them to deal with an unworkable legal and business climate where they face unknown liability of an unknown duration under conditions where the passage of time–30, 40 or 50 years or more–make mounting an effective defense next to impossible.
SB 131 breaks faith with assurances given by the Legislature 10 years ago when it enacted SB 1779 (Burton), a one-time, one-year lifting of the statute of limitations for all of 2003 that allowed any victim of sexual abuse—regardless of how long ago it occurred—a second chance to file a lawsuit. Under the circumstances, reviving claims a second time may have been understandable, but SB 131 would revive claims for an unheard of third time, and only against private schools and private employers like us.
Finally, SB 131 fails both victims and private schools by ignoring the actual perpetrators of sex abuse, and doing nothing to strengthen criminal penalties against abusers or extend the criminal statute of limitations.
Please take time to contact the Judiciary Committee member and tell them why you oppose this bill.
Judiciary Committee Members:
Senator Joel Anderson 916-651-4036 senator.anderson@senate.ca.gov
Senator Ellen Corbett 916-651-4010 senator.corbett@senate.ca.gov
Senator Noreen Evans 916-651-4002 senator.evans@senate.ca.gov
Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson 916-651-4019 senator.jackson@senate.ca.gov
Senator Mark Leno 916-651-4011 senator.leno@senate.ca.gov
Senator William Monning 916-651-4017 senator.monning@senate.ca.gov
HM alums stand up for SOL reform!
/in New York /by SOL ReformHorace Mann Action Coalition Response to Bronx District Attorney Investigation into Sexual Abuse at the Horace Mann School
For release on April 26, 2013
The Horace Mann Action Coalition is grateful to the Bronx District Attorney’s Office, the NYPD, and the Bronx Special Victim’s Squad for investigating the multiple cases of sexual abuse that took place at the Horace Mann School for over three decades. The investigation confirmed the existence of “a systemic pattern of alleged abuse beyond what was outlined in the original New York Times Magazine article.” The District Attorney’s Office concluded that at least 12 separate abusers committed everything from acts of child endangerment to “actual instances of sexual contact, sexual intercourse and criminal sexual acts,” ranging from 1962 to 1996.
Sadly, the archaic nature of New York State’s statute of limitations makes it impossible for any individual or institution to be prosecuted for these crimes. It is for this reason that HMAC supports Assemblywoman Marge Markey’s Child Victims Act (A1771), which would completely eliminate statutes of limitations in the future, and provide a oneyear window for old civil cases, in order to give justice to victims and expose abusers.
Most disturbingly, the District Attorney’s Office found a pattern of administrative failure to take sexual abuse seriously at Horace Mann. The report concludes “that throughout the almost four decade period of sexual abuse at Horace Mann, there were instances of abuse coming to the attention of school officials without law enforcement being notified.” Indeed, HMAC has documented at least eighteen cases in which sexual abuse was brought to the attention of Horace Mann teachers, administrators and board of trustee members. In each case, the student who reported the abuse was told that pursuing the accusations might hurt his chances at attending the college of his choice, or that Horace Mann wouldn’t consider a case for which the student had no “video or audio” evidence. It is tragic to consider how much suffering might have been avoided had even a few of the accusations been investigated.
Those who have believed Horace Mann’s assurances that such behavior was a thing of the past will be disappointed to learn that it wasn’t until September 2012two months after the New York Times Magazine article that first brought the reports of sexual abuse to the school’s attentionthat “Horace Mann added to their ‘Family Handbook’ a new ‘Policy on Reporting Child Abuse of Students by School Employees.’” What was the school’s policy before September 2012? Did it have such a policy? The District Attorney’s report does not say.
What the report does make clear is that the Bronx District Attorney’s Office judged Horace Mann’s September 2012 policies on reporting sexual abuse by employees inadequate. In what way did they believe it to be inadequate? The District Attorney’s Office felt that Horace Mann’s policy needed to be “amended to highlight the importance of immediate notification to law enforcement.” Was the school’s reluctance the reporting sexual abuse to law enforcement? Or was it reluctant to report sexual abuse in a timely fashion? Perhaps both. The report doesn’t say.
