DENVER (CO)
CBS 4
By Steven K. Paulson, AP Writer
(AP) DENVER A legislative committee agreed Thursday to eliminate the criminal and civil statute of limitation for sex crimes following powerful testimony from sex abuse victims, including a former Miss America.
Marilyn Van Derbur Atler said she was so traumatized that it took decades before she could speak about being molested by her father.
"Almost all of us are in our 40s and 50s before we have the emotional strength to talk about our childhood and now so many survivors are finally beginning to learn our perpetrators never stopped," she told the House Judiciary Committee.
"I urge you to remove any statute of limitations because of our unique, shaming, terrorizing violations we endure as children," she said.