BishopAccountability.org
	Univ. Officials Back Longer Statute of Limitations By Molly Marcot Diamondback Online March 16, 2011 http://www.diamondbackonline.com/news/univ-officials-back-longer-statute-of-limitations-1.2108481 University officials are throwing their support behind two state bills that would increase the amount of time victims have to report certain incidents of sexual assault — legislation they said could dramatically benefit students victimized before arriving at this university. In two Annapolis hearings yesterday, both the state Senate and House of Delegates discussed a bill that would increase the statute of limitations for fourth-degree sexual assault — which does not involve penetration, but includes groping or fondling — from one year to three years. As the law stands today, victims of fourth-degree assault only have one year to report the crime, and police cannot issue charges if an incident is reported even one day past the one-year mark. The only exceptions are incidences where the perpetrator is a school employee, in which victims are given three years to report the crime. Although the original proposed bill, known as HB 724 in the House and SB 196 in the senate, would extend the limitation to three years for all victims, both chambers will likely amend the legislation to only include victims who are under 18. According to legislators, the younger the victim, the more time they likely need to come to terms with the assault and then report it. If the amended bill is passed, it will not include most college students. But university officials said it could still benefit students who were assaulted before arriving at this university — for example, if a student is assaulted when he or she was 17 or younger, he or she may be more likely to report the crime with additional time and the university's wide range of victim support resources. According to Allison Bennett, coordinator of this university's Sexual Assault Response and Prevention Program, one year is sometimes not enough time for victims to see sexual assault as a crime. "Often students are so busy with classes and so many other activities, it could be even more helpful to have a little bit of extra time because the college lifestyle is such an incredibly fast paced thing," Bennett said. "Members of the college community that were victimized before coming to campus may be impacted by the change of this law." And on college campuses, sexual assaults in general go largely unreported. Though the U.S. Department of Justice reported that one in five women will be sexually assaulted while in college, only 5 percent will report it. Fourth-degree assaults are often not even seen as sexual violations — especially in a college setting — and are reported even less frequently. "Many would think it's not worth the trouble," said a student victim of fourth-degree sexual assault, who asked to remain anonymous but reported the incident to police. "If they haven't reported it after a year, I think it's pretty unlikely they're going to report it." Del. Aruna Miller (D-Montgomery) sponsored the House bill in response to concern from her constituents — parents of a sexually assaulted 14-year-old girl who sought legal assistance after they learned of the incident, which was committed by a neighbor and friend. Unfortunately, the limited time frame prevented them from taking legal action. "Because she came out 16 months after the event happened, she was four months shy of the law," Miller said. "[The perpetrator] wasn't charged with anything." By changing the statute of limitations from one year to three, Miller said victims will have the time needed to absorb what happened and decide to report it. "There's no predicting how long it's going to take for an individual to come around when these types of emotions come to surface," she said. "There's a lot of shame and guilt. [Victims] don't want to bring it forward." Especially on this campus, the student victim said, the culture of victim blaming often deters students from speaking up. "There's this idea of 'maybe she really wanted it,'" she said. "It's really hard in a college environment where you're around a lot of alcohol and a lot of people with high hormones. I think people are more likely to excuse it." And University Police Chief David Mitchell said increasing the statute of limitations is just one more way to help bring about awareness. "I think it's a great step in the right direction, but I think it needs to be used in conjunction with an awareness campaign, along with 'no means no' and consequences for the accused," he said.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.