In light of these conclusions, board of trustee chairman Steve Friedman and Headmaster Tom Kelly should take the action HMAC and others have been calling for since June 2012. It should officially and unambiguously acknowledge that sexual abuse took place, it should officially and unambiguously apologize to those who were victims of sexual abuse at Horace Mann, and it should cooperate with an independent investigation into the conditions that allowed decades of sexual abuse by multiple abusers to occur.
We are confident that the District Attorney’s report is the beginning, not the end, of this investigation. The Horace Mann Action Coalition Support Fund has retained Judge Leslie Crocker Snyder to supervise the investigation, and raised funds to support it. We hope that Horace Mann alumni, as well as anyone who is concerned about the sexual abuse of children, will consider making a donation to the investigation. For more information go to http://www.hmactioncoalition.org/
For information contact Robert Boynton, robert.boynton@nyu.edu
###
View as PDF
View original article: http://www.hmactioncoalition.org/pages/blog/6/72/hmac-response-to-bronx-district-attorney-investigation-into-sex-abuse-at-horace-mann
More proof NY is haven for pedophiles
/in New York /by SOL ReformNYC prosecutor: Sex abuse at elite school existed, but statute of limitations has passed
The Times article was written by Amos Kamil, a 1982 Horace Mann graduate. In it, former students — mostly identified only by letters in their names — accused at least three now-deceased teachers of repeatedly molesting them and other pupils. They described an atmosphere at the tony school where the social lines between teachers and students were routinely blurred and then taken advantage of by pedophiles.
Some former students spoke out publicly after the article. Part of the article is Kamil’s personal recollections of his time at Horace Mann. He doesn’t claim to have been abused himself but describes questionable interactions with some teachers, including being taken out for a drunken evening by a pair of faculty members at age 17 and being subjected to “long, creepy touches” by a swimming coach.
Attorney Gloria Allred said she represents 25 former students — three women and 22 men — who allege they were abused. She previously said most of the former students have reached settlements with the school. She said Friday that no civil lawsuits are pending.
“The District Attorney’s conclusions, once again confirm to us, that we were correct in urging Horace Mann to conduct an immediate, independent and transparent investigation into what is clearly the worst case of child abuse in an American school in recent history,” she said in a statement. “Now more than ever, the school must take immediate action to get to the truth and release it in a public report. To date, as far as we know, the Horace Mann Board of Trustees has not yet made a decision to approve an independent investigation.”
School officials didn’t immediately return a call for comment on Friday. Following the article, the board of directors at the school said the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children would review the school’s policies, provide training for faculty and staff, and develop prevention programs for students.
Bronx prosecutors said school officials also changed their policy on reporting child abuse by school employees to highlight the importance of immediate notification to law enforcement.
Prosecutors said Friday that they found a pattern of abuse that went even further than what was alleged in the article. They said they found instances of abuse from the 1970s up until 1996:
“The reported abuse ranges from what may be characterized as inappropriate behavior to child endangerment, actual instances of sexual contact, sexual intercourse and criminal sexual acts.”
But to date, all the instances of reported sexual abuse occurring between 1962 and 1996 are beyond the state’s statute of limitations, which for all felonies is five years and for misdemeanors is two years. The statute of limitations for child sex crimes is more forgiving but has still passed, prosecutors said. The district attorney’s office says laws forcing private school workers to report cases of sexual abuse to authorities must be changed.
“We remain available to provide the services which our crime victim’s assistance unit offers. We also remain available to continue to receive information from victims of sexual abuse at Horace Mann, as well as from all victims of sexual abuse,” the office of Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson said.
___
Associated Press Writer Karen Matthews contributed to this report.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.