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	Abuse Victims Decry Limitations on Justice By Marjorie Nesin Cape Cod Times October 1, 2011 http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20111001/NEWS/110010308/-1/NEWSMAP New legislation to eliminate the statute of limitations on certain sexual abuse crimes could lead to long-awaited justice for victims, including at least nine people who allege they were sexually abused as children at Cape Cod's Camp Good News. The legislation sponsored by Rep. Ronald Mariano, D-Quincy, would eliminate the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution as well as for civil suits. In Massachusetts, victims of childhood sexual assault have until their 25th birthdays to report the crimes. Victims of childhood rape have until their 30th birthdays. Lawyers representing abuse victims say the current statutes are unrealistic. "I'd say 85 percent or 90 percent of my clients come forward when they're about 40 years old or older, when the statute's run out on them," said Mitchell Garabedian, a Boston attorney who has represented victims of sexual abuse for 16 years. Garabedian represents eight victims who say they were abused at Camp Good News in Forestdale. Camp Good News was forced to shut down this summer, after the American Camp Association revoked its accreditation following sexual-abuse allegations by Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., and nine other campers. Brown's assertion may have encouraged some victims to come forward, but Garabedian speculates that many more Camp Good News victims have remained silent. "Where there's smoke, there's fire," he said. It can take victims a long time to speak because they are often convinced by their accuser to keep it a secret. Shame and guilt may also keep them from speaking out. By the time they are ready to press charges, some victims find themselves unable to take legal measures because of the statute of limitations, said Garabedian. Garabedian said he has represented clients who were able to get around the statute of limitations, but that it is rare to do so. Boston attorney Carmen Durso also said it easier to get around the statute if the victim was younger than 13 when abused. Durso is representing Cheryl Madden, 45, of Daytona Beach, Fla., who has filed a lawsuit in Barnstable Superior Court that alleges a janitor at Camp Good News fondled and raped her repeatedly in a girls bathroom during her three summers at the Christian camp in 1973, 1974 and 1975. "When (abused) kids become adults and want to do something about their abuse, they find out that the system is stacked against them," said Durso at a rally sponsored by a group called Fair Fight in front of the Statehouse earlier this week. At the rally, Heather Connor, 48, described her childhood sexual abuse but said she was denied a trial because of the statute of limitations. A former professional tennis player, she alleges a former coach sexually abused her. "People say 're-traumatizing.' I just know it was upsetting," Connor said at the Fair Fight rally about being denied the chance to go to trial. Victims also testified at a Judiciary Committee hearing on the bill Tuesday. Four people said they had used drugs and alcohol as adults because of the abuse they suffered as children. "As a survivor of childhood sex abuse "» jobs, relationships, finance, sobriety, all of the trappings of a normal society, were out of reach," said Robert F. Costello, 50, from Norwood. Advanced DNA testing can produce new evidence for sexual abuse cases that occurred more than 15 years ago, Patricia Brady, a trauma victims clinician, testified at the hearing. But even with new technology, a 30-year-old case is a tough case to win, said Jeff Dion, director of the National Crime Victim Bar Association. But victims still deserve a court trial, he said. If this legislation passes, an accused predator could still use the statute of limitations as a defense in court. The defendant could say that it had been too long since the alleged crime for the court to determine the defendant guilty. The difference is that the statute of limitations would not prevent the case from going to court, said Dion.
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