Sd House Committee Rejects Child Sexual Abuse Bill

By Veronica Zaragovia
Daily Republic
February 7, 2012

http://www.mitchellrepublic.com/event/apArticle/id/D9SO56KO2/

A House committee on Monday rejected a bill that would have eliminated the time limit for victims of childhood sexual abuse to file civil lawsuits against perpetrators or institutions, despite emotional testimony from victims during a two hour hearing.

Several cried loudly by the elevator after members of the House Judiciary Committee voted to kill the bill 9-4.

A number were American Indian and said they were abused by Catholic clergy at churches or boarding schools.

"I went through a lot of suffering when I was 7-10 years old," said Isadore Zephier, a member of the Sioux Tribe who asked committee members to picture what happened to him. "Imagine yourself sodomized or performing oral sex on a priest for three, four years constantly."

South Dakota allows victims to file civil lawsuits against perpetrators, but not institutions or other individuals, within three years of when the abuse took place or three years from the time the victim discovered the injuries caused by the abuse. The bill sponsored by Rep. Steve Hickey, R-Sioux Falls, would have lifted those limits.

Supporters said the current law wasn't fair to children who might not feel comfortable reporting abuse until they are older.

"We don't know about perpetrators because in South Dakota, the laws keep victims out of the court before they're able to get to court," said Marci Hamilton, a law school professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York who testified by telephone. "This bill would open the courthouse so that anyone abused would name the perpetrators and South Dakota would know where the trouble spots are."

But opponent Mike Shaw, a lobbyist for the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, said "lines must be drawn" against lawsuits brought forth after witnesses and perpetrators have died.

Steve Smith, a Chamberlain attorney who has represented the St. Joseph's Indian School, spoke in favor of the statute of limitations before it became law in 2010. He said Monday that it ended "an unwavering ability to sue, waiting for perhaps the perpetrator to be dead so that the perpetrator can no longer defend himself."

He added that victims can sue perpetrators until they die, "so you can get vindication. You can identify that person and have his name brought out in the press. You didn't allow a hidden agenda to be done on behalf of the Catholic Church."

Others raised concerns that the Catholic Church could become a target of lawsuits.

"I am a Roman Catholic and I take offense to this," said Rep. Gene Abdallah, R-Sioux Falls. He also questioned victims' ability to remember what happened decades ago. "I can't remember what I did a year ago," he said.

Robert Brancato of Rapid City, S.D., said he attempted suicide three times because of abuse he suffered at age 12. He said he was "sodomized and brutally raped" by a Catholic school principal in Chicago, Ill. When he told his priest what happened, that man abused him too, he said.

The Associated Press does not usually name victims of sexual assault, but Zephier and Brancato asked that their names be used, saying they spoke publicly so lawmakers would understand why people need time to heal before coming forward.