By Deirdre Fernandes
The Virginian-Pilot
February 22, 2011
http://hamptonroads.com/2011/02/va-bills-agree-20year-limit-suits-sexual-abuse
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| Jeff Dion, Executive Director of the National Center for Victims of Crime, left, Camille Cooper, Director of Legislative Affairs for the National Association to PROTECT Children, center, and Al Chesley, former Philadelphia Eagles linebacker and child sexual abuse survivor, confer in the General Assembly Building in Richmond on Monday, Feb. 21, 2011. |
A House committee spent about two hours Monday wrestling with the emotionally and legally charged question of how long victims of sexual abuse should have to sue their alleged abusers. Committee members came to the same answer as their Senate counterparts: 20 years.
The proposed legislation, SB1145, would increase the statute of limitations on sexual-abuse lawsuits from the current two years.
The House and Senate versions of the legislation initially had different time limits. The Senate went with 20 years, while the House chose eight. Now, both bills contain the 20-year provision.
The vote came after several victims testified that it was well into adulthood that they were able to acknowledge and speak out about the abuse.
"I thought I did something wrong," said Al Chesley, a former Philadelphia Eagles linebacker. Chesley said he was abused when he was about 13, but he didn't speak about it until he was 49.
The Virginia Catholic Conference supported the eight-year limit and argued that 20 years would put the state in the minority nationwide. It would also make it difficult for organizations to defend the cases, because memories fade and witnesses die, said Jeffrey Caruso, a lobbyist for the conference.
The church and other nonprofits could also have to defend against an accused perpetrator who was dead, Catholic officials said.
Some legislators, however, argued that sexual-abuse victims should not have any time limit placed on their ability to sue.
Victim groups agreed to the 20 years to avoid potential problems reconciling the House and Senate bills.
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