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	Bill Would Give Victims More Time to Report Abuse By Judy Wiff River Falls Journal January 4, 2008 http://www.riverfallsjournal.com/articles/index.cfm?id=85539&freebie_check&CFID=80576807&CFTOKEN=23724524&jsessionid=8830ead812351e703032 A bill recently introduced in the Wisconsin Legislature would remove the time limit for filing civil lawsuits for injury resulting from sexual assault of a child. While the new law would apply mainly to future victims, it would also give victims of earlier abuse a three-year window to file a civil suit. "We've been very pleased with the support. It's a bipartisan effort," said Bill Berndt, River Falls. Berndt, a former state senator, is the Wisconsin representative and lobbyist for the National Association to Prevent Sexual Abuse of Children. While the bill seeks to offer justice to victims of earlier abuse, other states have found the legislation reveals, and helps prevent, ongoing abuse, said Berndt. "Most compelling is when California did it (revised its law), 300 current perpetrators were exposed," he said. "There is no 'statute of limitations' on the pain and suffering child molesters cause victims," says a NAPSAC brochure. "Victims suffer a lifetime with issues of depression, anxiety, alcoholism, drug addictions, intimacy issues, authority issues, eating disorders and other debilitating problems directly attributed to being sexually abused." According to a Legislative Reference Bureau analysis, under current Wisconsin law, a person has until he or she reaches the age of 35 to bring an action "for an injury resulting from being sexually assaulted or subject to incest as a child, or from being subject to sexual contact by a member of the clergy as a child" This bill, introduced as 2007 Senate Bill 356, would remove the time limit for filing those cases. It would also allow an injured party, whose action is barred by the current statute of limitations, to bring an action for injury within three years of the effective date of the bill. Primary sponsors for the bill are Sen. Julie Lassa, D-Stevens Point, and Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford.
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