By Richard Gartner
New York Daily News
December 18, 2011
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/abuse-victims-time-seek-justice-syracuse-case-highlights-shortcomings-law-article-1.992807#ixzz1gxkdFbYf
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| Assistant coach Bernie Fine of the Syracuse Orange. |
The impact of childhood sexual abuse has no statute of limitations. Why is the statute of limitations for prosecuting abusers in New York so short?
Prosecutors are not charging ex-Syracuse basketball coach and accused pedophile Bernie Fine for crimes his accusers say he perpetrated when they were boys. The problem is not lack of evidence — prosecutors publicly state they find the accusers credible. But the law says the window of accountability for raping a child is finite — and small.
New York's statute of limitations for sexual abuse is just five years after the child's 18th birthday. That means sexually abused children have only until their 23rd birthday to press charges against sexual predators.
Statutes of limitation generally have a purpose: to protect those have moved on from long-ago indiscretions. Do the state senators who have fought attempts to extend the statute of limitations really believe that pedophilia is a youthful indiscretion? To the contrary: Evidence indicates pedophiles are almost always serial offenders.
While predators continue hurting children, many young adults victimized as youths are so traumatized that coming forward by 23 isn't an option. They face intense shame and guilt and have to deal with symptoms that may include depression, anxiety, isolation, addiction and even suicidal thoughts.
Given all we know about the psychology of victims, it is simply unrealistic to expect them to seek legal redress at the beginning of the healing process.
This is complicated further by the fact that vulnerable children on the margins of their peer group are at most risk for sexual abuse by an adult outside the family. Hungry for positive attention from adults, they are easy targets for predators with well-developed radar for finding them. Abusers seem to offer children what they need and want: love, nurturance, affection, comfort and — ironically — safety.
When an adult like this betrays a child's trust, treachery is introduced into a trusting relationship. These children often grow up wary of authority because they see people in these positions as untrustworthy and undependable. Why would such a child ever go to an authority for help?
At 23, victims are thinking about how to begin their adult life, and are rarely mentally prepared to revisit the horrors of their youth. In my own practice, sexually abused men rarely come for help until at least their late 20s, but more likely later. Sometimes men well past 60 come for treatment, never having disclosed childhood abuse before.
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